The Yorkshire Film Archive collects, preserves, and shows film made in, or about Yorkshire. Our collections are non-fiction, dating from the 1890s to the present day, and providing a rich and visually compelling record of all aspects of lives, cultures, landscape, industries, major events and everyday activities, many of which are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
This film is part of Free
Towers
Brimham Rocks provides the perfect setting for an entrancing and hypnotic enactment of a primitive ritual in front of bemused sightseers.
From the collection of:
Overview
This is a rare film of an early performance by the IOU Theatre Company at Brimham Rocks in Yorkshire, in the summer of 1977. It shows a woman wearing large wooden shoes which are so shaped that she can only walk on blocks that the shoes fit into. Figures create a path for her, moving the blocks into place as she walks along. Before her, carpets are thrashed, filling the air with brightly coloured powder to the sound of rhythmic drumming. Filmmakers, Brodnax Moore and Annette Kuhn.
Formed in 1976, this was one of the first performances of IOU Theatre Company, an arts organisation based in Halifax and still active, celebrating 40 years in 2016. ‘Towers’ was created to be performed on Brighton beach, while a version of the show was also filmed at Bolton Abbey and toured Yorkshire. Brodnax Moore began drawing cartoons in the 1960s; Annette Kuhn, Professor of Film Studies at the University of London, has written extensively on film and representation. The live music featured trombonist Georgie Bourne and Lou Glandfield on drums. David Wheeler, the current Arts Director with IOU, was also involved; although not so the maverick saxophonist Lol Coxhill, who worked with IOU at the time.
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