Call out for dancers of all ages for a stunning carnival event with a difference!

'Keep your Hat on' is a spectacular, imaginative, surprising and fun ‘watery’ procession taking place in Durham on Saturday 7th July. TIN Arts are working with Brass: Durham International Festival and VAMOS! to find people of all ages and backgrounds to join us as volunteer performers. We will be creating short ‘flashmob’ style happenings on riverbanks around the bridges in Durham as part of a larger carnival event. We want our groups to have children and adults dancing together, in a controlled environment supporting a wonderful shared experience for all! There will be some pre-event meetings/rehearsals but no previous experience is required.

More about the event At 11am on Saturday 7th July, the Prince Bishops River Cruiser will set off with a full brass band and dancers from TIN Arts aboard led by Arto Lindsay (a world renowned American artist, musician and Composer – see picture on right). The river cruiser will first travel to Baths bridge (adjacent to race course) then turn around, travelling back up the river passing under Elvet and Kingsgate bridges. At Prebends Bridge the boat will turn around and begin its journey back to the dock. Whilst the river cruiser is travelling up and down the river, two exciting ‘happenings’ will take place at selected points along the route. This will involve TIN Arts’ volunteer dancers performing spontaneous movement on the riverbanks next to the bridges while the boat passes under. The dances will be short, sharp, non-conventional. Dancers will be spread out and dispersed at each location, suddenly coming together as the procession boat approaches performing their actions before melting back into the crowd. The duration of the river cruiser’s journey will be approximately one hour. Once the boat has returned, one final performance (lasting around 25 minutes) will take place below Elvet bridge (turning circle) at 12.15pm with all the disparate elements coming together before they all finally disperse. The whole event takes inspiration from Flavio de Carvalho who studied in Durham in the 20's. Flavio was an eccentric visionary who performed public actions to draw attention to religious conformity and stifling social conventions.

Want to get involved? You will need to be available for the following times and dates: Saturday 23rd June: 1pm – 4pm Rehearsal @ TIN Dance Space Saturday 30th June: 1pm – 4pm Rehearsal @ TIN Dance Space Wednesday 4th July: 5pm – 8pm Rehearsal (venue tbc). Although it would be desirable for all to attend, this session is not essential if it causes difficulties Saturday 7th July: 10am – 1pm Preparations and performance (11am) Access: We have a small budget to provide support for those unable to travel independently. Please let us know if you require assistance when registering your wish to join us (see below). To register your wish to join us for this spectacular event send an email to keepyourhaton@tinarts.co.uk or call 0191 384 0728 and ask to speak to Thomas Gilbert. We will send more information in mid-June confirming the times and dates above as well as let you know more about the event itself.