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Maríín 🌝

@marinasblake

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🎢 Creative Director & Producer
🐚 Always @brainchildfest
🪩 Often @southbankcentre
📸 35mm @whhimsy.world

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Dust has settled, a day off has been had, after 14 days straight building and supervising the Rye Lane Fruit Palace. It’s now safe & sound in storage, and it’s genuinely a bit weird not to be whatsapping the team about niche fixings and varnishes, and not to be hearing the sounds of children shrieking with joy at the thrill of a slide or a massive jump onto a giant watermelon!

This is the project I am proudest of having done outside of Brainchild Festival. I can’t believe that from a seed of an idea in December, we actually managed to make a ten day playground in the heart of Peckham, co-designed with local kids and inspired by fruit?! Our dragonfruit slide stood all surreal and glowing in the sun as she hosted hundreds of kids through ever increasing glee and excitement.

I didn’t get tired of it despite being out there for 45 hours, it was honestly one of the most special experiences of my life. In all that time it was only ever empty for about two hours, and I realised how much more meaningful the hours of play are than numbers of children.

It’s clear to me now that bringing people (of all ages) to a state of looseness and safety to play, to be themselves and to just go wild, basically, is something I love to do. And while I knew I loved surreal play sculptures and bringing kids artworks to life, I wasn’t expecting how magical the play itself would be. How seeing a child grow in confidence each time they go down the slide, or how they will sell make-believe things at a fruit stall, for 10p or for £50k… it was a never-ending world of human expression in its purest form.

While extremely challenging and scary at times, I am so flippin glad we pushed ahead and just did it. This is thanks to the collective trust, belief and deep rooted generosity of my co-conspirators and creators, @llllika & @maiamagoga. Their artistic vision, care and selfless dedication made this manifest so beautifully.

Our team was BIG, and we are so grateful to all our collaborators, volunteers & consultants, thank you Matt, Ed Haslam, Callum, Marie Williams, Dre, Davis, Christina, Josie, Juliet, Tash, Phoebe, Louise, India, Carli, Chloe, Josh & Georgie.

📸 @jerome_toole & me by @marinasblake

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a year ago

In my favourite month of September, Jerome and I welcomed our nearest & dearest to my grandparents’ old house in Somerset and tied the knot after nearly 13 years of partnership.

I’ve been meaning to share the pictures ever since but it’s been some job to condense down into something shareable on here! So this is a collection of some of the photos and videos I will treasure for the rest of my life that contain some of the joy, the love, the intimacy and collectivity of that week.

I feel extremely lucky - as it is not always the case - that the weeks leading up to it and then the time itself were some of the happiest I’ve ever had in my life. We have a village of friends and family who came together to make an extraordinary thing - and really it was an ode to that as much as it was to our commitments to one another. I had been so afraid I wouldn’t be able to be emotionally present through it, but I needn’t have worried because the love, time and attention that people gave genuinely made it feel easy.

Looking through these photos only ignites all the joys again and again, everybody I love just looks so happy and I know we all were! It really wasn’t just about our relationship, it was about the power and the joy of doing big things together.

Thank you quiz-masters Bridget, Jasper, Joe, Sarah, Evie for our ceilidh, thank you WOOM and Jack for opening our ceremony, Emma writing us a poem about dancing together to call our own, thank you Ed for your unforgettable toast, to Joey for making sure we never had to worry about refuelling a generator, to all our DJs including my dad's epic 45s, to our core crew of legendary pals who came and helped us write, tidy, decorate and set up, to Catherine for arranging all our flowers, to Josie who made this unbelievable backdrop only weeks before, to Tilly and Rosie for drawing us the perfect symbols & embroidering them on our outfits, to Louisa & April for bearing rings and food and laughs, to India for pulling all the strings together so we could just be present, to Nicky for literally marrying us by the power we bestowed in you.

Thanking hugely talented @inezxviphotos and @ella_pavlides for capturing 📸 🧡 by @marinasblake

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2 years ago

Introducing… 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐇 ❤️‍🔥

A monster themed Halloween and a big birthday bash - a great big monster mash raising cash for The Somerville youth festival. Held in a very spooky takeover of @the_somerville building, on Queens Road, powered by the @lemon_lounge sound-system, with a mega lineup of Monsters Incorporated:

@club.winston @arzoumusic @tetka_nika @nangiiiiiiiii @joshmurr @milz_____ + J. Ghoole + Spooky Ed (iykyk)

🪗 Where to start with this one?! What else to do for my birthday but a completely nuts day dream of a monster stomping party of spooky dub, surf rock horror, swampy synths, ghostly cumbia, alien-theremins and rave-tinted musics, with a community soundsystem raising money for the Somerville Youth Festival in their very own AMAZING building and adventure playground?

💀 A DIY bar and special menu. A karaoke spot for good measure. Dressup + accessories of any kind welcomed [no matter small] - we’re even hosting a making day on 17th if you want to get stuck in to make something weird. 🕸️

🌳 Volunteering at Somerville has been an amazing new part of my life. I dream that this party will raise least £1.5k for the Somerville Youth Festival so we can do it even better in 2027, bringing in new mentors and coaches in music, dance, theatre and more. We want to see if parties like this in their epic space on the Queens Road might be a part of a future fundraising strategy, so jump aboard the Mystery Machine as we find out.

Planning this party has also snowballed into a whole host of half term and Kids halloween activities ~~ fruity jelly making in partnership with @theorchardproject + Street Trees (I’ve stocked up on jelly moulds), monster making with @natashahicken and haunted forest shadow puppets with Park Bench Theatre… All the creations the kids make will not only be central to their own party the day before, but also to our party on the 31st. This is a halloween party and an out n out celebration of kids’ ideas and creations, as well as our own.

Tickets on sale now: £12 via TicketTailor + RA, link in bio. Tell your friends.

Thanks @rufusrufusrufusrufusrufus for the artwork. by @marinasblake

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12 days ago

A couple of weeks ago, my incredible and inimitable great aunt June died, aged 97, at home with her wonderful partner of 64 years Norma. The outpouring of love has been so profound - from all her friends and her colleagues in film, theatre and TV, and it’s been amazing to see her obituaries in places like The Guardian and The Times… shining lights on things I didn’t even know about (like my ‘swearing ballerina’ of a great grandmother in Wales!).

Her credits and her legacy, in her work and her relationships, are so formidable. From producing and casting Jeremy Brett in what is widely regarded as the definitive Sherlock Holmes, to producing Anthony Hopkins’ film August (which won a Cymru BAFTA) or her work to promote female writers like Elizabeth Bowen with exceptional films like The Heat of the Day.

As a child, I was awed by her tremendous presence and unwavering generosity - times together were always filled with stories and laughter and parties of friends with huge personalities. But as an adult, as I’ve got into producing (albeit festivals, not film/TV), I felt such profound connection with her and her deep commitment to “the show”, while that meant different things to us both.

She told me about how on the shoot of Heidi, upon discovering no flowers on the hillsides of the Alps, a crew member bought vast quantities of Daz detergent for the free fake flowers they included in every pack back in the 70s, and positioned them across the hillside! They had to tell tourists and hikers to stop picking them! It sounded hilarious.

These are a smattering of the photos that I’ve loved looking at recently, her happy life with Norma in Spain, her deep friendships with cast and crew on so many shows, her part alongside Michael Caine in one of his first acting jobs, and just the palpable joy she found in life.

“Wyndham Davies liked taking risks and her gambles nearly always paid off. On the rare occasions they did not, she would shrug and say, “Oh well, onwards, darlings.” When they did, she would, at any time of day, sound the bell for a bottle of champagne.” I hope to keep this spirit alive as long as I live. by @marinasblake

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14 days ago

MUSIC IS LIFE! Gary Bartz dazzled us, we swooned as Arthur Verocai communed with the moon… day after day, our hearts were lifted. Thank you @weoutherefest for such a brilliant weekend. When I wasn’t helping out with the amazing work in the Family Areas I was mostly flying solo this year, and was so happy finding people I loved in random moments and going on new mini adventures with them, and being free to just rock up and make new dance floor friends over and over again.

🫧 Some things I loved 🫧

Spending time with the @tribewoodland and seeing the wonder on people’s faces as the kids built swings, climbing frames, ticket booths you name it...
Getting to help with the @kinetika_bloco procession, having only just done their show at Southbank!
A true dance trance at @safxb's incredible set at the Beat Hotel followed by Carli + Ellie’s unbelievably brilliant set on Friday night
Arthur Verocai with the Nu Civilisation Orchestra with friends and their parents
Four Tet playing Moses Boyd's Rye Lane Shuffle (IMO where it all began) to thousands of dancers
The incredible comic genius of children, brought forth by @artpedagogy and many others… Closing Sunday night in the Bowl with Mad Professor surrounded by friends
But my set of the weekend I think has to go to @hotcocoacartel. Her strength, her vulnerability - she shines so bright and had composed the most arresting journey of a set. We were all transfixed as she moved between her own (extraordinary) material, backed often by a choir, a 7 piece band and cinematic visuals, then read to us from Bell Hooks about the necessity of love as the starting point for us moving against domination and oppression. Everybody was listening. She played us Zion, songs about her son, and the only Frank Ocean Godspeed cover I ever need to hear. She’s has unbelievable talent and is one of the most grounded, considerate and generous artists I know.

Feeling so inspired, energised and grateful to have been part of it ❣️

“The moment we choose love we begin to move
Against domination, against oppression.
The moment we choose love we begin to move towards
Freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others”
Bell Hooks taken in We Out Here Festival by @marinasblake

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2 months ago

This is a 𝑩𝑰𝑮 weekend incoming! 💥 For a couple months now I’ve had the pleasure of getting to work with young people from the @artsemergency network to co-curate a weekend on the Riverside Terrace at @southbankcentre that celebrates and explores the 𝓢𝓹𝓲𝓻𝓲𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓽𝓱. We’ve made a programme together Im really proud of, embracing big feelings, messiness, spontaneity, the safety to make mistakes, to make new connections. 🫧 What being young is all about.

So if you’re 𝕟𝕠𝕥 at any festivals this weekend, then GET DOWN! To the Riverside Terrace for a 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗲𝗲 weekend of JOY, dancing, DJs, live music, writing, crafts, silliness and more from all these cool cats. And if you do come, which you should, make sure you chat to the brilliant young people who made it all happen: Nia, Maisie, Mirabel, Caleb, Ciara, Maryia and Fisola.

𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟐𝐧𝐝 2pm - 10.30pm
STRUT LINE DANCING!!! @strut.ldn
QUEER SALSA!! @queer_salsa
DJs @jevanjw + @ivicore 🔥
Party starters, black femme led collective @p0lyjammerouss from 8.30pm til close!
Camille Dawson / @friskyarts pop up Photo Booth and collective, giant diary collecting your stories from your teenage years 📔📔❣️

𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟑𝐫𝐝 1pm - 6pm
1-3 expert turtle vibes from @artbeyondtheshell curate B2Bs
3pm - 5pm @specialguestldn presents Special Request, hosted + co-curated with @eveofpoems and with a live house band led by @chevellefrazerrosemusic 🙌🙌
8 invited poets, actors, writers, all-round funny people will respond to words found in the diary to do anything they want on the mic, from anecdotes, to poems, to texts, games, in true Special Guest style. Big ups our amazing guests Nancy, @teadayblogs, @jeromeeoo, @ma.moyo, Josh, Selorm and Arji.
And to close out the whole weekend we’re buzzing to have @leahcleavahh playing live!

Thank you Southbank for giving me this amazing opportunity 🧡 it has been a dream @starry.makes & @ruthieh29, Katherine & Helen.

Posters at the end by Maisie from the young curators, and video of some incredible scenes from last weekend on the Terrace!

Strut photos by @anna__marguerite and video of Queer Salsa via @danceumbrella. by @marinasblake

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2 months ago

Jersey beaches, cold sea swims, leaky flasks, sandy kites, strange hats found in cupboards that unleash alter egos, questionable CDs in unpredictably loud car stereos, towels with no arms so you get changed under (“mu-mu”s), NPCs who stare at you as you get changed in the rain by your Honda CRV (Barbie car / adventure wagon), frogs that need road signs, friends who lift forks to the sky to tempt seagulls, makeshift bbqs and communal teeth brushing at the end of the night. These are things I treasure and love to capture. You can’t capture games too easily but the they also feature prominently, and I was too busy trying to not lose at poker to capture any.

#35mm by @marinasblake

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2 months ago

Spending the solstice on the Cornish coast, where it wasn’t even really dark by 11pm and the streaky peach, amber and lilac skies greeted us dancers at 4am, was oh so nourishing. Thank you Basket of Light for really reviving us, the sea and the music and the good souls ~~ the whole weekend connected things that were loose and jangly inside my mind in a way that trying and trying in normal life wasn’t able to.

@basket.of.light 🌞 by @marinasblake

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3 months ago

Got my photos back from the Spring Garden Dance! A day of collective recharging, and we raised £1,150 for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund 🪅

🌱Sometimes the best things in life come easily, and somehow for this one so little work needs to happen for so much to blossom — these moments of collective endeavour create opportunities for emergent desires, tastes and ideas to manifest. I loved seeing new friendships form, fresh sounds on the dance-floor and friends having a reason to flex new muscles like animation and catering.

Thank you to the gardeners and @surreycanalroadfruitcommons, to Laura, Joey and baby Felix for helping set up, to @matildaverrells for making slugs that ended up lovingly passed round the party, India @annadewolff and @lily.monsey for your green feast, to @m4chine_yearn1ng for hearing my prayers for Guinness cake, to @gigiwilde__ for being such a warm welcome on the door, to all the dancers who came through and made new connections across friend-worlds, to the DJs — @muckhuxley @sangrevoss @tetka_nika @basket.of.light @joshmurr @riyanathebanana @arzoumusic — I was actually so excited by what you guys played and felt like we made a quite fresh and original sounding patchwork that night, a dance-floor where at least one hurdy gurdy got played. Jim wants there to be more music like this and wondered if he should make some, I said I think he should. 🪱

Til next time!

(P.S. fav takeaway tracks were Nigel Eaton HumnBass and Romeo Rodent by Pete Bones.) by @marinasblake

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4 months ago

📺 If you tune into BBC2 this Sunday at 18.10 you will see 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝟳𝟱: 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘, featuring all the juiciest dance pieces from our show on May 3rd, directed & created by Danny Boyle, Gareth Pugh, Carson McColl and Paulette Randall, with Natasha Chivers and Sabrina Mahfouz.

But there is SO much you will not see… All the finessing and pivoting, tenacity, problem solving, balancing-acts between the leaving space for best outcomes and honouring timelines for urgent decisions…

It was the most epic and crazy thing I’ve ever been involved in producing, and I’ve learned a huge amount about what it means to hold your nerve, to collaborate, to pursue a vision and support everybody to get there in one piece. The artistic, internal and freelance teams working on this with such dedication have genuinely redefined the term ‘heavy-weight’ for me.

But most of my highlights are not featured in the BBC show!

To work with @deejwalde and @ruthieh29 to bring the idea to life of a ‘superclub’ that transcends genre & time, where the legends at @daytimers_uk @deptfordnorthernsoulclub @fieldmaneuvers @heartofsoul.lewisham @rupturelondon @themidnighttrainsesh could collaborate & play B2B and reflect on the pivotal music in their lives as dancers and DJs. The bonds that were forged between these guys was perhaps my favourite part of the project.

Or getting to work with Ruth & @limi_dj on the final chapters of the show, exploring house parties and community centres as spaces across the decades where grassroots culture is made and where we can learn from one another - bringing in groups from King Original Sound to Silhouettes Project, Tomorrow’s Warriors, Emma Warren or Linnett Kamala. Ruth came up with the phrase Community is the Engine Room of Culture, and then magically @_josie_tucker_ said “yes” at the last minute and made this glorious banner with the motto, which now lives at Southbank 💛

As put beautifully in the TV programme, 75 years on from the Festival of Britain, @southbankcentre strives to be a house everyone can live in - a place of common ground, for expression and inspiration through thick and thin. Long may it last. taken in Southbank Centre by @marinasblake

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5 months ago

Oh Rye you were good to us 💗

The @rye_discotheque is a special thing, bringing the joys of loud music, mirror balls, a wallet friendly bar and handmade banners to 150 locals in a beautiful wooden floored, tall ceilinged community centre in the heart of town. 10/10 to the dancers and all the sparkly dresses, thank you @starry.makes + @tobymelvillebrown for making this space and for inviting me and letting me let loose on the decks and play all the Biggest Feels and cheesiest tunes I love. Also shout out to my dad who was right in saying Toots & the Maytals always gets everyone on their feet.

A perfect bank holiday weekend exploring Rye, Camber Sands, Dungeness and Cranbrook with Ed + Indea too, even if we did need to get towed out of the soft verge pebbles outside Derek Jarman’s Prospect Cottage. taken in Rye Community Centre by @marinasblake

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5 months ago

We can finally reveal The Rye Discotheque DJ line-up! We’ll work backwards, posting the final slot, first.

Can’t wait for these 3 sweet-ass vibe setters to ignite our community centre, IN SEVEN DAYS TIME! by @marinasblake

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5 months ago