Have you ever wanted to take to the stage?  Now is your chance! Choreographer Gary Clarke is looking for four women, aged 30-plus and preferably with links to the mining industry, to join him, his seven dancers and a live brass quintet on stage as COAL comes to Gulbenkian, Canterbury, on Friday 28 October.

Hailed by critics as “urgent and heroic” and “emotional dynamite”, Gary Clarke Company’s COAL is a riveting dance theatre show that takes a nostalgic but honest look at the hard hitting realities of life at the coal face. The back-breaking physical graft and the impact it makes on body and soul, both underground and on the surface.

The four women will feature in a small section of the show and play members of the women’s union ‘Women Against Pit Closures’ established in 1984.

The selected women – who will receive a food and travel allowance to cover rehearsals as well as two complimentary tickets to the show – will perform alongside and be supported by acclaimed dance artist TC Howard. No stage or dance experience is necessary, although the role will involve some physical work. Gary Clarke and TC Howard will work with everyone’s individual needs and abilities.

Anybody interested in finding out more about the production and the involvement needed, should apply to attend an open workshop at Gulbenkian on Tuesday 4 October from 18.30-20.30. The workshop is an opportunity to meet Gary Clarke & TC Howard, find out more about the production, ask questions and try out some ideas for the show.

For any inquiries or to register interest in the workshop e-mail Laura Barber at engagementcoal@gmail.com or call 07391 621966. For more information, please visit: http://coaltour.co.uk/engagement/call-out-for-women/

Colyer-Fergusson Gallery is delighted to be hosting Preludes (where you go, I go), a new exhibition by Kent-based visual artist, actor and illustrator Adam de Ville, which opens on Saturday 24 September.

Adam’s new exhibition, created especially for Colyer-Fergusson, takes inspiration from Gavin Bryars’ piece, Sinking of the Titanic, in which the composer imagines what the music the band was playing as the ship sank might have sounded like as the band played during the sinking, and what happened to the music as it continued to reverberate in the water.

From May to August this year, Adam was the Armchair Artist-in-Residence at the Beaney Museum in Canterbury, for which he also created Something Between Us, an instillation exploring the life of the physical book, funded by Canterbury Arts Council; he has also had exhibitions at the Stark Gallery and the Beaney Front Room. His illustrations accompanied the book Richmond Bigbottom, a fairy-tale for children published in 2015.

You can find out more about Adam and his public theatre/art installation work on his webpages.

Preludes (where you go, I go) will be on display at Colyer-Fergusson Gallery on the University of Kent’s Canterbury campus from 24 September – 4 November; admission is free.

The University of Kent Players are bringing Jane Austen’s timeless classic to the Gulbenkian stage this October.

Adapted and directed by Leila Sangtabi (School Arts), expect to see beautiful costumes, mesmerising set and fabulous regency dancing!

The production – the Players’ most ambitious to date – is already in full swing, but we need your support to make it happen.

Any donations, via crowdfunding, will help cover our production costs, as well as enabling us to donate a larger amount of ticket sale profit to our chosen charity – the Kent MS Therapy Centre in Canterbury.

In return, apart from our expressed gratitude, you can grab yourself some great goodies and experiences only available to our Indiegogo backers, including Mr Darcy’s backstage tour, Lizzie’s regency dance class and goody bags.

Your donations will go towards the building of our fantastic set designed by Neil Hornsey (Estates) and the creation of some beautiful costumes.

If you are unable to back us then don’t worry, there are other ways you could help us to get to our £700 target. Please share our campaign far and wide and tell all of your friends about the production! You can also grab some tickets from the Gulbenkian and come down to support us during our three night run.

To keep up to date with the Players then follow us on social media! We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

The annual inspection from Visit England has confirmed the University has achieved a Four to Five star campus rating for its accommodation this year.

The Inspector made special mention of the “consistently high standards and attention to detail in all areas of housekeeping and all management and staff involved should be commended for their hard work and diligence.”

Kevin Stuckey, Head of Residences and Conference Services said: ‘Everyone connected with looking after and promoting our accommodation, reception, catering/conference facilities and the campus estate in general should be very proud of this report – A Four to Five Star Campus rating is really terrific.’

To find out more about our accommodation and conference facilities, visit our Conference webpages.

Kent Hospitality would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone that provided feedback via our Mystery Diner scheme in the summer term.

Here is a quick overview of what you told us:

• 81% of you rated us good or excellent overall
• 72% rated the quality of food good or excellent
• 90% of respondents would recommend our outlets to someone else

Feedback included:

‘All staff at Create are friendly, welcoming and always remember what I want before I even get to the front of the queue!’

‘Bea and Mandy are awesome at No1 Bistro. All the staff at No1 Bistro are fantastic, makes a wonderful atmosphere.’

Information about how to provide feedback via our Mystery Diner scheme is available across our outlets.

Gulbenkian are preparing for the annual bOing! International Family Festival which takes place on Saturday/Sunday (27-28 August).

As part of the festival, there is a stage being erected on the grass between Marlowe and the Senate building which will be used as a music stage by young people associated with ART31, a Kent-wide network funded by Gulbenkian, KCC and Arts Council England.

On Friday (26 August), this stage will be home to the annual Rock School who will be using it for rehearsals and performances. The rehearsals will take place during the day with the final performance planned for 14.00. The team will be monitoring the noise volume but there is likely to be some impact to those in the surrounding space.

Please do let any of the Gulbenkian team (in person or ext 3298) know if this activity proves to be disruptive.

To acknowledge your support, we are pleased to offer you and your families tickets to see Jasmin Vardimon Company’s Pinocchio on Sunday 28 August (either show) at 50% making a ticket £3. This is a brand new adaptation premiering at bOing! Festival and is suitable for ages 7+.

You can book these tickets by ringing box office on 01227 769075 OR at the counter (not via the website). There is no cap on the number of tickets you can buy, but tickets are subject to availability.

This year, we are extending the Aurora programme to include special sessions open to ALL staff at the University. The first event will be on Friday 9 September 2016, 9.30 – 12.30.

The event will be hosted by our new Aurora Champion for this year Yvonne Sherwood, Professor of Religious Studies, and we are delighted to have Michelle Ryan, Professor of Social and Organisational Psychology at the University of Exeter, UK and a (part-time) Professor of Diversity at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, delivering a talk on women’s leadership. Research into the glass cliff was named by the New York Times as one of the top 100 ideas that shaped 2008.

Uncovering the Glass Cliff: Women’s leadership roles in times of crisis examines what happens when women begin to take on leadership roles in increasing numbers. Extending the metaphor of the glass ceiling, ‘the glass cliff’ describes a leadership phenomenon whereby women are more likely to be found in leadership positions that are associated with a greater risk of failure and criticism.

This talk will describe a decade’s worth of research which has uncovered the phenomenon of the glass cliff looking at archival research into company performance, experimental laboratory studies, and interviews with female leaders. We will also examine some of the underlying psychological processes: stereotypes, support networks, and organisational strategy. Implications for gender equality initiatives and for women who are aiming for leadership roles will be discussed.

To register your interest in attending the event, please could you email the Learning and Development team ldev@kent.ac.uk by Wednesday 31 August 2016.

The University of Kent featured in the BBC R4 series, Our Man in Greeneland.

Episode 4 of the series, broadcast on Monday 22 August, featured the BBC’s man in Havana, Will Grant, following in the footsteps of Graham Greene’s novel and screenplay, Our Man in Havana. Will mentioned that he grew up in Canterbury and was introduced to classic films by his father, Michael Grant, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at Kent until his retirement.

You can listen to the broadcast on the BBC webpages.

Applications are now open for the summer 2016 Public Engagement with Research Fund.

This fund (£20,000) builds on the University of Kent’s commitment to embed public engagement with research across the institution.

The fund is open to applications (maximum budget £2000) from academics in all three Faculties with a deadline of 17.00, Friday 30 September 2016.

The application form and guidance can be found at: https://www.kent.ac.uk/publicengagement/per-fund.html

If you have questions about the fund, or more generally about Public Engagement with Research, please contact Maddy Bell, our Impact & Engagement Officer at peresearch@kent.ac.uk

bOing! is set to be a brilliant weekend of family-friendly free and ticketed performances, workshops and creativity across the Canterbury campus.

For ages 7+, headlining this year’s festival is a fantastic new adaptation of the dark and classic tale Pinocchio by Jasmin Vardimon Company.  The ART31 Kent stage returns with a vibrant mix of acts from Canterbury and around and join us on a strange and exciting journey in ‘Stanley’, a customised 1980’s Ford Orion in Ride!

For 3-7 years, dress up and join the royal court in the The Princess and the Pea, explore the beautiful Pop Up Garden, grab a pen and kick off your shoes for The Dance Show and Superhero fans shouldn’t miss the battle of super proportions in KAPOW!

For little bunnies aged 2 and under (and not so little bunnies) take a hop skip and jump to our Burrow to enjoy poetry, performance, music and much more! Plus meet the mysterious goat featured in one of artist Chagall’s paintings in Grandfather’s House.

All ages will enjoy the dazzling maze of winding paths and soaring domes melded with light and colour in Mirazozo Luminarium – a giant inflatable structure just waiting to be explored!

Kent staff can also benefit from a 50% off ticket price for Pinocchio – Use discount code ‘KentStaff’ when booking online, over the phone or in person. Offer applies to performances on Sunday 28 August 11.45 and 15.00 only, subject to availability. 50% discount applies to bOing! adult and child ticket price £6.

We hope to see lots of you there – see www.boingfestival.com for more information.