Dans Meridian* (Dance Meridian)

Dans Meridian* (Dance Meridian) by Stellaris Dance Theatre was made for the northernmost point of the Arc, at 70° 40' 11, 23" N in Hammerfest. The choreography was originally made as an outdoors performance in two parts with six dancers and one singer. The first part was performed on a house roof, the second was a dance circling the points around the Meridian Column. The choreography was later processed for stage use and has also been performed aboard the coastal cruise ships of Hurtigruten.

According to UNESCO, The Struve Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through 10 countries and over 2,820 km. These are points of a survey, carried out between 1816 and 1855 by the astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve, which represented the first accurate measuring of a long segment of a meridian. This helped to establish the exact size and shape of the planet; an important step in developing earth sciences and topographic mapping. The original arc consisted of 258 main triangles with 265 main station points. The listed site includes 34 of the original station points, with different markings, i.e. a drilled hole in rock, iron cross, cairns, or - as in Hammerfest - built obelisks or columns.

Sources: Stellaris Dance Theatre, 20.1.11, http://stellaris.no/forestillinger/dansmeridian.html

UNESCO, 22.02.11, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1187

*Not yet translated into English. The title within parentheses is the Norwegian title's literal meaning.