To coincide with the longest day of the year, June 21, a unique performance took place in the Lincoln Cathedral Quarter on Tuesday evening.
Artists Judd Morrissey and Mark Jeffery, who are professors at The School of Art Institute in Chicago, were invited to Lincolnshire to lead the event.
The Labours: An Astronomical Dance began outside Lincoln Cathedral, which represented the gestures of labour throughout Lincolnshire.
The group of performers then split into four groups and moved to Steep Hill, Bailgate, Greestone and Wordsworth Street to represent the constellations as they created a human celestial map.
The performance was commissioned by Nightjar, a programme that presents artwork between the hours of dusk and dawn.
Jo Mardell, an independent producer who runs Nightjar, explained that they like working at night because it is an “unusual time to experience”.
It has been part of a month-long project which involved visiting Lincolnshire towns and villages to find local stories to use as part of the choreography of the piece.
Some of the stories included one about Geoff Capes, a former athlete and strongman who lives in Lincolnshire, and they drew a lot of inspiration from the churches around the county.
Keyna Paul, Director of Lincolnshire Dance, said getting volunteers, some with little experience, was an approach that Nightjar favoured:
“It was very much to do with how the company wanted to work and that’s about having the core of the piece with professionals and then supplementing with a range of other people.”
The event is also part of Igniting Ambition, a Cultural Olympiad programme running up to the London 2012 Olympic Games to create once in a lifetime opportunities.
Paul added: “It’s great that Lincolnshire Dance can come and work and be part of something like this. It has brought us into contact with a new audience and you can see that people are not quite sure what is happening, they are not a dance audience so it is lovely.”
Photos: Samantha Fisher for The Lincolnite
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Two men have been jailed and two received community orders for a violent attack on Lincoln High Street in 2019.
On the morning of July 20, 2019, a 38-year-old man was attacked by two teenagers as he was walking near High Bridge in Lincoln.
The victim was kicked and stamped on after being dragged to the floor, and received face and body wounds from a bladed article.
Within minutes of the first assault, the victim was approached by Adrian Johnson, 34, and Mark Guest, 38, who began a second attack.
Guest hit him with a bottle of Lambrini before punching him multiple times in the face, while Johnson pulled him to the ground and stamped on him.
Mark Guest, 38, of Monks Road, Lincoln, will face five years and eight months in prison. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police
The attacks left the victim with a fractured eye socket and a bloodied face.
Guest and Johnson fled the scene on foot but were caught and arrested within minutes by taser-equipped police officers.
All four suspects appeared before Lincoln Crown Court on Thursday, January 14 and were subsequently charged for their crimes.
The two teenagers from the first attack are now over the age of 18 and can be named as Corey Stenner, 19, and Nathan Williamson, 18.
The pair were identified through CCTV two hours after they attacked the victim and have now been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent, with both pleading guilty.
Stenner, of Franklin Avenue, Skegness, received a one-year community order and 30 days rehabilitation, while Williamson, of Princess Street, Lincoln, was given a two-year youth rehabilitation order.
Adrian Johnson, 34, of no fixed address, and Mark Guest, 38, of Monks Road, Lincoln were charged with the same crime as the teenagers, but were given more severe sentences.
Adrian Johnson, 34, of no fixed address, will serve the same sentence as Guest. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police
Both Johnson and Guest were sentenced to five years and eight months in prison, as well as being handed a restraining order to protect the victim.
Guest told the court that he was acting in self-defence and sought a trial, but changed his plea to guilty part-way through the hearing.
Detective Constable Richard Gray, investigating the case, said: “The events were witnessed by members of the public returning home from the bars and clubs of Lincoln.
“Nobody expected to see such frenzied and violent attacks like this against one individual and I have no doubt that it must have been a very scary and shocking thing to see, let alone to be subjected to.
“Thanks to the response of officers that morning, all those responsible were quickly arrested and investigated by Lincoln CID.
“We take any violence like this exceptionally seriously and especially when weapons are involved.
“I would like to thank the victim for his cooperation with the investigation and hope this brings some closure to a difficult and traumatic experience.
“Please continue to report violence in our county so that we can pursue those responsible.”
There have been 541 new coronavirus cases and 31 COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire over the weekend.
The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 414 new cases in Lincolnshire across Saturday and Sunday, 72 in North Lincolnshire and 55 in North East Lincolnshire.
By the end of Sunday, 26 deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, three in North East Lincolnshire and two in North Lincolnshire. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.
NHS England reported 15 new local hospital deaths at United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust, six at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust and one at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals, making a total of 22.
The weekend saw national cases increase to 3,395,959, while deaths rose to 89,261.
People in England aged 70 and over, as well as the clinically extremely vulnerable, will begin receiving offers of a coronavirus vaccine this week. New vaccination centres opened at the Lincolnshire Showground and in Boston.
The Prime Minister said the move was a “significant milestone” in the nation’s vaccination programme.
Everyone arriving in the UK from abroad must now self-isolate as the government order to shut all travel corridors comes into effect.
The tighter restrictions, intended to protect against the spread of coronavirus variants, were announced last week by Boris Johnson.
Over the weekend, ambulance staff have said they are “at breaking point” as new data has shown a new COVID-19 patient is admitted to hospital “every 30 seconds”.
NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens told the BBC’s Andrew Marr the NHS was in a perilous situation with 15,000 more inpatients than there had been on Christmas Day.
All UK adults should be offered the first dose of a COVID vaccine by September — with the hope some restrictions can be lifted by March, Dominic Raab has told Sky News.
Speaking on Sophy Ridge on Sunday, the foreign secretary said: “Our target is that by September to have offered all the adult population a first dose, if we can do it faster than that’s great, but that’s the roadmap.”
Lincolnshire’s COVID cases up to Jan 17.
Lincolnshire’s COVID deaths up to Jan 18.
Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Sunday, January 17
Greater Lincolnshire includes Lincolnshire and the unitary authorities of North and North East (Northern) Lincolnshire.
44,002 cases (up 541)
30,459 in Lincolnshire (up 414)
6,897 in North Lincolnshire (up 72)
6,646 in North East Lincolnshire (up 55)
1,677 deaths (up 31)
1,187 from Lincolnshire (up 26)
268 from North Lincolnshire (up two)
222 from North East Lincolnshire (up three)
of which 996 hospital deaths (up 22)
603 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up 15)
30 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (up one)
1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
362 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up six)
3,395,959 cases, 89,261 deaths
DATA SOURCE — FIGURES CORRECT AT THE TIME OF THE LATEST UPDATE. POSTCODE DATA INCLUDES DEATHS NOT IN HEALTHCARE FACILITIES OR IN HOSPITALS OUTSIDE AUTHORITY BOUNDARIES.