The second of our events for Frome Festival 2002 is the GHOST DANCE, on Friday 12th July - an event not to be missed, and Nunney Jazz Cafe's most exciting venture yet.

An immersive dance production within a nightclub setting with dramatic set and lighting, costumes, sounds, film and video projection, a mixture of live and electronically altered music, poetry, MC, guest musicians  and much more, it promises to be a night to remember.

Not only is the Ghost Dance a realisation of a personal project for Ann and Keith Harrison-Broninski, who wrote the words and music for its first very successful scratch performance at Nunney Jazz cafe last year, but it has expanded to become a huge and inclusive event. It has so far involved some 30 musicians and singers, a poet, MC, dancers, and six artists working in various mediums, as well as a wonderful production team.

Kizzy Morrell (left) and Ann (right) in Ghost Dance 2001.

"For me the Ghost Dance is a celebration of some of Frome's amazing artistic talent" says Ann Harrison-Broninski, who is directing, "and the creative input and collaboration from everyone  involved has been very rewarding."

Nunney Jazz Cafe offers an experimental space for musicians, artists and poets to work together; musicians have ranged from flamenco to funk, poets from hip-hop to haiku, exhibitions from spraycan art to video installation.  The Ghost Dance sees several of these artists and performers giving their direct input.

Mel Day, who also has an exhibition of mixed media assemblages called “Ugly Beauty" running at The Garden Cafe during the festival, is designing striking costumes for the dancers made from recycled materials and using natural dyes.

Johnathan Macdonald, also from Frome, is an artist who has worked in various media, and working under the name "Innersense" concentrates largely on his beautifully crafted silver body jewellery. Johnathan, who has worked creatively on many nightclub projects in the past, is designing a simple yet striking set for the Ghost Dance, which reflects the Japanese influences that are strong in his work.

Spraycan artist Paul Boswell, whose work can be seen from the walls of Frome to those of nightclubs in San Francisco and Hong Kong, has designed the poster and CD cover image for the production.  He and his partner Jen Wilson, who work as musicians under the name Snipe, have made this year's electronic remix of the words and music, and will be performing live at the event.

Al Morrison and Alastair Goolden, both well known names in Frome, will be providing their technical and artistic expertise in video, film projection, and sound creation to provide haunting and atmospheric accompaniments to the music. As Ann says, "all of this will add to the overwhelming and absolute experience that we are hoping to create."

Bristol hip-hop poet and dancer Ripton Lindsay, will be choreographing and leading a troupe featuring both professional dancers and Frome-based dance students.  Ripton, originally from the Caribbean, is taking the lead role in the production, and as well as dancing will also be adding his own dynamic blend of improvised rap to Ann's original lyrics.

Snipe, who created the remix of last year’s performance to be used in the show will be playing live at the event, and after playing with THE PEE WEE ELLIS ASSEMBLY at the Cheese & Grain earlier in the evening, tenor sax star Pee Wee Ellis will be making a special guest appearance to play during the climax of the show.

A CD of the remix is on sale, priced £10.

Entry to the GHOST DANCE costs £5/£3 - advance tickets are available from Frome Festival Box Office on 01373 455420. The GHOST DANCE is a late night production, from 11:00pm (doors  open 10:30pm) to 1:00am.   The event starts shortly after the finish of a previous concert the same night, by PEE WEE ELLIS' AMERICAN BAND (at a different venue in Frome, the Cheese and Grain), and a reduced price combined ticket for both concerts is available.