En Route to Common Ground

Posted on July 21, 2022

From September 2 to 4, En Route to Common Ground will move through the streets and public spaces of Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, from Woolwich Common to Royal Arsenal Riverside, accompanied by dance, live music and storytelling. Alongside the dancers and musicians from Luca Silvestrini’s Protein, an ensemble of community performers will spring up along the way to perform snippets of dance and music. Groups taking part include: a youth group from Tramshed, members of Some Voices Choir, members of the Caribbean Social Forum and a group of adults who have been gathered by Protein specifically for the Greenwich+Docklands International Festival performances.

Audiences will meet at Woolwich Common and be guided in small groups by a performer. As they continue their journeys, the groups and performers meet and merge, gathering momentum as they pass through St George’s Garrison Church and onwards to the town centre in a crescendo of protest and revelry. Finally, they arrive at Royal Arsenal Riverside for a joyful celebration. Originally performed in Woolwich in 2021, En Route was made with local people, whose stories and experiences informed the show.

Silvestrini said, “It’s exciting to come back and further develop Protein’s latest outdoor piece as part of Greenwich+Docklands International Festival. En Route to Common Ground is not just a performance to attend, but an opportunity to experience connectivity and we have chosen walking as a way of rebuilding and refreshing our relationships with people and the environments in which we live in. We look forward to journeying through Woolwich with local and less local members of the public.” For tickets or more information, click here.

Pictured: Luca Silvestrini’s En Route to Common Ground. Photographs: Foteini Christofilopoulou.

Nicola Rayner

Nicola Rayner was editor of Dance Today from 2010 to 2015. She has written for a number of publications including The Guardian, The Independent and Time Out Buenos Aires, where she cut her teeth as a dance journalist working on the tango section. Today she continues to dance everything from ballroom to breakdance, with varying degrees of success. Her debut novel, The Girl Before You, was published last year in paperback, ebook and audiobook.

Nicola Rayner

Nicola Rayner was editor of Dance Today from 2010 to 2015. She has written for a number of publications including The Guardian, The Independent and Time Out Buenos Aires, where she cut her teeth as a dance journalist working on the tango section. Today she continues to dance everything from ballroom to breakdance, with varying degrees of success. Her debut novel, The Girl Before You, was published last year in paperback, ebook and audiobook.