The Merseyside Dance Initiative has completely transformed Make. North Docks’ warehouse into a pop-up dance house for LEAP 2017. The transformation resulted in a theater complete with tiered seating, a sprung dance stage, lighting rig, and dressing rooms. It has been amazing to see our massive warehouse used to it’s full potential with this project. The 5,000 square foot event space is, as MDI’s production stage manager Fiona Hilton said, “a blank canvas… [where] we could come in with our ideas and make it completely what we wanted it to be.”
Our newly finished bar and beer garden opened in time for the beginning of the festival. People attending the event show their ticket and enter the pre-performance space in the Atrium. From there they have the option of getting a drink or a snack in the adjoining bar. The fully stocked bar comes complete with a wide selection of Liverpool’s own Mad Hatter’s beer and snacks.
After choosing their drink or snack, guests can stay in the fairy-light dotted bar or pass through to the beer garden. The beer garden is an indoor-outdoor space filled with long communal tables and benches located directly outside the main bar. Tim Devas recently covered the back wall of the beer garden with a mural of fantastical, brightly coloured animals.
We here at Make are always looking to test the boundaries of what we can create with our space and our communities’ imagination. The Warehouse event space is the perfect place to do this, because it can play host to any kind of event. MDI imagined a festival, a pop-up experience, and a creative vehicle through which to share their passion for dance. The transformation of Make North Docks’ Warehouse complete’s the all-in-one experience of an outdoor festival under one roof.
Liam Kelly, director of Make Liverpool, commented on working with the Leap Festival: “We’re excited to be working with MDI. They’ve been such a positive impact on culture in Merseyside. It’s great for us to show our capacity for events of this scale and for MDI to demonstrate the city’s appetite for dance.”
The MDI Festival started March 1st and is continuing through March 12th with different shows every evening. To find out more about the shows that are on, check out www.leap2017.co.uk. Come see the transformation for yourself at Make. North Docks.
