An invitation to dance the sun down…
With only two more days to go, I wanted to send you a personal invitation to join me for this year’s Dusking—the virtual, 100% invented tradition and socially engaged performance project to dance the sun down and honour the gifts of rest, reflection and replenishment that the darker months ahead can offer us.
If you’ve not come across it before, Dusking was created as the counterpart to the morris dancing that takes place at dawn on May morning to welcome the summer. It takes place at 16.33 GMT (or equivalent) on 31 October — wherever you are in the world!
Lots of you will know about my ‘hedge morris dancing’ adventure this past eighteen months, another neologism I came up with to describe morris dancing that takes place outside of an established tradition or team. That prefix ‘hedge’ has been used throughout history to denote things that are unofficial + unsanctioned (you can read a bit more about it all here), and so many people seemed to resonate with it that I decided we needed our own tradition to celebrate.
Last year more than 100 people got involved, sharing videos and reflections using the hashtag #Dusking (the kind folks at Tradfolk compiled a round-up of some of the finest!) and contributions ranged from fully choreographed and stage-managed art films to people standing in their kitchens waving a pair of tea towels! And not everyone stuck to morris dancing—some pogo’ed, pole danced and vogued their way into winter 2023!
It was totally wonderful and affirming—truly it was. Just look at these babes…
This is only the second year we’ve celebrated Dusking (you can read the story of how it came about here on Tradfolk), but it looks set to be bigger than ever with more than 1000 people responding to my original call out!
This year I’ve heard tell of Dusking gatherings in Sheffield, Birmingham, Cornwall, Edinburgh, Norwich and beyond—and I’ll be at Horse and Bamboo Theatre on the big day for a very informal Dusking party. It’s going to be great!
But honestly, Dusking was first envisaged as a solitary action—a moment’s pause in an otherwise busy day, so you’re SO very welcome to join in wherever (and however) you happen to be when 31st rolls around.
There’s even REAL leather badges and keyrings for participants (or anyone who wants in on the lore!)—but stocks are VERY limited, so please do drop me an email if you’d like one (£6 each, plus £2 UK postage!). I can’t promise there’ll still be any left by the time you read this!
As for me, I’ll be releasing a brand new video performance (spoiler above!), shot by Jonny Randall with a soundtrack from Elspeth Anne, featuring Jennifer Reid. Based on the three stages of astronomical twilight, it draws on the 13th century song ‘Mirie it is’, one of the two oldest secular songs in the English language (the other is ‘Sumer is icumen in’!) which speaks about the harsh conditions during winter, and features a BSL translation by Kylie Darling. I’m so looking forward to sharing it with you!
Also, if you haven’t seen it yet you have until 2 November to catch my ‘Future Folk Archetypes’ at Portico Library in Manchester. These are definitely the most ambitious sculptures I’ve created to date and I’m so proud of them. I’d love to know what you think…
It would be great to have your company somewhere along the way!
Lucy
Photo credit, Leonie Freeman (2024)