This innovative workshop will invite participants to respond to the beauty of nightingale song through movement, in a playful and accessible way. Immersed in the birdsong recorded on the Knepp rewilding estate by sound artist Hazel Reeves, the workshop will include a warm-up process and careful introduction to how the soundscapes can inspire movement.
The session will then evolve to create movement individually and in groups inspired by these sounds of the natural world, over Bluetooth headphones. Facilitated by dancer Rosaria Gracia and supported by Dance students from University of Chichester, this workshop offers a supportive and enjoyable experience, to build confidence and connect with others.
Participants are invited to arrive at 30 minutes before the workshop to have a brief tour of ‘Nightingale night’, an exhibition of paintings by artist Maggi Hambling that will provide further inspiration for the workshop
Please note:
The workshop for ages 18+.
Please wear layered comfortable clothes and comfy shoes. Bring water bottle and snacks if necessary.
We believe art is for everyone, and endeavour to make any reasonable adjustment for participants. If the participant has a specific access requirement they would like to discuss with a member of the Public Programme team, please contact us.
Hazel Reeves
Hazel Reeves’ national reputation was secured by telling stories in bronze of struggles for social justice – for example, her Emmeline Pankhurst statue, Manchester – yet her artistic practice is becoming ‘wilded’, her studio being at the heart of the pioneering rewilding Knepp Estate. Hazel now sees herself as a sculptural choreographer who harnesses the sounds of nature to tell stories of hope, of burgeoning biodiversity in nature havens like Knepp, where nightingales thrive yet face cataclysmic declines elsewhere.
Hazel’s passion is creating playful, immersive, affecting nature soundscape experiences for all– involving birdsong and movement/dance – that participants find freeing, thrilling, joyous. These workshops bring people closer to nature, closer to each other.
Hazel loves to collaborate with artists from other disciplines, weaving magic with dancers, musicians and painters. Her latest collaboration is with the British Library’s wildlife sounds archive, which is acquiring her unique series of recordings of the Knepp nightingales.
Dr. Rosaria M. Gracia
Dr. Rosaria M. Gracia is an award-winning dance artist, ethno-choreologist, ‘dance and health’ specialist and University Lecturer. She has a particular focus on community initiatives, working with different bodies, abilities and experiences, and exploring different qualities of movement. Her practice focuses on the link between movement and rhythm both individually and collectively, as avenues to create a differentiation between ourselves and others while working together in equilibrium.
Rosaria brings her in-depth experience in creating and directing mass movement works and theatre compositions, both static and parade/promenade, including with South East Dance, Chichester Festival Theatre, WOMAD and the UK Brazilian Carnival scene.
She has collaborated widely with musicians, poets, film makers and animators (e.g. Same Sky, Inspire Works, ART: Sync and Finding your Compass). Rosaria is also an expert facilitator, with in-depth experience in devising and delivering successful projects at a participatory level and has been an artistic and quality assessor for Arts Council England for a number of years.
