This month local residents can take part in free, interactive street performances coordinated by South East Dance, the development organisation for dance in South East England. The performances, titled The Stand In’, will be staged on the streets of Brighton & Hove by local live art company The Art of Disappearing. All performances will be free and open to the public and will take place from 1pm to 5pm, on New Road on Saturday 15 August and on The Plaza by Hove Lawns on Saturday, 22 August.
Space To Dance is South East Dance’s on-going campaign to generate awareness and support for The Dance Space: a new home for dance in the heart of the Circus Street Market regeneration area.
Taking a wry look at the role and physicality of the performer, ‘The Stand In’ involves two willing audience members at a time. This interactive work shifts the balance between performer and audience, asking participants to become the watched. With the help of an audio guide, the participants read scripts and use props to enact a series of scenes. As participants take part in this collaborative experience, they discover just what type of performer they are. The Stand In performances were a crowd favourite at the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival 2015, which saw members of the public queuing round the block to take part.
“The Stand In performances provide a fun way for the public to get behind our campaign to develop The Dance Space,” said Cath James, Programme Director for South East Dance. “We want to encourage dancing on the streets of Brighton and for people to share the experience on social media to help us raise awareness about The Dance Space and about the potential of dance to invigorate and transform lives”.
South East Dance has so far raised 82% of the funds it needs for The Dance Space but is still focused on achieving its current target of raising £500,000 by November 2015 so building work can begin. To raise the remaining amount the organisation is calling on local people and companies to back the campaign by making a donation based on whatever they can afford – every pound raised will go directly to building The Dance Space. Once completed The Dance Space will be the largest centre for dance in the city, with purpose-built studios open to artists and local people of all ages and abilities.
So far South East Dance has raised over 82% of the project’s total cost, thanks to the committed support and investment from Arts Council England, Brighton & Hove City Council, Cathedral Group (Holdings) Ltd, University of Brighton and The Wolfson Foundation. The current goal is to raise £500,000 in order to start building on site in November 2015.
The Stand In takes place at 1pm to 5pm, on New Road on Sat 15 Aug, and Hove Lawns on Sat 22 Aug.
Image courtesy of The Art of Disappearing
