WARDENS' WALTZ

TRAFFIC wardens in the Lewes pedestrian precinct on Saturday, April 29, came face to face with their dancing counterparts.

The zany occasion was part of a community dance project called Something to Dance About with 180 amateurs, aged from one to 79, taking part in Lewes public spaces.

They had all been choreographed and taught their steps by local professionals.

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They performed in the Castle gun gardens, the Cliffe pedestrian precinct, the Malling skate park, on the Railway Land Nature Reserve, and in the courtyard outside St Thomas Cliffe church hall.

They also had a formal procession up the High Street and through the castle gates.

Led by the Paddock Studio's artistic director Susannah Waters, manager Mark Shayle, event manager Laura Woods, designer Num Stibbe and her assistants Raphaella Sapir and Carmen Slijpen, the choreographers, composers, dancers, and musicians has been working on the project since the autumn.

A thousand people in all watched the event.

Said Susannah: 'It was undoubtedly a huge success. Whether we can hold another one next year remains to be seen. It took a lot of work and organisation.

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'We had five dancing traffic wardens, a car and five dancing motorists. It was all great fun and the odd passing wardens didn't seem to mind. It was very good natured.'

Other dances included the Rise of Spring, a pagan procession leading from the High Street under the Lewes Castle arch, with a score by composer Dirk Campbell for piccolos, pipes, fiddle and tribal drums.

Who Woz Here featured students from Priory School and the Old Grammar School creating two dances based on research into the history of Lewes and the people who have lived here in the last 1,000 years.

My Dancing Self was a dance exploring freedom of movement.

Do It Again was a dance for parents and children while The Floods was performed by Priory School students, based on stories of the floods collected from residents.

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