Rope Girls: Animation for Rotherham Children's Capital of Culture

An animated short film created by animation artist Natasha Poland with Thrybergh Academy and Bramley Grange School for Rotherham Children's Capital of Culture 2025. 

The inspiration for this animation was 'Aerialist', an autobiographical book written by Rebecca Truman, and the Skinning the Cat archive held by the National Fairground and Circus Archive.  

After consulting the archive, Natasha prepared the storyline and short film outline in readiness to work with the students. She delivered twelve workshops, where participants created storyboards, concept art and assets such as puppets, cut-outs, backgrounds and digital illustrations. They also recorded voice-overs, sound effects and music to bring the story to life. The students used film, stop-motion and 2D analogue and digital animation assets to create the final film, which was compiled in the post-production phase by Natasha.

This animation has been created in partnership with Rotherham Children's Capital of Culture.

Rope Women. 20 July - 13 December 2026. Free and open to all. Explore more of the exhibition on the Player series: Rope Women