Pankhurst in the Park 2016 Presents Legacy Fatale
Pop up performances: 8-11 March, 2016; Manchester City Centre locations.
Free, all ages.
Launch event: Saturday 12 March; 'Tea Hive' Pavilion, Alexandra Park, M16 8PJ. 6pm - midnight. Free, 18+.

Alexandra Arts has announced the return of Pankhurst in the Park, a public programme of free, age-friendly events, artist commissions, an international curator in residency and educational programme, taking place in Manchester from March to May, 2016, and in New York between June and July, 2016.

Curator of Pankhurst in the Park, Lotte Karlsen said:

“Pankhurst in the Park aims to empower the local communities around Alexandra Park through engagement with their local environment and social history, and to promote the wealth of talented female artists in Manchester and beyond by providing a platform for their work. We are thrilled that Arts Council England and Manchester City Council have recognised the value of the work we are doing, and have granted funding for the Spring programme."

Kicking off the programme with an ‘animal print extravaganza’, performance art collective, Legacy Fatale, will travel from New York to channel the ancient, nomadic, warrior women of the Amazon on the streets of Manchester from 8 to 11 March, during Wonder Women 2016. This will lead up to an interactive 'Wonder Warrior' performance and artist presentation as part of Pankhurst in the Park's official launch party with DJ Andrea Trout, at ‘Tea Hive’ Pavilion in Alexandra Park on 12 March, 2016.

Curated by the Manchester-based, artist-led collective, Alexandra Arts, Pankhurst in the Park is inspired by Alexandra Park’s rich historical connection to the Suffrage Movement, whose iconic leader, Emmeline Pankhurst, was born and bred yards from the Park in the neighbouring Moss Side Estate.

For the Pankhurst in the Park programme, Legacy Fatale's commission will be a "Suffrajitsu" choreography piece inspired by Emmeline Pankhurst's bodyguards - women trained in the martial art of Bartitsu to form the elite secret society known as the “Amazons” - and an animal print extravaganza inspired by the ancient, warrior women of the Amazon.

Coco Dolle, Founding Leader and Curator of Legacy Fatale said:

"Taking cues from the legendary Amazon Warriors, the iconic Wonder Woman, and the fierce Suffragettes, we will integrate social protest, ancient symbology and Bartitsu practices paying homage to feminism's ferocious heritage."

The Spring programme builds on the success of Pankhurst in the Park 2014/15, and will again be accompanied by an integrated educational programme with investing partner St Mary’s CE Primary School in Moss Side.

Following the launch event, an international artist collective will take up residence and begin an engagement project with local teenage girls, and a series of free events will take place in and around Alexandra Park. This will include free, age-friendly art workshops for older residents of Whalley Range and Moss Side, as well as a heritage cycle ride for all ages as part of Transport for Greater Manchester's Women on Wheels campaign.