Akademi choreographs Green Space Dark Skies
A series of large-scale outdoor artworks in the UK’s most outstanding landscapes
In June and July 2022, we were invited to choreograph magical, human-powered art displays for Green Space Dark Skies event at Dorset and Chilterns AONBs. Our Artistic Director, Suba Subramaniam, ably assisted by Kathak artist, Shyam Dattani, directed hundreds of local volunteer ‘lumenators’ to create dynamic shapes in the green space, helping them to enjoy the landscape at dusk in this way. The digitally powered choreography was shot on film.
Green Space Dark Skies was a series of 20 large-scale outdoor artworks in the UK’s most outstanding landscapes as part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, from April to September 2022. Green Space Dark Skies is led by outdoor arts experts Walk the Plank.
“Watching 600 people do the Namaskar together was incredible. The silence and the focus in that space was magical. The participation was truly beautiful, the commitment people had to be together and really be part of something.”
Suba Subramaniam
Dorset AONB
11 June 2022
Around 600 volunteers gathered in the Dorset Area of Outstanding National Beauty (AONB), carrying low-impact Geolights specially designed by Siemens, as they journeyed through waterways and pathways to be choreographed to create a teardrop shape in the nighttime. Suba and Shyam collaborated with Isaiah Dreads, Dorchester-based rapper and musical director of this event. The evening brought together music, dance and poetry in celebration of the magical landscapes in Dorset.
Produced by Dorset based Activate Performing Arts.
Chilterns AONB
15 July 2022
Suba and Shyam were joined this time by local playwright Teresa Burns and contemporary folk musician Jim Carey Connell at Dunstable Downs to create a special experience for over 600 Lumenators on the night, many of whom were local community groups who had never experienced the Downs before. There were also Odissi performances by artists from KADAM.