Dreamers Dance

Dreamers Dance is a premiere of an ambitious, experimental, installation dance performance at ArtWork Atelier, Salford, Thursday 19th April at 8.45pm (performance start time, please arrive at least 15 minutes before).

Taking place at twilight to take us from the ‘real’ to the dream world, this one-night only performance brings together light and text artist Elisa Artesero, electronic music producer Caro C, choreographer Belinda Grantham, director Graham Hicks and dancers from UCEN.

Set around Artesero’s large-scale installation DREAMERS in the industrial setting of artist studios, ArtWork Atelier in Salford, a small selection of viewers will be taken through from sleep into dream, a dance in the liminal space of twilight to the edge of night.

Artesero has designed the production to work with the fading twilight in her lighting design, with a new musical score produced by Caro C supporting the original choreography by Grantham, Hicks, and the 10 young dancers.

This is a FREE event, but spaces are limited, so booking is essential https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/venue/FKDLMF

Note the main performance is at 8.45pm to work together with the fading twilight, the 7pm option is mainly for students or others who cannot make the main performance. Please arrive at least 15 minutes before for a short introduction and to ensure everyone is in place for a prompt start.

Access: The site-specific nature of this performance, in a building set for demolition, means that it is not fully accessible to wheelchair users. Stairs access the top floor space, and unfortunately there is no passenger lift.

Here’s a little teaser video with some of Caro’s music:

Solo exhibition – Light Weather (12th – 16th March 2012)

Light Weather is my first solo exhibition in the Link Gallery, Manchester. The exhibition comprises of two parts: the Link is a large-scale installation, at one end of the gallery there is an abstract sky lit up with coloured flashes of light, throughout the rest of the gallery there are coloured pools of light suspended above the floor. The Foyer space shows some of my abstract light photography and an experimental light sculpture.

The installation is a complete experiment. It’s not often I have the opportunity to work in such a large and unusual space where I can let my imagination run wild (time and health and safety restrictions aside). So I have responded to the space to create an installation which is similar to a stage set. Nothing is naturalistic, the sky and pools of light are abstractions of what they represent, and are lit up with bright colours appealing to the senses. People can walk through the set, as both participants and audience, and hopefully enjoy it as a memorable interruption to their day.

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Throughout the week there have been many people who have stopped and stared up at the flashing sky suspended from the ceiling of a hexagon in the Link. People have commented that they have spent a good 10 minutes or so looking at the exhibition and listening to my specially matched playlist of music, enjoying the calming effect it has had. The Link is essentially a walkway from one building to the next, many people just walk through and only glance at what is on the walls, so it is nice to know that my work has made some people pause from where they are going. Others said they enjoyed the use of the space as a full-scale installation as this has not happened for quite some time.

Overall I’m pleased with the exhibition and how well it has been received. As I said before, it was an experiment, plus I only had a day and a half to install it all, so there are things I’d change. I only learnt these during the installation and when it was up – the main one being that the hallway windows were too light during the day, and unfortunately I was not allowed to black them out due to health and safety regulations. However, the overall look and effect was as intended (especially at night), and it has encouraged me to continue to be ambitious with my ideas and set ups.