A DANCE performance to celebrate the sun will be held at a new art installation on Portland.

Students of science, technology, photography and dance at IPACA have been involved in the project, and have been working with professional artists and a film-maker to devise a dance to be performed on Midsummers Day on June 21.

The event will be held at the Memory Stone circle at Tout Quarry, which has sparked a lot of interest on the isle and beyond since being put into place.

The project is the idea of artist Hannah Sofaer who selected large stones from Portland Stone Firms Limited’s open cast quarries to form an arc that mirrors the orbit of the Earth around the Sun.

Hannah said: “The stones are aligned to the sunrises and sunsets of the summer and winter solstice and the spring and autumn equinox with shadows that span up to 90ft long in Midwinter.

“In the second stage of the project the stones will be letter-cut and core drilled for text to be projected into pools of light within the stones shadows, creating interpretation at different times of day. Each stone creates a vista to the ecology, geology, quarrying history, art and architecture across Portland’s landscape.”

As well as the performance, which will map the passage of light across the stones on Midsummers Day, there will also be a screening of the film made by David Kew with 3D model by Eagle Vista Aerial Imaging, animated sun path model by Christian Kerrigan of Astudio Architects and photographs by Artist Christopher Wainwright.

The project is led by Portland Sculpture & Quarry Trust and Dorset Wildlife Trust, with first stage funding from Arts Council that involves artists creating new work with ecologists, geologists and community on routes through the quarry park.

Hannah added: “The Memory Stones installation has been supported by Portland Stone Firms Ltd, Paisley Plant Hire Ltd and Albion Stone plc.

“This landmark project started with access groundworks created by Portland Stone Ltd, supported by the Department for Communities and Local Government as one of 17 Pocket Parks in the South West followed by the installation of stones made possible by Arts Council England, Portland Court Leet, Worshipful Company of Masons, Portland Masonic Lodge, Trewint Ltd, Dorset Wildlife Trust and Portland Sculpture and Quarry Trust.”