Building on 10 years of work with dance in museums and her 'Dancing in Caves' project, Surrey-based choreographer Katie Green has started researching a new dance and archaeology project with support from the National Lottery through Arts Council England (through the Developing Your Creative Practice strand).
Throughout June and July 2023, she will be working with archaeologists, a film-maker, writer, composer and group of dancers in two sites in Dorset and Surrey, particularly exploring the ways that archaeological artefacts and sites can yield new information about humans' relationship with the land through time, and to consider ways of bringing this to life imaginatively through dance, story-telling and music.
On the 18th July, you are warmly invited to a sharing of work-in-progress and new ideas
at Holmbury St Mary Village Hall
from 1.30-4pm, including:
- a guided walk up to Holmbury Hill, the site of an Iron Age hillfort, and then back to Holmbury St Mary Village Hall, with a talk at the summit from archaeologist Judie English
- short performances of new movement ideas along the walk
- an opportunity for refreshments and discussion back at the hall, a chance to feed back and inform future research.
This is a free event, open to everyone who enjoys dance, archaeology and walking in the local landscape!
Capacity is limited, so please book your place in advance using the Eventbrite link here, and let us know as soon as you can if your plans change and you are not able to make it.
Part of the CBA Festival of Archaeology 2023.
About Judie English
Judie first became involved in archaeology excavating ‘by that South Cadbury that is Camelot’ but later became more interested in what was going on beyond the trench - Landscape Archaeology. She has undertaken extensive fieldwork on the South Downs notably with Dick Tapper and the late David Lea. After completing an MA at Winchester University she undertook doctoral research on late prehistoric field systems under the late Peter Drewett.
More information and what to bring:
- Please note this is an informal sharing of research in the very early stages, so the schedule and content of our session on the 18th July may be subject to change. We will try to update this event page/message attendees nearer the time with further details.
- The main part of the event will happen between 1.30pm and 4pm, but you are welcome to arrive from 1pm and to stay until 4.30pm to have more time for discussion if you wish.
- Meet at Holmbury St Mary Village Hall, then it will take about 20-25 minutes to walk to the summit of Holmbury Hill, and the journey back down again is generally faster, but we will punctuate it with performance extracts along the way.
- It's a moderate climb, so wear suitable footwear and come prepared for the weather. You may also choose to bring along a camping chair, cushion or blanket to use when watching our short performance extracts, but note that we don't plan to make any of these sections very long, so this is optional. If you have any questions about accessing the site, do let us know (katie@madebykatiegreen.co.uk). It is a step-free route, but some parts of the path become narrow or quite steep, and can be muddy in wet weather.
- There is a car park directly outside the Hall which you are welcome to use (https://www.holmburystmaryvillagehall.org/), but please park considerately as this car park is in regular use by people walking up to Holmbury Hill.
- The nearest train station to Holmbury St Mary is Gomshall, with others relatively close by at Chilworth and Dorking. If you don't have access to a car and will find it difficult to get to the hall, let us know (katie@madebykatiegreen.co.uk) and we will see if we can help you to arrange shared lifts.
- If you have any dietary requirements we need to bear in mind when arranging refreshments, please let us know (katie@madebykatiegreen.co.uk).
With thanks to Anne Sassin, Ali Clarke, Judie English, Miles, Bron and Meg Russell for their support of the project so far.