Océan Brun spotlights sargassum crisis at Leicester
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- Océan Brun – choreographed by Marlène Myrtil and built on interviews with residents of Guadeloupe and Martinique about the toxic brown seaweed sargassum that blankets Caribbean waters.
- Leicester Cathedral – served as the venue, its tall stone arches and daylight shifting to warm orange stage lighting to create a visible time change during the performance.
- Projected film – showed a faint image of sargassum‑strangled sea in daylight, making the visual impact less striking for the audience.
- Deborah Lary – performed the duet with gasping breaths, improvisatory movement, and raised hands to the sky, conveying urgency and desperation.
- Francis Saint‑Albin – partnered with Lary, delivering controlled tension and meditative qigong‑influenced gestures such as subtle finger curls.
- Let’s Dance International Frontiers – the Leicester festival that showcases global artists from the African and African‑Caribbean diaspora, presenting Océan Brun for the first time outside Martinique.
- sargassum – when it washes ashore, it emits gases that cause headaches, nausea, and breathing problems, a health hazard highlighted by the performance.
Why it matters: By staging Océan Brun in a historic UK cathedral, the Let’s Dance International Frontiers festival gives Caribbean artists a high‑profile platform and brings the sargassum health crisis to a new audience, potentially spurring broader public awareness and concern among policy makers.
