Airthrey Dance Trail

By Grace Turner

The Airthrey Dance Trail is an immersive outdoor dance and poetry experience devised by professional dancer Grace Turner.

The self-guided nature trail, funded by Scene Stirling, features a series of films inspired by the landscape of the campus, from its lochs and gardens to its ancient woodland and historical Monument backdrop.

At seven marked points along the route, audience members are invited to stop and view the films on their phone. 

Grace is currently working as the head aerial stunt performer for Wired Aerial Theatre at the world famous Bregenzer Festspiele Haus in Austria, but 2020 was a far different experience for the dancer:

“When the pandemic hit, all of my work was cancelled and I decided to move to Scotland to be with my fiancé who works at the University of Stirling. I’ve been such a nomad due to the nature of the work I do, so Covid-19 finally allowed me to settle and have roots.

“Being locked down made me search outside for a creative outlet. I realised that there were so many amazing walks around Stirling and thought, how can I connect my creative practice as a dancer with getting people outdoors. So, I decided to create a dance trail that people can follow and watch films inspired by the setting they are standing in, connecting dance performances and audiences in a Covid-safe way.”

Each dance performance, captured by documentary film maker Michael Rea, is accompanied by the words of local poet Frances Ainslie and narrated by local community theatre practitioner Hannah Uttley.