Last performances of experimental, interactive touring dance show to be performed at Arnolfini

An intergenerational group of co-working artists have been performing the experimental, interactive dance show Satelliser: a dance for the gallery in gallery spaces around the UK since 2021.

The work is part of the CONTINUOUS Touring Network Performances, an ambitious partnership between BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and Siobhan Davies Studios, working alongside four galleries and two dance organisations around the UK.

Satelliser was devised by award-winning interdisciplinary artist J Neve Harrington, who works across movement, text, conversation, installation, costume and space design, predominantly in galleries and non-stage spaces.

Its final two performances will be at Arnolfini on July 29-30, coinciding with the gallery’s major textiles exhibition, Threads, curated by world-renowned artist Alice Kettle.

Each show is durational – lasting throughout the day, with the collaborating ‘co-workers’ moving, speaking, listening, crafting and resting by turns, holding space for improvised conversation both with one another, and with visitors to the exhibition.

Like the ‘Satelliser’ of the title – specifically meaning ‘to put into orbit’, a meaningful dialogue arises between the performers and visitors moving through space, as well as the exhibited works themselves.

Harrington will be joined by collaborating co-workers: Siobhan Davies – the choreographer, dancer and founder of CONTINUOUS Network, Arabella Stranger, Bonni Bogya, Christine Bramwell, Iris Yi Po Chan 陳以葆, Jay Yule, Jia-Yu Corti, Katye Coe, Mia Quimpo Gourlay, Ngozi Oparah and Bristol yoga teacher, school governor and environmental specialist, Lorna Fox, who admits that she’s still pinching herself about the “extreme privilege” of participating.

Photo: courtesy of Lorna Fox

“There’s so much I’m looking forward to,” she admits. “It’s going to be really interesting to see how the audience interact. I’m most looking forward to performing with my fellow co-workers, to feeling that sense of unity in diversity.

“Satelliser: a dance for the gallery really celebrates stories, individuals, the collective, differences, inclusivity. It’s incredibly uplifting, welcoming and unifying which to me fits brilliantly with Bristol. It’s important to be part of a piece that is not only performed in Bristol but reflects the city I love.”

Commenting on the CONTINUOUS programme, co-artistic director at Siobhan Davies Studios, Kat Bridge, notes: “Harrington’s touring work holds a special place within the programme as a durational event that truly experiments with how dance can live within a gallery by inhabiting and relating to the current exhibition of each gallery it visits”.

For Phil Owen, head of events at Arnolfini, it’s a beautiful complement to the thematic strands of Threads, echoing “shared interests in material, making, and memory”.

Satelliser: a dance for the gallery is at Arnolfini as part of the Threads exhibition, on July 29-30 at 11am-6pm. Entry is free. For more information, visit www.arnolfini.org.uk.

All photos: Genevieve Reeves

Read more: Arnolfini announces summer textiles exhibition – ‘Threads: Breathing stories into materials’

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