MARK JEFFERY COLLABORATION

The Labours: An Astronomical Dance (2011)

Mark Jeffery & Judd Morrissey
The Labours: An Astronomical Dance

Dance
Live event, Tues 21 June, from twilight across Lincoln city centre

US based artists Mark Jeffery and Judd Morrissey are to create a community-driven choreographic event developed and presented in Lincolnshire. Inspired by Greek Mythology, former Lincoln resident Lord Alfred Tennyson's poem Ulysses, and the astronomical mechanics of the night sky, the project explores gestures of labour amongst the people of Lincolnshire. Involving an extensive cast of volunteer performers, the project's culmination will be presented at twilight on summer solstice. The Labours will use a computer-driven real-time celestial map of the sky over Lincoln as a score for the dance, which will take place in various constellations throughout the city.

Nightjar is a commissioning programme initiated and directed by independent producer Jo Mardell, presenting temporary artworks and encounters between the hours of dusk and dawn. This new commission continues Nightjars fascination with the liminality of night and day and will be the first of a series of artworks planned for Lincolnshire exploring the nightfall of the city and its surrounding landscape.

The Labours: An Astronomical Dance is part of Igniting Ambition, a Cultural Olympiad programme in the East Midlands which invests in projects and people that take the London 2012 Games as their inspiration to create once-in-a-lifetime cultural opportunities for audiences and communities. Igniting Ambition is funded by Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to create a cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the European Regional Development Fund and the East Midlands Development Agency, with the support of Arts Council England and many others.

The project is also funded by The National Lottery through Arts Council England and supported by Lincolnshire Dance, Dance4, Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, the University of Lincoln and The Choreographic Lab, the University of Northampton.

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