Friday 10th July
You are invited to join us at St John’s Waterloo for the Waterloo Festival on Friday, 10th July.
More info about the Waterloo Festival can be found here.
Book your free tickets below!
Puppet Chorus: The Odd, the Curious & the Cookie
2pm – 4:30pm
Get ready for a delightfully eccentric, hands-on creative adventure. In this vibrant workshop, you will craft your very own colourful cardboard puppet head, complete with a moving mouth. Once the glue dries, everyone will bring their creations together to form a glorious, moving musical chorus! The Puppet Chorus is a joyful celebration of the odd, the curious, and – of course – the cookie! Creative, musical, and delightfully strange, it is perfect for anyone with a wild imagination!
This workshop is organised as part of the Waterloo Festival 2026 and led by Russell Dean, Artistic Director of Strangeface Theatre Company and Director of Strangeface Masks and musician Mark Lambourne.
Moving Stillness, Breathwork into Movement
5pm – 6:30pm
Being still can be hard, both in our minds and bodies. Even for professional dancers, stillness is the hardest thing to master because it is the most exposing.
In this session, we’ll explore the theme of Stillness through Breath – a tool available to everyone.
We will begin with grounding breathing techniques to enter a more embodied state of mind. We will draw inspiration from the breath traversing the body, and the images that will arise as we do so. We will, then, learn how to translate breath and imagery into movement and space.
We will begin with some fire breathing to warm the body up again after our 10-minute break. We will then revisit movement techniques explored in the previous hour, and improvise new ways to integrate them with the improvised sound around us, that of the Stillness Moving Mountain live performance. No experience of yoga, dance, or body work is necessary for this movement session.
You can do as much or as little as you feel like on the day. You will be able to sit on the lawn, a yoga mat, or a chair.
This session takes place in the Churchyard Gardens of St John’s Waterloo, weather permitting. If moving indoors, the performance will take place in the Forum at St John’s Waterloo.
Stillness Moving Mountain: Live Performance for Augmented Flute
6:00pm - 7:00pm
Immerse yourself in Stillness Moving Mountain – lie back on the lawn, close your eyes, and let the music take over. Stillness Moving Mountain is an immersive outdoor sound meditation performed by Partial Wave Child as part of Waterloo Festival 2026. Both long-form live performance and communal deep listening experience, Stillness Moving Mountain is Partial Wave Child’s second improvised composition. It features a new incarnation of the augmented flute, the symbiosis of the acoustic instrument and a purpose-built digital software environment.
It is a work that explores the tension that exists within stillness. Where microtonal and micro-textural changes that occur from the variety of extended flute technics: of air sounds, whisper-tones, harmonics, vocalisations and multi-phonics; are drawn out and gently manipulated by the digital sampler. This reductionism in form allows for an exploration of the imperfection of sound. Where the subtlest of gestures in acoustic delivery are digitally expanded upon, allowing them to exist and grow within their own right. Where the smallest microtonal shift can develop into new harmonic landscapes. And where seemingly static pulses break apart and reform into a terrain of ever-changing movement and fluidity.
A minute change creates friction, friction builds tension, tension amplifies the smallest of gestures into a shining monolith within the flow of music. Nothing goes unnoticed, everything stands out.
In an age of short form, short attention, 40-second content, Stillness Moving Mountain stimulates slow, active, deep listening. Come along, bring a picnic blanket, lie on the lawn, bring friends, relax, and immerse yourself in a meditative state of listening.
There are also a few benches dotted around the garden, and chairs will be made available for those who need them. This is a relaxed performance and free to attend. Alongside, you can also engage with this event through Moving Stillness (in response).
The Puppet Chorus goes on Show by Mental Fight Club
Thursday 9th July, 6:45pm to Sunday 12th July 2026, 6:00pm
Mental Fight Club, Strangeface and St John’s Waterloo are pleased to present an exhibition of puppets hand-made by our very extraordinarily talented Creative Salon participating artists. Working with Stangeface across two extended workshops, they each crafted a character’s head and explored how it speaks and moves. The installation is accompanied by footage of the puppets doing what puppets do. A show not to be missed.
You might also want to visit other exhibitions… More info available here.