The Stables, founded by Sir John Dankworth and Dame Cleo Laine in 1970 with a vision to engage the widest range of people with music in all its diversity, has been selected to receive an Exceptional Award’ of £215,000 from Arts Council England for Under The Vaulted Sky.
This ambitious dance project was commissioned from choreographer Rosemary Lee for IF: Milton Keynes International Festival 2014, a festival founded in 2010 and produced every two years by The Stables as part of its commitment to help raise the artistic adventure of one of the UK’s fastest growing cities.
Inspired by Milton Keynes’ Cathedral of Trees in the city’s Campbell Park, Rosemary Lee's Under The Vaulted Sky performance in July will be the culmination of a year-long residency working with professional and non-professional dancers from across the region.
Situated on an ancient ley line that runs through Central Milton Keynes, The Cathedral of Trees was planted more than 40 years ago on the exact footprint of Norwich Cathedral by landscape architect Neil Higson. Different species of trees represent the character of the Cathedral's sections: hornbeam and tall-growing lime for the nave, evergreens to represent the central tower and spires, flowering cherry and apple as a focus in the chapels. In springtime, colourful bulbs represent the sun shining through stained glass windows onto the ground.
Rosemary’s vision for Under The Vaulted Sky will feature 100 dancers, live music and a specially-composed soundscape commissioned from composer and instrument maker Terry Mann. The audience will be invited to promenade—to follow the performance as it weaves around the atmospheric environment of the Cathedral.
Under The Vaulted Sky is also supported by Milton Keynes Council, The Parks Trust and South East Dance, and sponsored by the University of Bedfordshire. It will première over the first weekend of the 10-day IF: Milton Keynes International Festival, which will run from 18 to 27 July 2014.