Dance shows to mark Mayflower 400 celebrations

‘The Imagination Museum: Mayflower 400’ is part of a three-year project leading up to the 2020 anniversary of the sailing of the ‘Mayflower’.

Many of the passengers on the ship were from the Gainsborough area, so it is fitting that ‘The Imagination Museum’ focuses on determination and the extraordinary things it makes ordinary people do.

The dance performances and workshops are playful, imaginative and moving, and have been pieced together by Katie Green, a choreographer who was born in Lincolnshire.

Katie said: “I am thrilled to be returning to my home county to respond to such a significant event in the area’s history.

“This is the beginning of our ‘Imagination Museum’ project, which starts in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire and will travel to Hampshire and then Plymouth. It is a journey in line with the one people from this area took 400 years ago.”

‘The Imagination Museum’ sees three eccentric tour-guides take the audience on a journey through history, using movement, text and music, to explore what it was really like for the passengers who travelled from England to America aboard the ‘Mayflower’ in 1620.

The free performances in Gainsborough take place at the United Reformed Church at 11 am and 2 pm this Saturday (May 11) and at the Old Hall at 11.30 am and 2 pm on Saturday, May 25.

The events will feature dance and craft activities for children, plus free tea and coffee.