S5 and S6 pupils at Perth High School enjoyed a free dance workshop as part of Horsecross Arts’ Movement season celebrating the life and work of dance pioneer Margaret Morris. Dance artists Kasumi Momoda and Yifeng Zhu led the session which was based on a new choreographic work by Scottish Ballet principal dancer Vincent Hantam. Vincent himself will run a free dance session for over sixteen’s in Perth Concert Hall’s Norie-Miller Studio on Monday evening. Vincent’s work, inspired by the natural movement form associated with Margaret Morris will premere as part of Horsecross Arts’ Movement weekend of exhibitions and performances in Perth on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 October. The two days of free events celebrating the pioneering legacy of the late innovator, artist, dancer, educator, writer and physiotherapist will feature new artists’ films and exclusive live performances of dance, music and the spoken word.
The Movement weekend kicks off on Saturday 15 October with a guided tour of the multi-screen exhibition Movement on Perth Concert Hall’s Threshold Wave and the newly commissioned artists' films by the Scottish artists Brian Hartley, Su Grierson and Katrina McPherson on the big screen in the Norie-Miller Studio. This will be followed by a Movement triple bill of dance, music, film and light in Perth Concert Hall’s Gannochy Auditorium featuring two solos by Vincent Hantam and Jacqueline Harper with a nine-piece finale by Vincent Hantam, Debra Salem and friends. On Sunday morning there will be a double bill guided tour from Perth Concert Hall’s Threshold Wave to the Fergusson Gallery, Perth’s own museum home of the Margaret Morris Archive, as a finissage of the exhibition 125 Years of Margaret Morris. Stuart Hopps stars in one-person drama My Name is Margaret in Perth Concert Hall’s Norie-Miller Studio on Sunday lunchtime which will be followed by a post-show discussion with Stuart and all exhibiting artists.
Iliyana Nedkova, Co-curator of the exhibition and creative director for contemporary art at Horsecross Arts, the creative organization behind Perth Concert Hall and Perth Theatre said: “Margaret Morris is a true pioneer who changed the face of contemporary dance in Scotland and beyond. An icon of her time, often compared to Isodora Duncan, yet today her innovation and extravagance would steer more towards the master of re-invention David Bowie. I am very pleased that our new exhibition Movement at Threshold artspace and the weekend performances at Perth Concert Hall pay a tribute to this woman artist who constantly reinvented herself and her dance over seven extraordinarily innovative decades. It couldn’t be more appropriate to celebrate a true Perth pioneer in the context of the bid for Perth 2021 UK City of Culture.”
Dance with Vincent is in Perth Concert Hall's Norie-Miller Studio on Monday 3 October at 6pm. Free, but booking is essential and donations welcome. Click here to book your free Dance with Vincent space or call Horsecross Arts Box Office on 01738 621031.
Movement is in Perth Concert Hall on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 October. Free, but booking essential and donations welcome. Click here to book your free Movement space or call Horsecross Arts Box Office on 01738 621031.