The site specific performance was made during the covid pandemic to celebrate the harvest of heritage wheat in the town of New Mills, in the High Peak.
The work champions forms of feminine power that draws on the collaborative effect of communication, trust and shared goals to find something new; a collective founded upon connectivity, incorporating folkloric wisdom and addressing the politics of space.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu-Z6stR-wU
Drawing inspiration from our research of British harvest festivals, Twisted Trees Productions have reimagined the Corn Dolly, and the spirit of the goddess she was made to preserve from one harvest to the next.
The work considers the story of connectivity; between individuals and communities, our memories and hopes. It tells the story of ancient and recent times, of how people need to come together as a collective. Dancing, being together, holding hands and other physical connections have been restricted by covid, but this can be overcome through creativity.
Workshop Weekends...
The women tell their own stories through their costumes which have been developed over the summer workshops.
The project harvested women’s stories to make wearable paintings; bringing texture, colour and pattern to life through the movement of the women’s bodies.
We Move Together appeared on the streets of New Mills on September 24th, 6-7pm and with Shovel Dance Collective in Torr Vale Mill.
The harvest in Autumn was the group performance of movement by the women in their cloaks, that responded to several specific sites: the urban environment on the main road through New Mills, the rugged and industrial landscape of the Torrs Heritage Steps and Park, and occupying the new Millennium Walkway, before entering Torr Vale Mill which has a new use as an event venue. Here the women joined the band Shovel Dance Collective, a non-binary, Marxist collective of musicians who are aiming to uncover proto-feminist narratives and queer histories, and to make heard the voices of the working people that created and create the wealth of the world. Here the women moved together to the folk tune The Ripe and Bearded Barley which the band learned especially for the performance.
We move Together was funded by the following partners: