Longways/Crosswise – The Festival of the Bay 2018

Inspired by David Cox’s provocative paintings of the crossings, Longways/ Crosswise is an outdoor site-specific dance performance which will take place on the coastal edge of Morecambe Bay.

An ensemble of professional dancers and local participants will work together to imagine the journeys and stories of those who once crossed the sands in the last of the light. The performance will start an hour before sunset and will unfold beneath the fading light and phenomenal transformation of the Bay at the close of day. Together the audience and performers will witness the Bay’s unique, ever-changing landscape from the dim light of dusk through to the dramatic shadowy setting of night.

Choreographed by Jenny Reeves and Ellen Jeffrey, Longways/ Crosswise is a world-premiere performance by About Time Dance Company, commissioned by Morecambe Bay Partnership. Tracing the ripples and folds of the sand and the urgent flow of the tide, the patterns and characteristics of the bay are projected through the physicality of the ensemble. Between water and land, between day and night, between those that once walked the sands and those that still do, Longways/Crosswise creates a tangible, lived encounter with the shifting world of Morecambe Bay.

Suitable for ages 7 and up, the event is free but must be booked in advance. This performance involves an uneven walk outdoors and unfortunately, the route the performance takes is not suitable for users of wheelchairs/mobility scooters/prams/pushchairs or those with mobility difficulties. Following each performance, the audience will be invited to enjoy refreshments and music at Gaskell Hall.

Longways/ Crosswise is just one of five brand new landscape art commissions taking place in and around Morecambe Bay. Each artwork will take its inspiration from the Bay’s spectacular natural beauty and unique cultural heritage. Morecambe Bay Partnership’s Headlands to Headspace programme will run until March 2019 and will also feature a permanent sculpture from internationally-renowned land artist Chris Drury; a striking evocation of Viking heritage from sculptor Anna Gillespie; a mysterious series of temporary dwellings from British sculptor and environmental artist Rob Mulholland, and intrepid performance storytelling from Emily Hennessey.