Portland, UK. 21st Jun, 2017. Schoolchildren aged 5 to 18 celebrate the summer solstice, with dance, at the new Memory Stones circle. The children all attend the Portland Atlantic Academy Credit: stuart fretwell/Alamy Live News
Artist and sculptor, Hannah Sofaer, has recently seen her long-planned project, 'Memory Stones - Sunpath' come to fruition. Twelve huge Portland stone megaliths have been erected at the highest point of the Isle of Portland in a precisely aligned arc of a circle. The careful alignment means that specific shadows are cast at important times of the year - a sort of astronomical calendar, like Stone henge. The installation sits at the edge of Tout Quarry and locals have already christened the structure, 'Tout-henge'. Weds 21st June 2017 was the first time that the summer solstice, or 'Midsummer's Day', has been celebrated here. CHildren aged 5-18, all from the Portland Atlantic Academy, performed an enthralling and beautiful dance piece which told stories of the Island's past. A large crowd was held, spellbound, by the skill, commitment and enthusiasm of the young performers and the beauty and colour of their marvellous costumes. The monument was also officially opened, today.
Size: 3872px × 2592px
Location: Portland, Dorset, UK
Photo credit: © stuart fretwell / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: academy, air, alignment, astrolological, astronomical, atlantic, blue, boy, calendar, cathedral, celebrate, celebration, celebrations, ceremony, christopher, circle, costume, costumes, dance, dancers, dancing, day, dressed, dresses, enthusiasm, exhuberence, exhuberent, girls, hannah, interpretive, isle, jumping, leaping, learningstone, leotards, man, megaliths, memory, midsummers, modern, moment, monument, pagan, paper, pauls, planets, portland, ritual, schoolchildren, seasons, sir, skelatal, skeleton, sofaer, solstice, st, stone, stonehenge, stones, summer, sun-worship, sunshine, top, tout-henge, wig, wren, young, youngsters
