A CONTEMPORARY art project inviting audience participation is making its Dorset debut in Bridport.

Artists and performers will be able to test new and innovative contemporary work in front of a live audience through Practice [Outside].

The event at Bridport Arts Centre on Friday, July 25 at 5.30pm, will give artists and audiences the opportunity to come together to test performance and dance in development – inviting an exchange of views between artists and audiences.

Four selected extracts of work in progress from Liz Aggiss, Hannah Sullivan, PINCH and Michael Bell will be presented alongside an outdoor piece by Frances Aitken, who is developing work as part of Ridgeway Responses, the South Dorset Ridgeway Landscape Partnership commission scheme for Inside Out Dorset.

Wendy Petitdemange, theatre producer at Activate Performing Arts, which produces Inside Out Dorset, said: “The artists that have been selected are a really eclectic mix, incorporating circus, dance, theatre/spoken word, immersive artwork and plenty of humour.”

Bill Gee, co-artistic director of Inside Out Dorset said: “It’s brilliant that Practice [Outside] is happening at Bridport Arts Centre and that one of the commissioned artists of the South Dorset Ridgeway Responses trail is presenting – it’s a double-first as it’s the first time that Practice, which is a South West-wide initiative, has come to Dorset and also the first time it has had a focus on outdoor arts making.

“It will be a fascinating evening and a way for everyone to see into the creative process of how artists set about making new work.”

The work on show will be: Liz Aggiss: A Bit of Slap & Tickle. A stand-up dance, live art performance and distilled scrapbook.

Hannah Sullivan: Violent Creatures. Reflecting on whether we need to re-establish the human as a violent creature.

PINCH: Asking For It. A piece of physical theatre exploring behaviour as women get ready to go out Michael Bell: Dog. Writer, juggler, performer Michael Bell introduces a man and his dog.

Frances Aitken: Caravan Obscura. An inventive, lo-tech, immersive artwork the caravan brings the outside inside and turns it upside down The project is a partnership between ICIA University of Bath, Salisbury Arts Centre, Salisbury Arts Centre, Bridport Arts Centre and Activate’s Inside Out Dorset festival.

n Practice [Outside] is free to attend but booking is recommended from Bridport Arts Centre at bridport-arts.com.