'While you were asleep, while you were elsewhere and sounds were hushed, the dancers appeared'
3am, 17th Dec. 2021, London
In the dark gloom of night, dancers skilfully weaved through London town to music nobody could hear. Their route was carefully traced with chalk, with each movement being documented to give evidence of a dance nobody witnessed. Movement gracefully and originally directed by the shapes of their costumes and the interaction with the space around them.
Would you like to go on a journey too?
Today's invisible dances were the one time this unusual performance will be 'seen' in London. You can find the traces a few steps away from Waterloo station, at the entrance of Morley College Waterloo.
Come along and follow the traces yourself, traces of a dance that was never theirs: it is yours. Yours to see, follow, and dance along, finding your own journey.
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Invisible Dances – Art in & around Lockdown was created to join artists and audiences without them necessarily meeting in the traditional sense.
Invisible Dances invites the audience to experience art in a new and creative way. Appropriate to individual local social distancing regulations, it seeks its place in public space and transforms streets and squares into stages. The unannounced performance takes place at night, when people are asleep, to surprise, stimulate and guide them the next morning with its colourful traces. This new piece combines dance and visual art in a poetic, playful and hopefully inspiring way for many people. The aim of this work is to bring dance and culture directly back to city centres.
The project Invisible Dances takes place in many cities around the world between September and December 2020 and is organized and performed in collaboration with local artists.
In times of partially closed borders and a retreat into the digital world, we create new international connections through visible-invisible art.
Watch and interact with the traces all over the world, ElisabethSchilling_Invisible Dances_Art_in&around_lockdown
Invisible Dances was brought to London by team of dance artists Back2basix and in collaboration with costume design artist Yuliya Krylova.
Thank you to Elisabeth Schilling and team, Morley College Waterloo: premises team, marketing team, Gerald Jones, Luke Scott, Tim Taylor; Yuliya Krylova and 137 Productions for their contribution and support in making ID happen.
