By Emma McGordon.

Last updated 15:55, Wednesday, 19 March 2008

FOUR six-metre high screens featuring the people of south Whitehaven dancing are to be erected on the former Marchon site.

The dance will be a combination of old-time dancing, salsa and line dancing. It will be a silent show with the images slowed down to capture expression and movement.

Various groups took part in the dancing activities, including a young mums group who did salsa.

The screens are to be erected on Easter Saturday and will be turned on between 7.30 and 9pm. They will run on Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays until April 26.

The display is to celebrate the culmination of a two-year arts project that has been happening on the estates of Greenbank, Woodhouse and Kells .

The South Whitehaven Artists Residency has seen artistic practices ranging from poetry to pottery, visual arts, photography and dance.

There will also be a display of photography by Rob Frazer in The Beacon, entitled Blue String Cross, and an installation on Marchon known as Somewhere between Falling and Walking.

The screen idea is a combination of efforts with Del Whitticase, the man behind the Whitehaven harbour “Sheds” project, being the artists.

Copeland’s principal arts development officer David Chapple said: “We can’t yet get the people of Whitehaven on to the former site, so this is the next best thing – get them there virtually. We want them to start having a different association with the piece of land rather than just seeing it as disused and where the factory once stood.

“But if local people are not there at the start of the project, they might miss out on a fantastic opportunity.”

The project as a whole comes under the Safer, Cleaner, Greener scheme and is supported by Arts Council North West and Copeland Borough Council.