'Coleridge Unbound' is an ambitious project for dance film and site-specific outdoor performance, focusing on the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s stance against slavery and his role as an abolitionist in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Performances will take place at Alfoxton Park, Bridgwater (the former home of Coleridge's friend and fellow poet, William Wordsworth) on September 3rd 2022 and again at the Unitarian Chapel, Taunton (where Coleridge preached against slavery) on September 4th.

'Coleridge Unbound' includes new choreography by leading British dance artists Michael Joseph, Deborah Baddoo, Bawren Tavaziva and Kay Crook, and develops partnerships with Somerset Film, the Museum of Somerset, Friends of Coleridge, Alfoxton House Community, Taunton Unitarians and local community groups. The music for 'Coleridge Unbound' is directed and produced by State of Trust's MD Steve Marshall. The joint composers and performers on these recordings include guitarist Alan Weekes, Jamaican flautist and saxophonist Michael “Bammi” Rose, double bass player Michele Montolli and drummer Kenrick Rowe.

​

The project, which will take place in Devon and Somerset, aims to make the invisible visible, uncovering diversity in the local history of a mono-cultural English rural community and exploring little known local historical perspectives. 'Coleridge Unbound' will open community dialogue about racism, explode myths and help to develop awareness and empathy between cultures.