A HEART-WARMING celebration of the sea is steering a course to a venue near you.

Harbour Voices, a 20-strong group of men and women, will perform traditional shanties and original songs recounting tales of our Dorset coast past and present at Litton Cheney near Dorchester and on Portland.

Sea shanties are the work songs that were once sung to accompany labour on board large merchant ships.

Growing out of the working chants of British and other national maritime traditions, shanties were notably influenced by songs of African Americans, such as those sung whilst loading vessels with cotton.

Borrowing from many contemporary popular music enjoyed by sailors, such as minstrel music and land-based folk songs, these shanties were adapted to suit the various labour tasks required on board, such as weighing anchor and setting sail.

Now this spring, the Dorset based group Harbour Voices will bring these traditions to life in a tour of rural Dorset through Artsreach, the counties rural arts charity who are supported in 2017 by solicitors Blanchards Bailey.

Join in the rousing choruses, hear stories of sailors and whalers, boat-builders and fisher-wives, and glimpse moments in the lives of those who risked all to make their living from the sea.

Prepare to be moved, amused, intrigued and inspired by this unusual show, featuring vocal harmonies to make your heart soar, and songs that speak of our vital connection to the sea.

*Harbour Voices will perform at Litton Cheney Community Hall at 7.30pm on Friday February 3. Call 01308 482532 for tickets. It then goes to the Royal Manor Theatre on Portland on Sunday February 5 at 7.30pm. Call 0333 666 3366 for tickets. On Saturday February 11 Harbour Voices will bring their shanties to Sturminster Marshall Hall in North Dorset at 7.30pm on Saturday February 11 at 7.30pm. Call 01202 650213 for tickets.

See artsreach.co.uk

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