Arts Features

First LA, next stop Plymouth...American director and choreographer Stephan Koplowitz has chosen some of the city's best known landmarks as locations for the second stage of his international outdoor dance project, Liquid Landscapes.

The contemporary dances are all linked to water and are site-specific so that each performance will be different.

Among the venues are The Mayflower Steps, Tinside Lido, Armada Way and Smeaton's Tower, which celebarates its 250th anniversary in 2009.

The dancers will be performing at Tinside Pool

The works - being staged in June 2009 - have been commissioned by Dartington, and Plymouth's Barbican Theatre is also involved in the project.

The pieces are performed by Taskforce, a site-based touring dance company. In 2008, the dancers presented their water-themed performances at locations in Los Angeles and next year, 2010, they will be transferring to a city in Germany.

This summer, they're at seven sites in Plymouth, as well as The Great Barn at Buckland Abbey and the gardens at Dartington near Totnes.

For the Devon performances, the company will be joined by professional artists from the South West.

Previously, Koplowitz has choreographed large scale public art performances in New York's Grand Central Station, the British Library and the Natural History Museum. His works have earned awards and rave reviews.

Stephan Koplowitz

He's looking forward to presenting Plymouth's best known landmarks in a completely different way: "What I love as an artist is taking iconic sites and then trying to transform them for the people who take them for granted – such as Smeaton's Tower on the Hoe in Plymouth," he said.

"We are coming to Plymouth and Dartington in June, giving us three weeks and eight sites, which means we have less than three days per site to bring our artistry and our craft and make work inspired by the locations."

The Mayflower Steps performance on 26 June 2009 will be particularly evocative for Koplowitz and the American performers.

Louise Bennett, from Dartington, said: "He wanted an urban setting, and Plymouth was ideal with its coastal setting and links with the Founding Fathers. He really likes Plymouth."

Liquid Landscapes is being staged as part of the Plymouth Summer Festival. There are multiple performances at most of the sites and all are free of charge expect Buckland Abbey and the Barbican Theatre.

For full details, visit the Dartington website which is linked from the top right of this page.

Liquid Landscapes
Various venues
20-28 June 2009
Tinside Pool: 6pm on 27-28 June
www.dartington.org/arts/taskforce