Inside Out Dorset festival

A spectacular celebration of the autumn equinox took place in rural Dorset. The event was part of Inside Out Dorset festival which takes spectacular performances to extraordinary outdoor locations across the county. The event was the culmination of Wayfaring which took place in the stunning ceremonial landscape of the South Dorset Ridgeway. Audiences were invited along pathways ancient and modern, to discover the unexpected and to make their own contributions to the growing installation. The performance included movement, sounds, smells and the transformative power of fire.

Don't miss out! Other events taking place:

 

Hengistbury Headlines

Hengistbury Head – Thursday 22 to Sunday 25 September 

Eight artists and companies are creating installations and performances along a trail through the nature reserve at Hengistbury Head, exploring the effects of climate change. Visitors will be able to immerse themselves in soundscapes, delve into the secret love life of plants, follow a digital quest and indulge in some cloud gazing.  Over the four days, visitors will be able to wander through the landscape of the nature reserve, including areas normally closed to the public, and discover these new artworks one by one.

 

The Soaring Sky – a coastal walk through a sung performance of birdsong created by local singers, responding to the calls of migratory and endangered birds on the site. 

By Arbonauts – Helen Galliano and Dimitri Launder

 

Remnant Ecologies is a series of sound installations playing fragments of British bird song, triggered by the wind and sun, and birds themselves.

By Jony Easterby and co-commissioned by the RSPB

 

Hides –  two animated bird hides alone on a cliff to explore themes of migration, refuge and the need of shelter. 

By Ferdinando Bradridge Byrne

 

Cloudscapes provides a place to cloud gaze and explore the parallel between the ever-changing sky and humanity’s future.

By Gobbledegook Theatre, director Lorna Rees

 

Overture is a sound installation outside the former coastguard hut. The building is re-imagined as a lookout post on the frontier of changing weather patterns, a place to scan the horizon for approaching storms. 

By Kate Paxman

 

Romantic Botanic is an eccentric promenade theatre piece for small groups. Poetry and science are used to delve into the secret love life of plants. 

By The Miraculous Theatre Company – Barnaby Gibbons, Paschale Straiton and Roger Hartley

 

You’re Getting Warmer is a digital treasure hunt-style adventure for 7 to 11-year-olds and their families. The children are cast as agents for change, hunting down clues, on a mission to save the Marsh Warbler.

By Pebble Gorge

 

Tree

Tree is a thought-provoking dance work set in woodland. Four dancers lead us from the comfort of our gardens to where the wilderness lies and ask, deep down, do we really need nature?

By Sweetshop Revolution, director Sally Marie

 

During Hengistbury Headlines, there will be a chance to take part in the
RSPB's Big Wild Sleepouts on the nights of 22, 23 and 24 September. There will be campfire cooking, nocturnal adventures and a memorable dawn experience as sounds of the harbour, sea and wind combine with the song of migrant birds.

 

 

Up in the Air

Harbourside Park, Poole – Saturday 24 September 

A feast of outdoor contemporary circus performance against a dramatic background of sea and sky.  Acrobatics, high wires, a boat with its own mobile storm and an illuminating finale.  

Co-presented with Lighthouse, Poole and the Borough of Poole.

 All Inside Out Dorset events are free (there is a charge for the RSPB's Big Wild Sleepout). For more information and to book, call 01305 260954 or visit www.insideoutdorset.co.uk.