Dancing for Climate Hope on Lincoln High Street – 10 June 2023

Members of the Lincolnshire community will transform Lincoln High Street into a plea for climate hope on Saturday 10 June.

Dancing for Climate Hope issued an open call to the public for participants, regardless of dance experience, and received an enthusiastic response as families, groups and individuals signed up to show their support for increased climate action.

The dance has been choreographed and taught by two senior lecturers from the University of Lincoln, UK Dance Programme, Kirsty Russell and Kat Hendy. Theperformance is a dance consisting of accessible yet effective repeated gestures.

Kirsty Russell, Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for BA Hons Dance at Lincoln said: “This has been a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with BA Hons Dance at the University of Lincoln, Lincoln Arts Centre and members of the local community on such an important project.  Through dance we are raising the profile of Lincoln Green Week and encouraging people to talk about global climate change through the power and value of the arts”.

When asked why he had chosen to participate, Ollie, a second-year Dance student at the University, said: “I have chosen to take part in this event as it perfectly combines two of the things closest to my heart that make me who I am – dance and the fight in the climate crisis.

“The urgency to take action is something that we all should be considering as more and more climate-related disasters are changing the way that we live and will be having an ever-increasing effect on our daily lives.”

The participatory dance is a partnership project with the University of Lincoln’s School of Creative Art’s Dance Programme, Lincoln Arts Centre, Local Motion and City of Lincoln Council. Local Motion operate across the country to inspire new ways of tackling social, economic and environmental justice issues primarily by connecting people, communities, organisations and institutions.

Kate Bell, Climate Change Manager, City of Lincoln Council commented: “The City of Lincoln Council is happy to be supporting Great Big Green Week (GBGW) and the Climate Hope participatory dance to raise awareness about #ClimateHopeLincoln.  We need the whole community to get on board if we are to achieve Lincoln’s ambition to be net zero carbon by 2030.”

The dance will take place on Lincoln High Street in the Stonebow area near the Guildhall and will mark the beginning of GBGW, a national initiative of climate-focussed engagement activities.

To find out more about Lincoln’s participation in the GBGW, visit: GBGW Lincoln 2023 (adobe.com)