More than 300 dancers from across the Tees Valley are preparing to take over the Riverside Stadium pitch as part of Middlesbrough Football Club’s 150th anniversary celebrations.
The large-scale performance is being produced by TeesDance in with Middlesbrough FC, bringing together primary schools, youth groups, dance schools, older adults and community groups for an original piece created in the region.
It will open a Boro home game in October in front of a stadium crowd that can around 34,000 people.
TeesDance says places for the project reached capacity in record time. Sign-ups are now closed after the response from local performers filled the available spaces.
The choreography is being developed by a team of artists including Jenny Chrisp, Hannah Wintie-Hawkins, Zach Healey and Teissy Easton. Original music has also been created locally by Tom Powell and Tees Valley Music Services.
That makes the project more than a performance dropped into a football anniversary. The dancers, choreography and soundtrack are all being built around talent already here.
TeesDance describes it as the biggest project in the organisation’s history. It is supported by Arts Council England and forms part of a year in which Middlesbrough FC marks 150 years since its formation in 1876.
The exact home fixture for the performance has not yet been published on the project page, so The Tees will update the story when that detail is confirmed.
: TeesDance. Read the project information and updates.