79 year old Bill Harpe’s 12 hour dance marathon
Saturday 19 September 2015, 10.00 – 22.00
The Black-E, 1 Great George Street, Liverpool L1 5EW
“HARD TIMES REQUIRE FURIOUS DANCING” (Alice Walker)
One response to Hard Times at The Black-E – a reduction of 35% (£180,000) in Arts Council support over 3 years – is a series of ‘Arts of Survival’ events. First off is Bill’s 12 Hour Dance Marathon. Next is a Youngsters’ 12 Hour Sponsored Sleepover, 8pm-8am, Friday 25 September.
Bill will be dancing to raise funds and support for The Black-E, formerly Great Georges Community Cultural Project, a charity prioritising creative and educational opportunities for disadvantaged and disabled children and young people. The Charity offers children and young people “affection, protection, and direction” and provides a programme with “what they want, what they need, and what they have never dreamt of”.
The Dance Marathon will take place in the in-the-round Main Space of The Black-E, much in use for circus training and performance, and as unique to the North West as The Roundhouse is to London. Visitors to The Black-E will be able to socialise, take in the Marathon performance, and step forward and dance with Bill.
The Marathon will also be streamed from www.theblack-e.co.uk and with regular updates on Facebook, Black-e Liverpool, and Twitter, @TheBlackE
Bill has pedigree as both a dancer and a choreographer, having arrived in Liverpool in 1961 to dance in a production starring Tommy Steele, and dancing thereafter in productions starring Morecambe and Wise. Bill created the first Choreographed Mass for a company of international dancers to celebrate the Opening of Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral in 1967, and has worked across a variety of art forms as a leader (and now Director) of The Black-E since 1968.
Dancing for the 12 Hour Marathon will be continuous, except for toilet breaks and brief changes of clothing. Bill intends to drink and snack as he dances