Story so far: The Jurassic Jockeys are an ancient and indigenous clan with a special gift. These extraordinary explorers, (otherwise known as the Dino Whisperers), navigate time on the most wonderful bespoke bicycle-like contraptions! Once they arrive in town they round up and bring to life the skeletons of Dinosaurs which have lain dormant for billions of years. They have been known to tame and even train these old skeletons, so watch out for the most amazing Jurassic ‘Dino Dressage’ displays!
At the Festive Road workshop in Milton Keynes I've been working on a prototype for a new production, The Jurassic Jockeys.
The ideas have come from our stilt walking group, The Extreme Ramblers, who meet regularly at Festive Road for some wild stilt walking adventures.
Over the last few months a couple of us have been working on designs and testing out different materials; we are almost at the point of going into full production... pending on funding!
I've been carving our first polystyrene dinosaur skull,(I've named her Vanessa) and Zena has been cutting and gluing. Clive has been working out how to best animate our dino-puppet.
The final piece will be in two phases of production. Firstly, the creation of a herd of stilt walking, raptor-like, creatures (of which Vanessa is the first), which will premiere at Luton International Carnival in May this year. Secondly, the creation of a very large scale creature which will be designed over the summer by a group of lead artists from Festive Road, in collaboration with Theatrical Engineer, Mike Pattison.
The ideas for this piece are still in development and we would expect that over the next couple of months, during the devising and rehearsal period, the narrative, characters and designs would develop further. 
We are thinking that the jockeys will have the feel of a cross between cowboy midnight robbers and steam punk palaeontologists.
We are aiming to create a part promenade, part site-specific show which will feature stilt-walking
dinosaur puppets, physical performance and some large scale bicycle based and motorised structures. We're also thinking about a specially designed sound-scape created by Steve McDaniel, a Milton Keynes based artist.
For the Luton outing, our Jurassic Jockeys will also be riding some wonderful bicycle-like contraptions which we are borrowing; they were fabricated by Mike Pattison for the Para Olympic closing ceremony.
So, look out for a herd of Jurassic Jockeys doing Dino Dressage at a festival near you this summer! And take a look at the video of Vanessa causing havoc at our workshop this week!
Finger crossed we'll get the funding we need to go into production...
