Earth My Earth showcases international collaboration inspiring change through performance and sustainability
This September, Bridport’s public spaces become a stage for art, exchange and community when the travelling event Earth My Earth arrives in town on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th of September.
Combining different artistic approaches and opening them out to the community, the event is a concept developed over many years by Greek choreographer Angeliki Papadatou and cofounder of Kynourio Soma and co-producer of the project, Helen Noakes.
Performing arts is the main artistic medium, with environmental practices embodied through an approach that reaches different facets of the individual, what Angeliki describes as a performative, rather than a conventional performance.
Travelling to different locations, inviting local communities, artists and associations to take part in creative activism and experiential workshops, Earth My Earth began its journey in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece, home to Kynourio Soma. It has been brought to Dorset through a collaboration between Fingerprint Dance and the Greek non-profit Kynourio Soma.
Earth My Earth works alongside a wide network of local dance, environmental, fashion and care organisations. Local participants include: Bridport Youth Dance, including dancers from The Weavers; No Limits; Grace + Growl Dance Company; Bridport School of Regenerative Fashion; West Bay Swimmers Action Group; Harbour House residential care home for the elderly; and Bridport Food Matters. Together, they bring dance, young people, regenerative fashion, community action, older residents and food into the project.
For its Bridport edition, the project turns to a theme close to home: textile waste. Through creative practice, it explores our relationship with clothes, materials, consumption, memory and reuse, and asks how we value the things we already have.
Cleo Evans, the project’s Dorset partner for this edition, brings extensive experience in organising site-specific environmental artistic events and helping to develop the project locally.
Across the weekend, the project unfolds along West Bay, Bridport’s seafront—from West Pier to the Salt House & Garden and along the East Beach area—as public space becomes a museum, a stage and a place for gathering and exchanging. The programme includes the collective creation of an installation, interactive performances, experiential workshops and community participation, closing with a shared feast that brings everyone together.
Earth my Earth is mainly funded by The National Lottery Community Funding, awarded to Fingerprint Dance. The remainder of the budget is being organised via crowdfunder.
The project runs from 3pm to 6pm at West Pier, the Salt House & Garden, and the East Pier / East Beach area in Bridport on Saturday 12th, and from 10am on Sunday 13th of September.
