AN AERIAL dance project featuring a woman suspended on the three-storey gable end of an industrial building in the east end of Glasgow is set to open a major international arts celebration.

Performer Hannah Choo will stage a performance of vertical dance tonight, bringing Germany’s prestigious Bauhaus to Bridgeton in a production to be included in the centenary celebrations of the influential art school in Weimar, Germany.

The performance, devised and led by Sarah MacKeever, artistic director of Glasgow based organisation Puredance, will take place on the exterior wall of Park Lane House in Bridgeton, in Glasgow’s east end.

A recording of the feat will then feature as a large-scale projection at the opening of the Bauhaus 100 celebrations at Berlin’s Akademie Der Kunste in January.

Tonight’s performance will feature dancer Choo suspended by a rope accompanied by digital design elements, and soundscape from Northern Irish electronic musician Ryan Vail.

London-based aerial artist Ms Choo has performed with pop stars Pharrell Williams and Pixie Lott, and has appeared on-screen in the 2017 Justice League movie.

Ms MacKeever, who is one of a group of 100 artists worldwide to have been selected to contribute work for the celebrations of the university’s founding, said the production was inspired by the utilitarian design of the post-industrial buildings in the area, which echo key tenets of the German movement.

Ms MacKeever, who is from Belfast but lives in Glasgow, said: “It’s inspired by the Bauhaus design ethic. The stark linear forms of much of their famous designs are reflected in some of Glasgow’s industrial buildings, and I wanted to draw on this link.

“The Bauhaus has always been at the forefront of the urban art movement, so it seemed appropriate to develop this piece using the cutting edge dance form of Vertical Dance.

“The ex-industrial buildings of the East End reflect the Bauhaus design, so it seemed like an instant match. The regeneration of the East End is fantastic for the local community and Glasgow, and I wanted to support that rather than use the city centre.”

Rehearsals ahead of the ambitious event have been ongoing in Bridgeton since last week.

“Heather has been working extremely hard throughout the rehearsals,” said Ms MacKeever. “There’s a lot to take in, both physically for the performance and mentally with the heights and the routine.”

A film of the performance, produced by students of City of Glasgow College, will become part of the opening Bauhaus 100 event and exhibition in Weimar next year where it is confirmed as the first event to open the celebrations in January.

It will then tour to New York and other international venues.

Ms MacKeever is a Bauhaus Master, a title conferred on graduates of the Bauhaus University who have completed a masters degree at the university in Weimar.

She has produced, choreographed and performed vertical dance in India, Greece, Croatia, Ireland and Germany. Graduates are expected to further the Bauhaus concept in their artistic work.

“The Bauhaus movement has always challenged and pushed forward the boundaries of art and design,” she said.

“It’s an attitude that seems to me to be reflected in Glasgow.”

The free performance takes place at 6pm tonight. Glasgow audiences will get a chance to see the finished product next month in special public screenings of the edited video at RogArt Street Campus in Bridgeton.