90’s site specific works by Rosemary Lee including Ascending Fields and Haughmond Dances.
Ascending Fields
1992
The piece was set in Fort Dunlop, an empty tyre depot off the M6, with a cast of eighty dancers and musicians, a mix of local performers and professionals.
“Though I knew I was asking for trouble wanting to work in the Fort Dunlop building I had admired since I was a child but I could not resist. Each floor was as big as two football pitches, and each floor was unpartitioned. The audience ascended the narrow staircases and on each floor found a different scene and a different perspective to view.“ – Rosemary Lee
Haughmond Dances
1990
Rosemary Lee’s first promenade piece, in a large scale project involving 237 performers of all ages from the Shrewsbury area. After a residency of 6 weeks Haughmond Dances was performed for three nights in the ruins of Haughmond Abbey. Audiences promenaded through the site.
It was on this project that she began her long term working relationship with lighting designer Chahine Yavroyan and designer Louise Belson. It received a Digital Award.
In the same year, she created Duel in a Teacup for Dance Umbrella in Newcastle for the Edwardian shopping arcade.
“I wanted to create a epic work that was intimate rather than a spectacle, a memorable experience for both participant and audience member. The writing of St Augustin, the history of the monastery and the thoughts it evoked in me were the starting point along with a desire to recruit people off the streets of Shrewsbury which we did. Haughmond Dances marked the beginning of my ongoing collaborations with Chhahine Yavroyan and Louise Belson” – Rosemary Lee
