A DANCE company lit up the galleries at The Bowes Museum during a sell-out show.
Eliot Smith Dance performed on Saturday night, choosing the museum’s founders John and Josephine Bowes as the inspiration.
It was the culmination of #Untitled 10, an exhibition organised by the Bowes Centre for Art, Craft and Design. The six-month project began with an invitation to artists to bid for one of ten commissions. The work on show ranged from a neon artist to a jeweller.
Newcastle-based Eliot Smith came up with a new dance which, he says, has been inspired by the museum, its founders, the building and the collections housed there.
He choreographed and danced in the performance of After the Rite. A second performance he created, called In Plain Movement, was put on by dancers Giacomo Pini and Victoria Winter.
Mr Smith said: “We’ve been trying to bring in the spirit of John and Josephine Bowes and capture the essence of the museum – its culture, atmosphere and surroundings. It’s a jubilant event.”
Matthew Read, director of the Bowes Centre for Art, Craft and Design, said it was a brilliant way of experiencing the museum’s gallery space.
He added that Untitled 10 had been such a success that it would be repeated this year.
“It’s been brilliant working with all the artists. The next time you will see Eliot he will be doing amazing things in amazing places. He’s such a talent.”
