public relations
Gypsies, Come Dancing!
Press Release
Gypsies, Come Dancing!
Forget Got to Dance and Strictly Come Dancing, telly bosses are currently battling it out for the rights to bring an even more sequined dance event to our screens, the World Gypsy Dance Championships! The first and only worldwide contest for dancers from the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller community is to be hosted in London later this year. Organisers have already begun the worldwide search for the next Gypsy dance star, and are expecting stiff competition for the coveted gold medal.
Running the contest is Irish Romany Gypsy, Róisín Mullins, a former Irish Dance World Medallist and dancer with Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance. Róisín has judged thousands of Gypsy acts, including performing horses, in TV talent shows such as Travellers Got Talent and Gypsy and Traveller Face of the Year, alongside singers David Essex and Jentina. But now Róisín will be encouraging Travellers to swap their twenty stone wedding dresses for flamenco skirts, hitch up their wagons, and hit auditions at Traveller fairs, sites and events throughout the UK.
Róisín Mullins said: “The World Gypsy Dance Championships is a fantastic opportunity for dancers to take centre stage. We have already seen singers from the community make it on TV talent shows, but for me, the dancers represent our culture best”.
Joining Róisín to organise the contest will be her Gypsy partner, Irish dance show producer, Jack Jacobs. The pair are keen to show off a more positive side to the community, at what they hope will be the biggest gathering of gypsy dancers in history. Event organiser Jack is particularly excited about revealing the community’s hidden talent.
Jack Jacobs said: “The contest is a real first for the Gypsy and Traveller community. There are some incredibly talented dancers out there, and traditional dance styles that we, in the UK, have never seen before. So the chance to pull Gypsy dancers together from all over the world to compete against one another will be an amazing site”.
Celebrities rumoured to be taking a seat on the judging panel alongside Róisín include world famous Gypsy dancers, and stars from the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.
As well as heavily diamented costumes and fake tan, the contest promises to deliver an all out battle of traditional versus modern, with Flamenco and Irish dancing facing off against hip hop and street dance.
Entrants can compete in any dance style, but must be from a Gypsy, Roma or Traveller background.
To enter visit www.worldgypsydancechampionships.com
Press Enquiries:
For all media enquiries please contact: siobhan@connopr.com Tel: 07966 177025 or Jack Jacobs at jackjacobs@live.co.uk
Connor PR entertainment PR Specialist, Connor PR working with Gypsies, Come Dancing
THE YOUTH REBELLION –AN ANTI-PINK AND BLUE PROTEST ROCKS HOUSE OF FRASER, OXFORD STREET
THE YOUTH REBELLION –AN ANTI-PINK AND BLUE PROTEST ROCKS HOUSE OF FRASER, OXFORD STREET
Rockabyebaby
“Stand out from the crowd? Yes please!
Why is the crowd all dressed the same anyway?”
- We’ve learnt to walk – let us stand on our own two feet!
- We’ve learnt to talk – let us have a voice!
Gone are the days when children were seen but not heard – an electric group of future trend-setters were seen protesting on Oxford Street, London, over the weekend. Why? Because they are fed up with being told to wear boring stereotypical clothes! Lucky for them, a new label has come to town.
Anti-stereotype brand, Rockabye-Baby, has a fresh approach to dressing kids and a motto to match – don’t give into mainstream cute. Owner and founder, Emma Parkes-McQueen, believes kids should be able to dress as individually as they think and is spearheading the campaign ‘down with cute; up with cool’. This bright and funky range of luxury cotton clothes for children up to the age of eight looks fantastic and is not designed with ‘three-year-old-Daisy-who-only-wears-pink’ or ‘six-year-old-Max-who-loves-dragons’ in mind. With a musical theme to boot, they are cool clothes that crush clichés.
Just as toy shops have started to listen to the public about the need to scrap the signage of gender-specific toys, Emma believes the same should be said for clothes. Why do we feel the need to even define the sex of our children? Is it because we’re offended if someone thinks our boy is a girl? Is it because we’re worried they will stand out from the crowd?
The history of clothing is an endless read – from a 1918 trade publication stating that pink (the stronger colour) was right for boys and blue (the delicate and dainty option) was the one to dress girls in; to shops publishing charts about which colours were appropriate for which sex; jumping to 1940 when the colours were switched; and then the 1960s seeing a unisex comeback…
This great new brand simply focuses on cool – that’s unisex cool; across the board cool; appealing to all cool. It’s more than a brand. It’s a statement and one that is fun to get behind (and into). With an ethos that makes refreshing sense and a quality that is unrivalled, what’s not to love about this fresh new label!?
Following a competition organised by The Great Retail Revival Foundation, Rockabye-Baby was chosen as one the UK’s hottest new retailers to showcase its clothes at House of Fraser’s POP at HOF – a pop-up at the flagship Oxford Street store. The winner secures a year’s concession online. Champagne Taittinger is partnering the event and customers who buy any POP at HOF brands get a free glass to celebrate.
-Ends-
Notes to editors:
Owner and founder of Rockabye-Baby, Emma Parkes-McQueen is available for interview.
For all media enquiries please contact:
siobhan@connorpr.com / Tel: 07966 177025
Following a competition organised by The Great Retail Revival Foundation, Rockabye-Baby was chosen as one the UK’s hottest new retailers to showcase its collection at House of Fraser’s POP at HOF – a pop-up at the flagship Oxford Street store. The winner secures a year’s concession online. Champagne Taittinger is partnering the event; customers who buy any POP at HOF product get a free glass of champagne.
About House of Fraser:
House of Fraser is a department store group with 59 enviable locations across the UK and Ireland plus one dot.com concept store. As one of the best known names on the high street, House of Fraser has presented customers with an unrivalled nationwide department store for 165 years. The company announced the sale to Nanjing Cenbest on 12 April 2014 marking the exciting beginning for the company under Chinese ownership. The Group has annual sales of £1.2bn and employs 6,800 House of Fraser staff and 13,000 concession staff through 4.5 million sqft of selling space. Customers can shop at House of Fraser from http://www.houseoffraser.co.uk. During 2013, the Group opened its first international franchise store in Abu Dhabi.
FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/rockabye-baby/133581963319701
Twitter: @RockabyeBabyLDN
@gr8retail #popathof @houseoffraser
Website: www.rockabye-baby.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockabyebaby/
www.thegreatretailrevival.org/competition.html
Connor PR working with RockabyeBaby, Connor PR specialist in fashionPR
Connor PR launches restaurant House of the Rising Sun in Shrewsbury
‘EAST MEETS WEST’ COMES TO SHREWSBURY
WITH THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF:
HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN RESTAURANT
ON BUTCHER ROW
Connor PR launches House of the Rising Sun restaurant in Butcher Row, Shrewsbury.
More than 200 people gathered on Tuesday night to celebrate the official launch of a new restaurant, House of the Rising Sun, on Butcher Row. Headed up by entrepreneur Sam Taylor, owner of The Libertine Cocktail Bar and Tea Room, working alongside head chef, Adrian Badland.
The Mayor of Shrewsbury, John Tandy. Celebrity TV chef, Marcus Bean, and Shrewsbury’s business community were among the guests who joined Sam and the patrons of the restaurant on Tuesday evening.
Guests were treated to champagne cocktails and a selection of delicious Pacific Rim canapés as they enjoyed the fusion of global dining in a sumptuous and luxurious atmosphere.
Sam Taylor said “I was overwhelmed by the turn out tonight. I have been focussed on delivering that big city experience in a local town setting, and the feedback from tonight’s event seems to indicate that ambition. Our young team never cease to amaze me with their enthusiasm, attention to detail, and understanding of the importance of top class customer service, so that nobody leaves without having a great dining experience”.
Head chef Adrian Badland added “I’m delighted with the feedback from the fusion dishes my team and I have created over the last four months. We have challenged traditional thinking and worked extremely hard to produce some wonderful taste experiences for our customers. I was particularly delighted to welcome John Tandy the Mayor into the kitchen tonight, who shared his enthusiasm for cooking high quality food with us all!”
Shropshire-born Adrian has worked at numerous award winning restaurants in the West Midlands, and has brought his 20 years’ experience to bear in indulging his passion for creating contemporary dishes distinguished by their unexpected contrasts of flavours and textures.
Media enquiries
Please contact Siobhan at Connor PR Siobhan@connorpr.com
Tel 07966 177025
Photos from the event are available on request
www.hotrs.co.uk
Connor PR launches House of the Rising Sun restaurant, Connor PR expert in event launches, Event PR company Connor PR, Connor PR expert in event launches, Connor PR promoting restaurant PR
Connor PR working with Sam Pooley Wallpaper Project
We love our boobs so much we turned them into wallpaper
– 300 ladies get it off their chest by baring their breasts for wallpaper
– 25% of proceeds of the wallpaper to go to coppafeel website, a breast cancer awareness charity
– Artist Sam Pooley took part in her own topless photo-shoot describing it as “an invigorating experience”. She has posted one of the photographs on her website boobwallpaper website
As the saying goes, a picture paints a thousand words. Likewise, for one Shropshire artist, a wall became an expression of her personality. More than 300 women have been photographed topless as part of a project to create limited-edition wallpaper of women’s breasts.
With a renewed campaign to ban Page 3 models; topless women demanding equal rights on the streets of New York; controversy raging over paparazzi pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge sunbathing semi-nude; and Angelina Jolie revealing she’s had a mastectomy, breasts are very much in the news. This inspired artist Sam Pooley, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire to think about how she feels about her own breasts. Sam did a topless photo shoot in The Quarry, a local park in Shrewsbury town centre – it was both terrifying and liberating.
Sam embarked on a tour of the UK visiting York, London, Bath, Bristol, Northampton, Totnes, Chester & Watford, looking to recruit women to bare breasts of all different shapes, ages and sizes. Sam discovered that the majority of women she photographed didn’t like their breasts. She was inspired to create an artwork that celebrated breasts and in the process, enabled women to feel liberated by the experience and have their self-confidence boosted.
The breast has been an image used in art for many thousands of years, from Stone Age fertility goddesses and classical sculpture to breast-feeding Italian Renaissance Madonna’s and fleshy modern nudes. It has been revered as life-giving, wholesome and liberating. In modern times, photographic images of breasts have become something smutty or rude, while women in many African and South Pacific cultures wander around bare-chested and no-one bats an eyelid.
Sam Pooley says she has been overwhelmed by the response and the inspiring personal stories of many of the volunteers.
“The women in the wallpaper are from all walks of life, from the age of 19 right up to an 82-year-old grandmother.” she said.
“The wallpaper tells so many stories of women who have had mastectomies, breast reductions and enlargements, lifts and tucks, even a professional wet nurse who has breast-fed over 50 children.
“I’ve received some truly inspirational emails from women who’ve had breast cancer and wanted to be part of this campaign. I’m amazed at the stories coming out.”
The final artwork will be unveiled at Miss Pooley’s fine art degree show at Birmingham City University School of Art alongside a soundtrack of some women talking about their breasts. It will be reproduced and sold as limited-edition wallpaper with 25% of proceeds from the sale going towards breast cancer research.
***Sam Pooley is available for interview***
-Ends-
Notes to editors:
Sam Pooley is available for interview, for any media enquiries please contact Siobhan at ConnorPR Tel 07966 177025 / Siobhan@connorpr.com
Case studies of are available on request.
Sam Pooley Biography
Is an artist and a mother. She lives in Shrewsbury Shropshire. She is studying Fine Art at Birmingham City University School of Art.
Sam has many fingers in many pies. She shares a shop Compost & Gooseberry in The Market Hall Shrewsbury where she sells her art and other Artisans creations. She runs Compost Kids art classes for children of all ages. She is the features editor for Severn Magazine where she has a regular column showcasing local creative talent, she works as a creative consultant and has even been known to design and coordinate events.
Mark Williams Thomas worked with Connor PR on Jimmy Savile story
To remain consistently ahead of the competition in covering the UK’s most impactful news story of the year is a remarkable achievement. At the heart of this entry is Lucy Manning’s relentless journalistic determination as well as her compassion for all concerned. Revelation followed revelation, scoop followed scoop in this exemplary news coverage.
Savile, ITN for ITV News
Watch here:
Sarah Rozenthuler Book Launch
This is a link to the Sarah Rozenthuler Life Changing Conversations book launch that Connor PR organised:
Here is a link to Sarah Rozenthuler talking about the book:
Middle Class ABC
Connor PR helped to launch Fi Cotter Craig’s book ‘Middle Class ABC’ which Stephen Fry referred to as “Indispensable and entirely charming”:
HBO Pacific Launch Event
The HBO Pacific Launch event was organised by Siobhan Connor whilst she was working with Taylor Herring:
In November 2010, HBO released The Pacific TV show on DVD and we wanted a launch party that would really stand out and set HBO apart. Siobhan planned an incredible launch party on the HMS Belfast that included a press junket in the day time and a 1940s themed event in the evening. Siobhan’s planning was exemplary, her calm approach filled us with confidence and she delivered an outstanding event that many of our retailers and journalists said was the best entertainment event they had been to all year. Needless to say, I would highly recommend Siobhan and personally, I can’t wait to work on the next project with her!
Ian Fullerton
Marketing Director, HBO