CURTIS WATT
Multi-artist
Poet • Rapper • Music • Producer • Percussionist • Actor • Author •Creative coach
MEMORABLE MOMENTS
I spend most of my time travelling, meeting people, hearing their stories, joys, agonies, dreams... During the times we spend together I have witnessed what I sometimes percieve as miracles: Children who don't ordinarily engage with literacy winning poetry slams up against hundreds of their peers; people learning on the spot that they have the natural ability to memorise lenthy texts, sing, beatbox, play the drum in perfect rhythm, and much more. I believe that being in a creative environmet, in which peple are encouraged to express themselves freely, can have a healing effect.
Here are some memorable moments from such sessions:
What's Your Story project with Wiritng on the Wall, Advance PSS and Brothers of Charity.
From September to December 2015 I ran 12 creative sessions with a group of individuals at Thingwall Hall.
Because the people who made up this group had such a vast range of abilities and limitations, I decided to use percussion as a binding activity to help us focus as a group.
Our task was to create original writings and showcase them at a final event before Christmas.
This video gives you an idea of what we achieved.
We had lots of fun and made giant leaps of personal achievement, so I hope this short film gives you an idea of the amazing results of our hard work.
Enjoy.
LIVING BOOKS AT JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY 2014
Pete here is a stroke survivor, and in 2014 he and some freinds got together and bravely shared their experiences with some complete strangers. Sounds bonkers, but it's true.
The concept is called talking books, and the principal is to make oneself availably in a library setting so that people can approach you and ask you questions about certain elements of your life.
This was another project with Writing on the Wall and the Stroke Association, with volunteer speech and language therapists from The University of Manchester.
My task was to prepare these brave souls for the task at hand, ensurring they would not run out of things to say and didn't feel inhibited.
It was a great sucess!
DON'T COME AROUND HURR, SAYIN' U GOT NO RHYTHM!
The video below brings back very fond memories of what started out as therapeutic drumming and percussion with the homies, and grew into a mini festival with innocent by-passers.
IT IS THE RHYTHMS THAT BIND US
