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Dash Arts Podcast

Dash Arts

The Dash Arts podcast takes on big issues through an artistic lens. Hear artists, filmmakers, musicians, theatre makers and more explore the challenges facing society today. In each episode Dash Arts' Artistic Director Josephine Burton hosts conversations delving into movements, legacies and ideas that continue to shape the cultural landscape worldwide.


For more information, videos and podcasts, please head to www.dasharts.org.uk. Dash Arts is a National Portfolio Organisation funded by the Arts Council of England.


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Episodes

Estonia’s Singing Lands
05-09-2024
Estonia’s Singing Lands
“I’ve long nurtured a dream to get out and finally explore what it was about the forests and seas of Laulasmaa, ‘the land of song’, in Estonia that inspired Arvo Pärt and so many musicians.”Join Dash’s Artistic Director, Josephine Burton as she travels to the Arvo Pärt Centre in Laulasmaa, Estonia to investigate the mystical musical relationship between nature and the people of EstoniaFrom the Arvo Pärt Centre Josephine wanders the forest, swims in the sea and explores Helikula, ‘the village of sound’, where musicians from the Union of Composers were given summer houses during Soviet Times.We started collaborating in October 2020 during the pandemic with a widely celebrated online event with the Arvo Pärt Centre combining a pre-recorded concert and a conversation with musicians Andres Kaljuste, Sophia Rahman and Arvo’s son Michael Pärt. You can hear this previous episode here.For more on the trip you can read Josephine’s blog and see more photographs of the incredible Estonian landscape on the Dash Arts website.In the podcast, we hear from:Josephine Burton - Artistic Director, Dash Arts Michael Pärt - Music Editor and Chairman of the Arvo Pärt CentreSophia Rahman - PianistAndres Kaljuste - ViolinistRein Lang - Former Minister of Culture of EstoniaLiisa Hirsch - Composer Kristina Norman - ArtistTitle music by Fakiiritanssi by Marouf MajidiCompositions by Arvo Pärt played by Sophia Rahman and Andres Kaljuste:Fratres Für AlinaSpiegel im SpiegelWith thanks to the Estonian Ministry of Culture and Estonian Cultural Counsellor in London for enabling Josephine’s trip. Artwork: A PHOTO JOSEPHINE’S TRIPReference to the previous episode (Jan 2021) - https://open.spotify.com/episode/7pN6oLyNmgxVEqjNjZW8Dg?si=34666bcd1c984ba6 Blog link - https://www.dasharts.org.uk/blog/arvo-prts-inspiration-discovering-the-magic-of-estonias-forests-and-sounds Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
OI VA VOI - Back Together
03-04-2024
OI VA VOI - Back Together
“In many ways, I owe everything to the band.”It’s been over 25 years since two students ran into each other on a street corner in Oxford and decided to set up a band. Oi Va Voi, rooted in Jewish and Eastern European musical traditions, would eventually reach hundreds and thousands of people across the world. Dash’s Artistic Director Josephine Burton and Jonathan Walton, also known as Lemez Lovas, knew they needed more people and more instruments. Soon after Sophie Solomon, Steve Levi, Leo Bryant, Nik Ammar and Josh Breslaw joined the band and they began fusing together klezmer, jazz, funk and drum and bass.Last summer, their breakout album, Laughter Through Tears, turned 20 and the band marked it with a celebratory reunion gig at EartH in Hackney. In this episode we hear from the original members of the band and moments from last summer’s reunion.As with all enduring families - there have been many moments when both life inside and outside the band got really tough, but Oi Va Voi lives on and this podcast celebrates these stories, the music and the people who made it. Josephine also shares why Dash Arts delayed releasing this episode back in October 2023.In the podcast, we hear from:Josephine Burton - Artistic Director, Dash Arts and former Singer, Oi Va VoiJonathan Walton/Lemez Lovas - former Trumpeter, Oi Va VoiJosh Breslaw - Drummer, Oi Va VoiLeo Bryant - former Bassist, Oi Va VoiSophie Solomon - former Violinist, Oi Va VoiNik Ammar - former Guitarist, Oi Va VoiSteve Levi - Clarinetist, Oi Va VoiKT Tunstall - former Singer, Oi Va VoiMusic:Recorded live at EartH, Hackney on 22nd July 2023. Used with permission of Oi Va Voi.Intro: Fakiiritanssi by Marouf MajidiArtwork:Album Cover taken from an early ep, Odessa, recorded in early 2000. Photo credit lost in the mists of time! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Reckoning: How It All Began with Peter Pomerantsev
06-03-2024
The Reckoning: How It All Began with Peter Pomerantsev
In this second episode on the journey towards our production, The Reckoning, we hear from journalist and author, Peter Pomerantsev who co-founded The Reckoning Project and who first shared with Dash the hundreds of witness testimonies from survivors of the Russian war in Ukraine. Dash’s Artistic Director, Josephine Burton and Podcast Producer, Marie Horner hear about Peter’s motivations for starting the project and why he asked Dash to bring these stories to the stage. The Reckoning Project trains journalists to work with lawyers and analysts to collect stories of the horrors of war, detentions, torture and shelling that can be submitted as evidence in court. Peter and Josephine explore the relationship between the lawyers, journalists and witnesses, and how this has influenced Dash’s production. We also hear from Peter’s colleagues at The Reckoning Project, Nataliya Gumenyuk and Kostiantyn Korobov, on what has changed since the war began two years ago and what justice could look like for the people they speak to.Peter joined us while he was in London to promote his new book, How to Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler. To find out more visit Faber’s website.Josephine will be sharing more about the production in Cambridge on Wednesday 20th March alongside Rory Finnin, Professor of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge. Get your tickets here.In the podcast, we hear from:Josephine Burton - Artistic Director, Dash Arts Peter Pomerantsev - Journalist and AuthorNataliya Gumenyuk - JournalistKostiantyn Korobov - ArchivistMarie Horner - Podcast ProducerMusic by Fakiiritanssi by Marouf Majidi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Reckoning : Making a Theatre Show
11-01-2024
The Reckoning : Making a Theatre Show
“Finding a way to keep the darkness but continue to keep the joy so that there’s moments of relief in the theatre, that the actors feel it, that the audience feel it too. That’s really the challenge for me - how to make powerful theatre.” Josephine Burton, Artistic Director, Dash ArtsThis year Dash Arts is developing a new theatre production, The Reckoning; based on personal accounts of survivors of the Russian war in Ukraine from the vast testimony archive shared by The Reckoning Project, who has been gathering testimony from survivors of detentions, torture and shelling. Journalists are working with lawyers and analysts to collect these stories that can be submitted as evidence in court. Josephine will be in Cambridge on Wednesday 20th March to share excerpts from the latest version of the production and will be speaking with Rory Finnin, Professor of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge, about our research on the war in Ukraine for The Reckoning. Get your tickets here.In the podcast, we hear from:Josephine Burton - Artistic Director, Dash Arts Anastasiia Kosodii - Playwright Lou Platt - Psychotherapist and Artist Wellbeing practitioner Cristina Catalina - Senior Producer, Dash Arts Cristina Catalina, Vadym Golovko, Sam Kyslyi, Yulia Litvinenko, Mark Quartley and Olga Safronova - Cast of The Reckoning Research and Development Week (December 2023)Music from The Reckoning by Anton BaibakovOutro music : Fakiiritanssi by Marouf Majidi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Our Public House: Speak Out!
07-12-2023
Our Public House: Speak Out!
“Grasp the subject, the words will follow.” Attributed to Cato The Elder Artistic Director, Josephine Burton and Podcast Producer, Marie Horner regroup in the studio to reflect on a series of live events in Manchester and London that were the 2023 culmination of this year’s Public House project. We heard from speechwriters, activists and academics as we explored the ingredients of a great speech, the power of activism and words, and their ability to change people’s minds and lives, along with passionate speeches given directly by some of our extraordinary cohort of individuals from communities across England.Coming in 2024, we’ll be creating Our Public House, a state-of-the-nation theatre production, inspired by the speeches and writing of participants from across the country.Our HUGE thanks to all the participants from Underground Lights, Coventry; St Hilda’s Community Centre, Tower Hamlets; HMP Styal; The Writers' Block, Redruth; Citizens UK, Brighton; Arbourthorne Men’s Social Club, Sheffield; Manchester Deaf Centre and Deaf Explorer; Banbury and Bicester College, Bicester; individuals through Theatre Royal Stratford East, Newham, St Hilda’s Community Centre in Tower Hamlets, and residents of Mile Cross, through The Common Lot, Norwich.Our Public House is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Arts Council England, Three Monkies Trust, and individual giving.In the podcast we’re grateful to hear from:Kayleigh Roach - Participant and Speech WriterMaral Mamaghanizadeh - Participant and Speech WriterCharlie Caine- Participant and Speech WriterEdith Hall - Professor of Classics, University of DurhamRinkoo Barpaga - Artist and Stand-up comedian Zara Manoehoetoe - Youth worker and community activistJosephine Burton - Artistic Director, Dash ArtsMarie Horner - Podcast Producer, Dash ArtsAlan Finlayson - Professor of Political and Social Theory at the University of East AngliaCristina Catalina - Senior Producer. Dash Arts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Our Public House: England's Open Mic
08-11-2023
Our Public House: England's Open Mic
“Take a deep breath in, now think about the future you want” Heidi in Cornwall. What do you want to change? What do you want politicians to understand?We’ve travelled over 3000 miles and asked these questions to over 120 people during speech writing workshops across the country. The creative team at Dash Arts and our academic partners gather to reflect on what we’ve learnt and what’s surprised us, and to listen back to some of the incredible speeches from participants who took part in Our Public House.To hear more, book your tickets for Speak Out! - a series of live evening events in Manchester; on Tuesday 21 November we discuss the ingredients of great speech with classicist and cultural historian Edith Hall, and former speechwriter to David Cameron, Jessica Cunniffe. Plus academic Henriette van der Blom and Artistic Director of Dash Arts, Josephine Burton. On Wednesday 22 November we’ll explore activism and how we speak out, with artist and stand-up comedian Rinkoo Barpaga, alongside journalist and academic Alan Finalyson and Josephine Burton. This event will be BSL interpreted by Winston Denerley and Samantha Vanterpool. Then we travel to London on Thursday 23 November where you can hear behind-the-scenes insights into the world of politics and speechwriting with Philip Collins, former chief speechwriter to Tony Blair, and Shareefa Energy, poet and activist. They will be joined by journalist and academic Alan Finlayson, and Josephine Burton.Coming in 2024, writer Jude Christian and director Josephine Burton will create Our Public House, a state-of-the-nation theatre production, inspired by the speeches and writing of our national participants.Our Public House is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Arts Council England, Three Monkies Trust, and individual giving.In the podcast we’re grateful to hear from:Participants from Underground Lights, Coventry; St Hilda’s Community Centre, Tower Hamlets; HMP Styal; The Writers' Block, Redruth; Citizens UK, Brighton; Arbourthorne Men’s Social Club, Sheffield; Manchester Deaf Centre and Deaf Explorer; Banbury and Bicester College, Bicester; individuals through Theatre Royal Stratford East, Newham and residents of Mile Cross, through The Common Lot, Norwich. Josephine Burton - Artistic Director of Dash ArtsProfessor Alan Finlayson - Professor of Political and Social Theory at the University of East AngliaHenriette van der Blom - Reader in Ancient History at the University of BirminghamCristina Catalina - Senior Producer of Dash Arts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Our Public House: The Country at a Crossroads
20-09-2023
Our Public House: The Country at a Crossroads
Join us on the road as we travel the length and breadth of England to hear what people want to change. In communities across Cornwall, Yorkshire, Norfolk, the North West, South East and the Midlands, we’re supporting people to write and deliver speeches on what difference they want to see.Robust public debate and the freedom to make arguments and counterarguments are essential to democracy. Today, however, political dispute is ever more sectarian and angry, fears of misinformation are widespread and political discussion is often confined to groups of the like-minded talking to each other online.Together with our partners at the Universities of Birmingham and East Anglia, we’ve been exploring this 'crisis of rhetoric' throughout the year with a series of workshops exploring persuasive speaking across diverse communities in England. Our research will eventually lead to Our Public House, a state-of-the-nation theatre production, inspired by the speeches and writing of our national participants, from writer Jude Christian and director Josephine Burton.Book your tickets for Speak Out! - a series of live events in Manchester (21 & 22 November) and London (23 November), where we’re bringing together participants from our workshops, speechwriters, activists, politicians and academics to explore speech making's ability to provoke, persuade and empower.  In the podcast we’re grateful to hear from:Participants from Underground Lights, Coventry, St Hilda’s Community Centre, Tower Hamlets, HMP Styal, The Writers' Block, Redruth, Arbourthorne Men’s Social Club, Sheffield, Manchester Deaf Centre and Citizens UK, Brighton. Josephine Burton - Artistic Director of Dash ArtsProfessor Alan Finlayson - Professor of Political and Social Theory at the University of East AngliaHenriette van der Blom - Reader in Ancient History at the University of BirminghamCristina Catalina - Senior ProducerMarie Horner - Podcast ProducerJude Christian - Writer and Director Our Public House is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Arts Council England, Three Monkies Trust, and individual giving. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Isaac Babel: The Musical?
21-07-2023
Isaac Babel: The Musical?
How might the stories of a Jewish man, writing in Russian, based in Odesa 100 years ago help us understand what’s happening in Ukraine today? Join Dash Arts’ Artistic Director Josephine Burton at the very start of an exploration into bringing to the stage the life and work of Isaac Babel.This episode catches up with Josephine as she gathers together artists, writers, composers and translators to venture into Babel’s turbulent life and rich writings. We uncover how having a coffee with the artist and performer, Golda Amirova, sparked the beginnings of a music theatre production about this prolific writer Babel, born in today’s Ukraine. Translator of Babel’s Odessa Stories, Boris Dralyuk, shares Babel’s brutal and beautiful Odesa as well as the contemporary resonance of a violent era of early Soviet history through his translation of Red Cavalry. Plus we eavesdrop on the rehearsal room as Josephine pulls apart the imagery and possibilities that can be found in  Babel’s work with composer Jonathan Walton and playwright Mark Rosenblatt. We don’t know exactly how this will end, but this episode uncovers how we’ve begun.In the podcast we’re grateful to hear from:Boris Dralyuk - Poet and TranslatorGolda Amirova - ArtistJonathan Walton - ComposerMark Rosenblatt - Director, Playwright and ScreenwriterMusic : Леонид Утесов – Ты одессит, Мишка // Leonid Utyosov - You are from Odessa, Mishka Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Crimea 5am
24-05-2023
Crimea 5am
Crimea 5am brings together the voices of extraordinary women, bound together by the Russian persecution of Crimean Tatars in 2014. In this episode, Artistic Director Josephine Burton looks back on how Dash Arts brought together a cast of actors, activists and journalists to stage this unique piece of verbatim theatre in London during January 2023.Through personal stories and testimonies of love and struggle in Crimea today, and combining victim and activist interviews, Crimea 5am highlights the stories of 10 political prisoners and their families. The piece celebrates the sheer determination and activism within this oppressed community, the bravery of the prisoners in documenting abuses, and its defiant women holding the ravaged community together.Since  2014, civil activists and in particular representatives of the indigenous people of the Crimean peninsula, Crimean Tatars, have been persecuted by Russian occupying forces. Obscured by a news blackout, we know little of these events, little of the prisoners themselves, their families  and life in Crimea under occupation. In this episode, our Artistic Director Josephine Burton and Podcast Producer Marie Horner listen to archive clips of the performance as well as journalists, academics, activists and the cast. We hear from:Dr Rory Finnin, Associate Professor of Ukrainian Studies, University of CambridgeMaria Romanenko, Ukrainian journalist and Crimea 5am cast memberAnastasiia Kosodii, playwright and co-writer of Crimea 5amNatalya Gumenyuk, Ukrainian journalist and filmmaker Alexandra Hall Hall, former British Ambassador to Georgia and Crimea 5am cast member Music: Ey, Güzel Qırım sung by the cast from Crimea 5amCrimea 5am was produced at The Kiln in January 2023 as part of the British Council and the  Ukrainian Institute UK/Ukraine Season of Culture. The original production of Crimea 5аm was initiated by the Ukrainian Institute and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine as part of the Crimea Platform. The original performance was directed by Dmytro Kostiumynskyi and produced by Dollmen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dido's Bar in Newham
13-12-2022
Dido's Bar in Newham
Dash Arts' production of Dido's Bar was developed and made in Newham. As part of our year-long programme, we were privileged to work with Community Links, an amazing hub which offers young people advice, employment skills, and the chance to develop their audio skills in their top-notch production studio. We've brought some of these young people into the world of Dido's Bar through our podcast. Dash Producer Cristina Catalina and Podcast Producer Rachael Head worked in the studio with our participants, talking through the universal themes of Dido's Bar and exploring how those themes have affected their lives.Music Credits:Intro music: Fakiiritanssi by Marouf MajidiArtwork and music made by Community Links participants Script excerpts read out are from Hattie Naylor's Dido's Bar.Hosted by Rachael Head, featuring a short conversation with producer Cristina Catalina.With thanks to Amanda Brown, the whole Community Links team and the Royal Docks TeamDido’s Bar is produced by Dash Arts with imPOSSIBLE Producing.Dido's Bar is co-produced with the Royal Docks Team, OCM (Oxford Contemporary Music), and Journeys Festival International and co-commissioned by OCM, with additional support from Arts Council England, Backstage Trust, The Foyle Foundation, Projekt, Cockayne – Grants for the Arts, The London Community Foundation, Genesis Foundation, Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland, The Marchus Trust, TINFO – Theatre Info Finland, Austin and Hope Pilkington, Royal Victoria Hall Foundation, The Leche Trust and individual donors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.