Emma-Jane
gives award-winning choir the X-factor
The men who sing in the all-male Thames Valley
Chorus, which rehearses each week at The Piggott School,
Wargrave, are not daft.
They are wily enough to know that the ‘feminine touch’ can
work wonders for a world-class choir that is made up of more
than 60 men.
The woman's touch: Emma-Jane Taylor puts members of the Thames
Valley Chorus through their paces
So the lads have called upon the expertise of top dancer
and choreographer Emma-Jane Taylor to give them an edge.
“
We recruited Emma-Jane to add the X-factor to the men’s
performance with a specially arranged routine designed to
wow the championship judges and audiences,” chorus
spokesman Lawrence McNulty told the Standard.
The chorus is hoping to win a gold award at this year’s
UK National Championships at the end of May.
“
A similar routine at last year’s Warsaw International
Choir Festival left the judges amazed and the audience literally
cheering on their seats when we carried off a gold award,” said
Mr McNulty.
Emma-Jane Taylor is the founder and principal of StageWorks
Ltd, a performing arts school that covers Wargrave, Henley
and the surrounding areas.
“
One of the qualities of TVC style which sets the chorus apart
from other forms of acapella singing is the mix of harmonies
and exciting visual movement on stage,” added Mr.
McNulty.
This year’s UK event is being held at Cheltenham
Race Course from May 23rd to May 25th, 2008, and has attracted
38 choirs (or choruses) from all over the country.
Kate
tackles Ben Nevis for charity
WHEN Kate Chapman decided to walk up Ben Nevis
in aid of a cancer charity, her husband Ben felt he ought
to do something to help out.
The question was what? Kate had already organised three fund-raising
parties at their Wargrave home and netted around £150.
Sponsors on a website appeal promised more money towards
her target of £500 once Kate had completed her trek.
 But husband Ben was left puzzling over how he could help.
He said: “I’ll be honest, I’m not one for
throwing parties or organising fund-raising events. But I
was in a corner.”
He confessed that he had ‘done nothing’ but if
he was going to do anything at all it had to be ‘different’.
A chance conversation on his daily commute into London gave
him the inspirational idea of organising a snooker tournament.
And where better to hold it than the popular Wargrave Snooker
Club.
“
I wandered down to check out our local snooker club one Thursday
night,” Ben tells villagers in the latest edition of
Wargrave News. “What a place! Hidden from view (in
the back of the library) is a cosy bar and a large, wooden-floored,
moody-looking snooker hall with three tables the size of
football pitches.”
With help from the club, Ben organised his fund-raiser and
then started to worry that no one would turn up.
“
Well, the turn out was great!” said Ben. “About
25 people turned up, everyone got a few games in, drink was
drunk and we raised over £200. Brilliant.”
As for Kate, she completed her trek to the 1,344-metre summit
of Ben Nevis with her old friend, Caitlin Limmer.
“
We were at drama school together and once I had decided I
wanted to do something for Macmillan Cancer Relief we decided
to have a crack at Ben Nevis,” Kate told the Standard.
They got to the final stage of the summit but were forced
back through ‘very bad weather’. And Kate, who
teaches speech and drama in the Wargrave area, though ‘absolutely
exhausted’ from the climb, would do it again.
“
It was well worthwhile,” she said. And so, too, was
her husband’s contribution, she added.
Schools
benefit from Arabian link
A
link that stretches from Berkshire to the Middle East bore
fruit when teachers from two Omani schools — Salma
Buit Qais School for girls and Al Fadhal Bin Al Aba School
for boys — visited The Piggott School. The schools
made close contact in December 2006, as part of the UK-Middle
East Connecting Classrooms Programme, set up to enable students
to develop an understanding of each other’s societies.
Pictured from left: Sameer Al Abri, Alex MacLeod, Sue Seymour,
Beth Peat and Azza Kharousi
The
Omani teachers – Sameer Al Abri and Azza Al Kharousi – took
the opportunity to teach Arabic to Year 7 students.
Gillian Maloney, specialisms administrator at The Piggott,
said: “The students and teachers discussed the ongoing
projects of storytelling and comparison between the geography
of Oman and the UK.
“ It also enabled them to meet face to face with The Piggott
School staff and discuss at length how the project will
move forward and develop.”
Elvis
reigns
A
little bit of Las Vegas came to Loddon Hall, Twyford, when
Elvis Presley tribute artist, 28-year-old Ben
Portsmouth, raised £2,000 for Sue Ryder Care at Nettlebed.
Gemma Brooker, organiser of Showtime Las Vegas, said: “Everyone
had a great time. In fact the event was so successful that
we’ve been asked to put on another show next year.” Plan
for new pavilion
Wargrave has taken a step nearer getting a
state-of-the-art pavilion to replace the old one which is
more than 100 years old. But there is still a lot of fund-raising
to be done to provide cash for the new building.
Plans are before Wokingham Borough Council for the new pavilion
that would serve all types of sports clubs in and around
Wargrave.
It would have full facilities for the disabled, club room
and bar and five changing rooms.
Wargrave Parish Council is looking to raise funds for building
the pavilion from national sporting organisations and the
National Lottery.
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