Daina Ashbee

SERPENTINE

A nude woman with olive skin curls up on her knees on a reflective black surface, her arms wrapped around hear head. A long black braid falls down her back.

A nude woman with dark hair, olive skin, and tattoos arches her back while lying on a reflective black surface, her arms extended in front of her.

A nude woman with dark hair, olive skin, and tattoos lies on her side on a reflective black surface.

A nude woman with dark hair, olive skin and tattoos along her shoulder, lies on a reflective black surface, arches her back with her arms extended in front of her.

A nude woman with dark hair and olive skin lies face up on a glossy black catwalk stage with her calves tucked underneath her and arms extended outward. An audience gathers around the stage

A nude woman with dark hair, olive skin, and tattoos kneels on a reflective black surface with her head lowered and one arm extended forward.

Dates and Opening times

Sat 6 Jun 2 – 4pm

Free and Unticketed

Contains Nudity

This work is durational; the piece is performed in approximately 20-minute cycles.

Venue

Tramway, 25 Albert Drive, G41 2PE

Participants

Daina Ashbee

Presented by

Diana Ashbee, Tramway & Dance North

Artistic Direction, Choreography & Scenography: Daina Ashbee

Rehearsal Director: Gabriel Nieto

Interpreted by: Imara Bosco

Original Sound Design: Jean-Francois Blouin

Producer: Daina Ashbee

Supported by

Co-curated by Tramway and Dance North as part of RISE 2026, Dance North's Festival of Contemporary Dance and Performance. RISE honours global Indigenous artists whose work connects land, story, and movement worldwide.

Accessiblity

Level Access, Step Free: The venue has ramped or level access and/or lifts to upper floors

Accessible Toilets: The venue has wheelchair accessible toilets

Gender Neutral Toilets: The venue has toilets that are not separated by gender or sex

Refreshments: There is a cafe or somewhere you can purchase refreshments

Baby Change: The venue has baby changing facilities

Bike Rack: There is cycle parking at the venue

Serpentine is an installation performance created by artist and choreographer Daina Ashbee. Vibrating with the essence of Daina’s dark and feminine style, the work constitutes a summary of three previous pieces: Unrelated (2014); When the ice melts, will we drink the water? (2016); and Pour (2016). In developing Serpentine, Daina’s research explored the occupation of space, time, and attention, evolving into a cathartic solo for the performer, Irène Martinez, based on reclamation and insistence.

Presented in 20-minute cycles that repeat and intensify, Serpentine incorporates simple imagery chosen to resonate with a wide audience, and is set to an original electric organ composition by Jean-Francois Blouin. The juxtaposition of the haunting, at times disturbing sounds of the organ with the slow, sensual movement gradually escalating in violence produces a powerful effect.

Daina says: “Sometimes things need to be insisted upon, and I believe repetition is powerful because it insists, because we remember and we absorb. The body is powerful and Serpentine allows one body to speak—to occupy space and our attention, over and over, insistently revealing the enormous strength of the interpreter.”

Co-curated by Tramway and Dance North as part of RISE 2026, Dance North's Festival of Contemporary Dance and Performance. RISE honours global Indigenous artists whose work connects land, story, and movement worldwide.