OUR COMMUNITY PROJECTS AND SOCIAL INITIATIVES
Secret Sub Rosa was founded on community spirit. In fact being a community is what drives the whole ethos behind everything we do. From its conception 10 years ago when we organised a now infamous party with several different groups cooperating, it became clear very quickly that the people we all knew had such similar ideals. We ultimately recognised that the spirt of shared experiences when creating our productions, from the idea sessions, to the camp art workshops we hold, the fun we have creating signs and props, the feeling we gather as we prepare any production is actually commented on and recognised from the atmosphere we produce and the engagement of newcomers and event attendees during our shows. Our creative juices are palpable!
In 2024 we registered Secret Sub Rosa as a Community Interest Company. We believe our wider community, the public and any large or small groups can openly learn and create together to enrich lives and have some great fun doing so along the way. As a committee based organisation now we feel we have just grown up a bit. Although we are all still like children inside when it comes to dreaming up new and exciting concepts!
Our aims are to provide activities, hold events and be a platform for anyone who wants to be creative with us. A recent success was much celebrated as we received an award for our first CIC workshop where we invited the public to spend the day prop building.
We have many ideas moving forward, and set our aims to include founding an arts and music centre where we can base our organisation.
As we document new projects we will update our site and hopefully see you at one of our gatherings soon!
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The Elevate Project
A not-for-profit community and arts based project promoting the stunning North Yorkshire coastline and local DJ talent.
Filmed in collaboration with Scarborough Borough Council, Drone Support Services, Media Support Services and Secret Sub Rosa Events. The Elevate Project was initiated to create a sunrise to sunset themed concept film to support and promote local DJs and artists in a range of beautiful, natural, and heritage locations on the North Yorkshire coast.
The project was devised through lockdown, when the music and creative industries were on pause, and the livelihood of so many musicians and DJ’s was and still is in jeopardy. We considered as a collective, what better way to show off our beautiful coastline, and showcase the best and upcoming DJ talent the North Yorkshire coast has to offer. DJ’s Smokin-J, Deelicious, Bigg Louis and Kyle Rees were all extremely excited to be part of the project and produced some superb sets in their own unique styles.
Scarborough Borough Council was amazing too. They went out of their way to help us with the complicated logistics behind the scenes, and of course to allow us to set up in all these special locations. Who can say they have seen a DJ perform on Whitby Pier, or on top of the iconic waterfall at Peasholm Park? Well now you can!
The concept is to have one continuous mix with a sunrise to sunset approach. Each DJ’s set flows seamlessly into the other while sweeping vistas carry the viewer towards the next location. We filmed it all in one day, and a very long day it was! From the initial set up on Whitby Pier at 3.30am, to 8.30am at The Victoria Hotel, Robin Hood’s Bay, moving on to Scarborough Spa at 3pm, and finally 8pm at Peasholm Park: a wonderful Victorian era Japanese Garden, also located in Scarborough.
During the planning stages, the Animated Objects Theatre Company got on board with the idea. Lee and Dawn from Animated Objects came down to Scarborough’s South Bay and created a custom piece of beach art just for the Elevate Project, and what a glorious day we picked for them to create their piece on!
Helen and Richard from Drone Support Services and Media Support Services shot the whole film using 2 stand alone cameras, 1 gimbal and 3 drones, resulting in some absolutely amazing shots of all the locations. The initial idea for the project was born from Richard’s love of dance music, and seeing the DJ Charlotte de Witte do a set filmed by drones. They’ve also had the gruelling task of editing all the footage together.
Gareth, Jaime and Ashley from Secret Sub Rosa Events ran the music side of things, providing all music equipment, and using their extensive music production skills to bring this side of the project together. Jaime is also the architect of the Elevate logo to accompany the concept.
The audio mastering was beautifully realised by James Orvis of Balter Records, and Douglas Doherty. We hope you enjoy this much loved project.