Creative Critics: Random Acts of Kindness

Abigail, 10

There were two people performing this piece. Their names were Connor Quill and Katherine Holliinson. They chose 4 kids to go up and dance with both of them in their duet! First they had to spin the wheel, then if you appreciated their dance you would ring the bell on the Tandem. They chose 3 adults to get up and do the performances with them as well. My favourite part was them dancing to Sunshine Saffron because the song was jumpy and I had heard of the song before, I love it!! The Random Acts of Kindness were part of the Yorkshire Festival, they might be going across Yorkshire. Don’t miss them! The songs where called: Sunshine Saffron, Tender Teal, Friendly Fusion and more. They go around to entertain people to make their day happy. They made these postcards for people to write nice things on, that in the future they might do, we got some cards and I got the last one (I think). I recommend this to all ages and don’t miss them. They might be behind the block.

Benjamin, 11

As we arrived to see Them Two Dance, with Connor Quill and Katherine Hollinson, at the Holmfirth Arts Festival, it rained heavily, but the versatile performers found a way around the weather by moving into the market hall. The pop up duet and their Random Tandem carried on and did an amazing performance. Connor Quill and Katherine Hollinson met in Zaragoza, Spain in 2012. They are from Leeds and Manchester but have moved to a smaller area. During the performance they rode around on their tandem and came over to us, they chose someone looking kind to help them with their dance. They spun a wheel and whichever colour of the wheel the pointer landed on, was the dance they would do.

During the performance, they gave the audience each an envelope of Random Acts of Kindness to do. Normally they would ride away to a different location but because they were stuck inside, they only pretended to leave and pretended we were a different audience. They repeated this four times.

This Them Two Dance show is for all ages and extremely funny, I rate it four and a half, out of five stars.

Eden, 9

When I saw Connor Quill and Kathrine Hollinson on their Random Tandem my first reaction was “woah what’s going to happen here?”. Katherine and Connor’s interaction with the audience was outstanding. This performance would appeal to a wide range of audience. I would recommend age’s 0 – 100. Children would love the dancing and the singing and the adult’s would love the overall performance. I think that adults and young adults could understand the message they to be kinder to one another which they were saying through dance and their performance. After each performance yellow envelopes were handed out and inside there was a random act of kindness for the participant to do. It would be interesting to know if everybody who received a yellow envelope did the random act of kindness!

Evie, 11

I really enjoyed the performance Random Acts of Kindness and my favourite dance Them Two Dance did was Mindful Mandarin, because it was full of interesting moves and was very fun. The performers were Katherine Hollinson and Connor Quill, my favourite performer was Connor Quill because he was the funniest and very good at dancing and singing low! They went around on a Random Tandem, and are part of Holmfirth Arts Festival also touring around Yorkshire. Hollinson and Quill met in Spain, Zaragoza in summer 2012. Hollinson studied in ballet and Quill studied in drama and physical theatre. They joined together to make Them Two Dance. On the wheel of the tandem bike they had different colours like blue, yellow, orange which had names like Tender Teal and Mindful Mandarin and Sunshine Saffron. This piece put a smile on my face and certainly everyone else’s faces. This performance was a pop up duet and made everyone want to get involved. This act I would recommend to elderly and younger and at the end they give you an envelope with a Random Act of Kindness to do. I would rate this performance a 10 out of 10 for the dancing and singing they did.

Jake, 9

Creative Critics and I were in Holmfirth. We saw the Random Tandem, a pop up duet that met in Spain. They are touring all over Yorkshire in the summer of 2016. Their names are Conner Quill and Katherine Hollinsen, two people who are interactive, fun and random! As they rode in they were wearing yellow and white jumpers and trousers with a blue tandem. They started honking their horn and ringing bells as they jumped and said “Hi.” When they got the bike all sturdy they said their names and we all said “Hi.” As the act went on they asked for some people to help them in the act. At first the people who were picked have to spin a wheel with colours on it and pull the brake to stop the wheel. Whichever colour gets picked they have to do a certain dance. Some of the dances were Sunshine Saffron, Friendly Future and Tender Teal. In some of the dances they did handstands and funky walking. On Sunshine Saffron two people sat down on chairs with a cup of water and one had a scarf on them. They kept saying the same thing every time they did a different dance. At the end they gave everybody an act of kindness to do. Some people had to plant a flower in an ugly place.

I would recommend this to all ages and all families because it is very interactive and fun to do.

Joshua - Aged 10

Random Acts of Kindness is a random, wonderful and interactive performance performed by Connor Quill and Katherine Hollinson and is a pop-up duet. Going round on their Random Tandem they ask you to perform as many random acts of kindness as you can, and help them if they get a puncture. You might be able to catch up with them on their bike and be asked to do a random act of kindness: help them! With random colours on their bike wheel you press the left brake it will stop the wheel and land on a colour. Those colours are yellow, turquoise, blue and pink. Yellow was an energetic performance with a few lifts and made them have a drink. Turquoise was a very slow pace and actually quite romantic for a street performance, as it involved the performer holding hands with Quill and Hollinson. Pink was one where if you got it you had to hold the bike while they perform their dance. It is one tip top performance and I would highly recommend it! Go and see them for yourself at other Yorkshire Festivals!

Lewis T – Aged 11

‘Them Two Dance’ met in the summer of 2012 in Zaragoza, Spain and hit it off straight away. They were brought together by Dance Manchester for Dance Channels, a European project involving choreographers and dancers from the UK , Spain and Italy .

Even though it was pouring it down with rain in Holmfirth, the actors would struggle to give us anything to see. So they gave us an excellent performance by coming inside and giving us the outstanding ‘Random Acts of Kindness’. I was a bit down in the dumps from all the rain because I thought I wouldn’t be able to see the show but my mood changed as I heard them saying that they would bring it back to us indoors. So as we got back we all sat down and they then came on. It was a joy to see The Random Acts Of Kindness, they put a smile to my face because they let me go with a another person and did a little dance for me and it made me laugh so I was in a good mood.

Before mine, other people participated with them as well. They got to spin the wheel on the Random Tandem which meant that they got to press the brake so that it stopped the wheel and they then did a dance on whatever the wheel arrow landed. I would definitely recommend it to others because it such a joy. If you want to see it I would hurry up because the next performance is at Hebden Bridge Arts Festival 12-1 pm and the performances are 3rd of July. I loved this show so much that I would definitely watch this show because it was so much fun.

Lilia - Aged 10

I never thought that this day would be the best day ever….

We travelled to Holmfirth, to witness a dance. A random dance! At first we all thought that the pouring rain would stop the magical performance, but oh no! They found a way to satisfy our needs, all we had to do was lead the way to the market. Katherine Hollinson and Connor Quill came in on their #RandomTandem to entertain us. I bet Holmfirth felt very lucky to host this amazing show!

Some of our Critics got to be a part of the performance. They danced and they watched and they got to spin the wheel to determine which dance they did.

My favourite performance was called Sunshine Saffron. Two of our Critics got to relax and join Quill and Hollinson, as they danced to a bouncy, summertime song, which put a smile on everyone’s face.

I especially enjoyed that Hollinson and Quill were very unique. They made up dance moves that I’d never seen before, and they were very bubbly and jumpy and they were altogether very nice.

Random Acts of Kindness is a show part of, not only the Yorkshire festival, but also Holmfirth Arts Festival. It travels around Yorkshire searching for victims to randomly entertain in the middle of the streets. They go to Hebden Bridge, Harrogate, and many other venues around Yorkshire.

This fun filled dancing adventure is family friendly and I recommend this amazing, once in a life time experience for any age - toddler to the elderly. It is such an amazing opportunity to go and see this, so if you see two strange people on a #RandomTandem then be sure to follow them to experience a magical opportunity for the whole family!

Olivia - Aged 9

On Saturday at the Holmfirth Arts Festival you could see Random Acts of Kindness. Connor Quill and Kathrine Hollinson tour around Yorkshire on their Random Tandem and get people to help them out with their dances. To choose what dance they do they spin one wheel and ask you to press the bikes brake and whatever colour it is they do that dance. For example, turquoise was Tender Teal. I was invited to join in with this one. I had to hold their hands and they swapped over sides of the bike, still holding my hands to perform a hand dance! It was a bit crazy! After performing they gave me a yellow envelope which contained a Random Act of Kindness that someone had written. It said to “Find someone that you don’t know and tell them they are beautiful!!” I haven’t done it yet! My favourite moment was when Quill did a handstand and made a funny face! He looked directly at me!

Quill and Hollinson met in Spain, Zaragoza in 2012, they have been dancing together for 4 years. I recommend this show for all families because there is no strong language and it is a bit of fun. This is a street theatre show which can pop up anywhere…you can see it around Yorkshire this summer. Find out more at www.themtwodance.co.uk

Ruby - Aged 9

On Saturday 25th of June at Holmfirth Arts Festival, Random Acts of Kindness were performing. The people that performed were named Kathrine Hollinson and Connor Quill and together they are ‘Them Two Dance’. Kathrine and Connor met in the summer in 2012 in Zaragoza, Spain. They have a tandem called Random Tandem. They are travelling to Yorkshire towns and getting somebody to join in with their performance. Kathrine would spin the tandem’s wheel and the person would press the brakes and then a colour would be chosen and Connor and Katherine would perform that show. When the performance is finished you will receive an envelope and inside is a random act of kindness. My favourite performances were Sunshine Saffron and Tender Teal. Connor really stood out to me because he was really funny and he said lots of funny jokes. Katherine was really funny too but Connor stood out just that little bit more. They danced to joyful, bouncy songs and made everyone smile and laugh.

I would recommend this excellent show to families everywhere in Yorkshire. I would rate this show 10/10.