Forest dancing a sell-out in Challock woodlands – see it online if you missed it

Oct. 16, 2012 - PRLog -- King’s Wood in Challock, Kent, was the stage for a series of open air, promenade-style dance performances called Marks, Measures, Maps and Mind.

If you missed the series, aimed at bringing contemporary dance to a mainstream audience, you can see the performance online now. A film was made at one of the performances and has been uploaded to vimeo so people can see some of the magic created.

Each of the six performances over the August bank holiday was free to attend and led the audiences through the forest, following the brightly-coloured dancers for each unique show.

Using nature’s surroundings, lighting, sounds and colours, the performances were ultimately unique, having been performed at different times of the day, in differing weather conditions.

The project was commissioned by Turner Contemporary, Stour Valley Arts and South East Dance as part of Turning Point South East – RELAY, a project run alongside the Olympics.

Renowned choreographers from Dog Kennel Hill Project worked with dancers to create the performances in response to the space and environment of King’s Wood.

The marriage of contemporary dance and a forest ramble, aimed to engage and inspire new audiences, taking dance out of the theatre and into a natural environment to attract both the dance community and others who may not have watched dance before.

The audiences reflected this, being made up of both dance fraternity and mainstream audience members. Some people even joined the audiences spontaneously, having seen others heading off into the forest for the show.

Cathy Westbrook, Director of Performing Arts Network Kent (PANeK), who came along, said:

“Marks, Measures, Maps and Mind was a perfect piece of performance for the beautiful King’s Wood setting.  

“The choreography was in perfect harmony with the environment and the result was ethereal and magical but with no hint of ‘woodland twee’ - it was uniquely contemporary, dramatic, moving and thought-provoking.”

A spokesman for the partnership said: “The forest provided no staging infrastructure, so the challenge was to use what was there creatively and use modern technology alongside it without taking away from the natural state.

“Speakers were hidden in trees, so at times, the audience could hear sounds not associated with the forest, including sonar.

“Nature provided each performance with different lighting and sounds, so each experience would have been different.

“We had some rain during one performance but we didn’t get wet – the forest canopy protected us and the experience of hearing the rain but not feeling it was incredible in such an inspiring setting.”

“The logistics of putting on such an unusual piece were phenomenal at times, but this was all hidden from the audience, who saw polished, seamless and effortless performances.
“It’s an experience most will not forget, or get the opportunity to do again.”

To view the video, log onto www.vimeo.com/50011142