They drained the pool. They couldn’t drain our spirit.
Twenty-five years after the Govanhill Baths occupation, DIVE gathers an all-ages community cast in a site-responsive choreography of water, memory and keeping things afloat. Created by Bex Anson with the people of Govanhill, and developed through workshops with local primary and secondary schools, the performance spills from Calder Street into Kingarth Lane, where bodies dive, drift, splash, synchronise and hold one another up.
Shaped by the rhythms of the public pool, DIVE weaves together swimming, washing, protest and the everyday life that has kept the Baths alive for generations.
Commissioned by Govanhill Baths Community Trust, with research and development support from Royal Conservatoire of Scotland BA Arts with Community Students and local Govanhill schools.
Govanhill Baths, 99 Calder Street
Free
Duration: 20 mins approx.
DIVE Participant call out video
“DIVE was genuinely remarkable. In a very short and intense development period, Bex created something artistically strong, deeply rooted in the history of the Baths, and carried with real warmth and generosity by the community ensemble. It was celebratory, moving and politically alive—and felt exactly right for marking the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Calder Street.”
— Simone Stewart, Arts & Heritage Manager, Govanhill Baths Community Trust