The seed of an idea
In 2013, I was working with a group of second year
Dance in the Community students from University
Campus Suffolk at Ipswich Museum, delivering a
module exploring site-responsive practice. I could see
that there was so much potential for choreographic
work in this context, so many ways to take inspiration
from the collection and the historic building itself. I
decided to contact the team at Ipswich and a handful of
other museums to see if they would support me to test
a new ‘dancing tour guide’ promenade piece that could
engage children, young people and families differently
with the world of the museum.
That first piece I created was called The Imagination
Museum – a danced museum tour led by three
eccentric tour guides that we adapted specifically to
each new site, uncovering new artefacts and stories in
each place and bringing hidden histories to life through
dance, story-telling and music.
Little did I know how deeply that seed of an idea
would take root and how far those roots would
spread! We have since toured that first work to more
than 80 museums around the UK, and it inspired
(and continues to inspire) many offshoot projects,
including a promenade for caves and underground spaces, bespoke works responding to the collections
of the British Museum, BASTIAN Gallery and Dulwich
Picture Gallery to name only a few, and my most recent
Gathering Place project, which explores archaeological
sites choreographically, including through VR360
technology.
In the early days, I was often invited to attend
conferences about creative practice in museums, and
it didn’t take me long to realise I was one person in a
growing community choosing to respond to history
and heritage sites through dance. I was very interested
in being part of a movement towards sharing great
practice and perhaps making it easier for dance artists
and organisations to take their first steps in this way
of working. Through Strategic Touring funding that my
company, Made By Katie Green, received in 2018, I had
the opportunity to pilot a professional dance/heritage
network that could provide opportunities for that
community to come together, share practice, and grow
further – a network which took the name of that first
piece I made, and became The Imagination Museum.
What is The Imagination Museum?
The Imagination Museum (TIM) is now a national
network for all dance and heritage sector professionals interested in collaboration. The network is managed by
Made By Katie Green and a core team of consultants,
with all activities overseen by an experienced Executive
Committee from across dance, heritage and community
contexts and supported by a growing cohort of advisory
organisations.
With support from the National Lottery through Arts
Council England last year, we were able to redevelop
our website compiling case studies and helpful
resources linked to dance/heritage practice. Through
this online resource and our linked socials, online and
in-person events, we aim to share knowledge and
experiences, to inspire people and to make the case for
the benefits of dancing in museums and heritage sites.
The power of dancing in museums
So, what are some of these benefits? Why should you
think about working with dance and movement in
museums?
You might find answers among the extensive Case
Studies compiled on The Imagination Museum website.
From a Curious Tea Party at The Horniman Museum
and Gardens, to a dance under the hull of the Cutty
Sark; from a promenade for a china clay works in
Cornwall to an immersive performance for the coastline
of Morecambe Bay at sunset; from a dance in a cave
in Torquay to a silent disco bringing the rebellion of
Owain Glyndwr, the legendary rebel Prince of Wales,
to castles, fields and the steps of urban buildings. All
demonstrate the range of ways dance can be used in response to museums and heritage sites.
Each dance/heritage collaboration can look very
different from another, and can result in a huge range
of outcomes, using many different styles of dance –
promenade performance, films, workshops, digital
trails through a landscape, virtual and augmented
reality experiences, dancing archives, folk dance,
historical dance, silent discos, from mass community
performances to intimate installations.
They evidence a great variety of opportunities for
dance and heritage organisations and practitioners
to think differently about how people can experience
culture and heritage right on their doorstep; engaging
under-served populations and fostering more equitable
ways of providing access to collections, sites and
stories.
“There are local stories, stories within the museum,
stories that people hold within the community that
haven’t been explored and to have the opportunity
to do that through dance is incredibly exciting.” –
TIM partner.
Bringing dance into museums and heritage
sites can:
- Tell stories in dynamic ways to help people
re-consider their history and heritage, often on a more
personal level. It can help uncover stories that might
not yet have been brought to life and to respond
imaginatively to gaps left in written history
- Bring joy, fun and playfulness, challenging the more
traditional ways things have been done in the past
- Enable visitors, audiences, participants and makers
to engage with museums and heritage sites in a tactile,
experiential, multisensory way. Dance can respond
to collections, sites and stories in a way that moves
beyond spoken language; a more inclusive offer that
can make everyone feel more welcome
- Engage new audiences (as well as appealing to
existing audiences) with opportunities to involve them
in co-creation processes:
“It was great to have something fresh for existing
visitors, while attracting and making the museum
accessible to a new audience.” – TIM museum partner
- Support trust-building with local communities and
partners that can lead to people developing a more
long-standing relationship with their local heritage, a
sense of custodianship of the local environment, and
being more likely to attend again
- Challenge people to reconsider their assumptions of
what dance can be and why it matters to them
- Open up heritage spaces, breaking down notions of
who gets to access these spaces, who they’re for, and
their perceived boundaries by intervening in vibrant
ways that can bring a fresh perspective. Dance can,
therefore, contribute to the creation of safe spaces,
where people feel welcome and heard:
“You were prepared to listen to me. Bless you for
letting me have that opportunity, I sorely needed it!”
– TIM project participant
- Add to a more equitable offer for audiences and
participants, creating access to collections, sites,
artefacts and stories from which people have previously
felt excluded:
“I always found history a topic that was inaccessible.
This project breaks that down, takes down the barriers
and makes it accessible.” – TIM project participant
- Strengthen existing and develop new collaborative
relationships between different kinds of organisations,
with dance, heritage and community expertise equally
valued and celebrated as part of the process. This
can lead to innovation of practice, exciting forms of
co-creation and more sustainable, productive local
partnerships
- Transform ways of working within organisations,
building confidence in collaborative practice within eams by bringing in new perspectives and approaches
to interpretation.
“I think internally the beauty of this project is that
it has spanned both our teams (engagement and
contemporary art). It’s been a collective ownership of
the project at delivery level which has been invaluable”
– TIM museum partner.
Hopes for the future of the network
We know from existing members of our network that
our core resource and guidance offer, as well as the
opportunities we curate for people to come together
online and in person have been highly valued and want
to sustain these alongside plans for new projects and
collaborations. These, we hope, will include exploring
potential for The Imagination Museum to become a
co-commissioner of new dance/heritage work in the
future. We want to find out more about what the value
of the network can be in initiating these collaborative
projects, bringing in the additional capacity, expertise
and the external momentum that might be needed to
move them forward.
It is proving challenging to find the sustained support
needed to take this step towards co-commissioning, but
as we continue forwards with this, there are many ways
that you can engage with our existing offer:
Be part of the imagination museum
The idea of using dance with communities to respond
to local museums, heritage sites and stories may be
something you’ve tried before, or completely new to you.
Wherever you are coming from, we encourage you to:
- Explore our growing bank of Case Studies and other
resources available online – you also might have
your own that you would like to send over to us to
publish on the website
- Check out our free download Essential Read: First
steps for working with dance in museums and
heritage sites
- Join our mailing list or follow us on social media
which are the main channels we use to share
opportunities
- Consult us! – In response to the volume of enquiries
we receive asking for bespoke support, such as
talking through ideas for a new project, advice on
who to contact or reading through applications, we
have decided to formalise the consultation offer we
are able to provide, beginning with short ‘chemistry
chats’ for freelance artists at the start of a new
dance/heritage idea.
For many years, it has been my great pleasure to
see at first hand the ways in which people can
be moved by a sudden or slow-dawning sense of
connection with their past and new understanding of
how this impacts on their experience today. It feels
more important than ever to be taking dance into new
places and spaces; beginning new conversations and
trying out different ideas with people of all ages and
lived experiences, making connections, surprising
participants and audiences, encouraging them to be
curious, and maybe to see the world from a different
perspective.
I look forward to hearing from you about your own
work with dance and heritage and welcome your
thoughts and questions.
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