Twisted Trees Productions have been selected by New Mills Festival for their project We Move Together, an event devised to respond to the Festival theme of Home Farm.

Drawing inspiration from their research of British harvest festivals, we will reimagine the Corn Dolly, and the spirit of the goddess she was made to preserve from one harvest to the next. 

To realise this, Twisted Trees are seeking 11 women to take part in this exciting project. You will have the opportunity to take part in three free weekends of creative development workshops, working towards the event at The Big Weekend - September 24th 2021.

The project will harvest women stories to make wearable paintings; bringing texture, colour and pattern to life through the movement of the women’s bodies.

The work will consider the story of connectivity; between individuals and communities, our memories and hopes. It will tell the story of ancient and recent times, of how people need to come together as a collective. Dancing, being together, holding hands and other physical connections have been restricted by covid, but this can be overcome through creativity. 

The women will tell their own stories through their costumes which will be developed with the artists over the summer workshops. The harvest in autumn will be a group performance moving to the beat of the festival drum over the Big Weekend as part of our celebration of the theme, Home Farm. 

Participants will take part in three covid safe weekend workshops and will need to be available on The Big Weekend for the event, time and date and duration to be confirmed with festival organisers and participants. 

The workshops will involve: 

• Weekend one: 17th-18th July 11am-4pm: concept development and costume making, including fabric dyeing and manipulation, printmaking and body adornment.
• Weekend two: 4th-5th September 11am-4pm: concept development and simple choreographed movement.
• Weekend three: 18th-19th September 11am-4pm: Dress rehearsal.

The workshops are free and all materials for the workshops will be provided. 

You will be involved in the evolution of the project and will need to be able to work independently on your costume for about 15-20 hours over the seven weeks between the first two workshop weekends. You will be supported by the artists and encouraged to be in touch with one another throughout the project.

https://www.newmillsfestival.com/we-move-together

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/twistedtreesproductions/we-move-together