A group of morris dancers and Indian folk dancers have teamed up for a special performance at a major Barcelona street festival.
The Saddleworth Women’s Morris and Clog group and the Indian Association Oldham Dancing Diyas have created a piece that combines their dance styles and showcases Manchester culture.
Manchester has been chosen to be the first English guest city of La Mercè, which attracts thousands of visitors to Barcelona each year.
Laura Kemp-Smyth, of the morris group, said she was excited to “represent Manchester and represent the Morris tradition”. Karuna Mohandas, of the Dancing Diyas, said the groups were surprised at their similarities, including the use of sticks and bells.
Ms Kemp-Smyth added working with the Dancing Diyas group had been an “opportunity to try something creatively new and different”.
In particular, she said she was excited to show “the north west style morris, which has little known about it”.
“We have had a blast working with the Indian Association dancers, looking at how we can incorporate our two traditions and create something really new and special,” Ms Kemp-Smyth said.
“We’re creating this kind of synergy between us.”
The group’s performance will also incorporate two specially made bee puppets – one of which opens out to reveal a maypole.
Ms Mohandas said it was “really nice” to see their performance “come together”.
“We’ve had a really fun time in rehearsals,” she said.
The group is one of 18 artists and companies from Greater Manchester to perform at La Mercè.
Other performances will include carnival, circus, dance, hip hop, fire installations, and large-scale puppetry.
This year’s festival runs from 23 to 28 September.
