Durham in Blue 2026

Following on from last year's successful Trail of Blue, on 21-22 May 2026 Balbir Singh Dance Company returned to Durham for another collaboration with Alzheimer's Society - Durham, and Durham University, to raise awareness for the impact of living with Alzheimer's.

Spanning numerous locations and taking place across 2 days from early afternoon to late evening, the event saw a wide range of creative reflections regarding memory, remembrance, and living.

Day 1 - Durham in Blue

In collaboration with Professor Paul Chazot and the Durham University Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing, activity on the first day took place in a range of locations around County Durham. Starting in the University’s Oriental Museum, we then moved to the Botanic Garden to make the most of the sun, before finally finishing at Durham’s University College, where both the Castle and the Cathedral were to be bathed in blue light once dusk arrived.

Oriental Museum

Our activity at Oriental Museum served as a continuation of our long-running creative health workshops that we regularly collaborate with the museum on. Working with Charlotte Spink, Learning Coordinator at the Museum, this session held a focus on the colour blue, where participants from our creative health group, as well as volunteers from the Alzheimer’s Society, were shown various blue artefacts from the museum’s archive, as well as being encouraged to take a trip around the museum gallery; keeping a keen eye out for anything blue that they might spot along the way.

Botanic Garden

At the Botanic Garden, we connected with the colours of nature and explored the various shades of blue that we could find among the greenery around us. The dancers also interacted with the environment based upon the prompt of memory.

Durham Castle

Aided by Constance, our student liaison with the University, we explored and performed in a vast array of spaces at Durham Castle. This ranged from the Tunstall Chapel and Norman Chapel, the latter of which is the oldest building in Durham at nearly 1000 years old, through to the Great Hall, and the courtyard outside.

The Castle

Norman Chapel

Tunstall Chapel

The Great Hall

Castle in Blue

Durham Cathedral

Our final stop of the night was Durham’s Cathedral. With the sun having set, the cathedral was now bathed in blue floodlights. Towering into the sky, the monument allowed us to creatively respond and encouraged the public to reflect on the theme of memory.

Day 2 - Stanhope Train Station

The second day of activity saw dancer Kali head to Stanhope Railway Station, where he greeted a train carrying people with dementia. Organised by the Alzheimer’s Society, the rail journey served as a day out for those affected by dementia, as well as a method of raising awareness for those who live with it.

As the train pulled into the platform Kali greeted them with a performance of Indian dance. Adorned in his blue outfit and his white wings, Kali’s presence generated smiles, conversation and memories.

Dancers

Devika Rao
Kali Chandrasegaram

Musician

Aniruddha Mukherjee

Photographers

Balbir Singh
Elia Tomé
Morgan Girvin
Shivani Kaushik

Videographers

David Andrassy
Shivani Kaushik

In collaboration with: