Performance artist Louise Moyes dances people down memory lane on Long's Hill

If you have ever wondered about the history of Long's Hill, just ask performing artist Louise Moyes.

Moyes lives on Long's Hill, cares deeply about the neighbourhood, has the knowledge of a historian and came up with the idea to take people through the area on a walking tour with a stop or two along the way for a "scuff" a dance.

"I love what my neighbour Harvey says if you put a pin in the middle of Long's Hill and drew a half-a-kilometre radius you would hit every walk of life, every echelon of society, every culture that we have in St. John's to date," Moyes toldCBCRadio'sSt. John's Morning Show.

"I feel pretty lucky to live in the neighbourhood of Long's Hill. I've lived here for about 10 years."

Long's Hill, formerly known asCentreville, is an integral part to the area of downtown St. John's, still used as amain streetto get to the higher areas of the city outside of the downtown district by buses and traffic alike.

Moyse started thinking about five years ago about community, home and what it is to be a neighbour, and then went bigger, looking over nearly 200 years of the neighbourhood's life, unearthing a variety of stories about an area often stigmatized as being rampant with crime.

"People say, 'Oh, you live on Long's Hill. You live inthatneighbourhood,' associating it with sex work, and addiction and crime," she said.

Her "Docudances" are one-woman shows filled with laughter, history and stories created by interviews, according to her website.

One story involves American soldiers in an area of the neighbourhood not many know about.

"This alley is where the American soldiers would hang out with their girlfriends and make out in the '50s," she said,

"So people will hear about that, and there will be a surprise dance coming through. We're going to be ghosts, '50sghosts coming through dancing."

Moyes said her work helps provide a fuller picture of what Long's Hill is.

"I want to take it back two steps and say. 'This is our neighbourhood. I live here, sex workers live here, children live here, retirees live here.How do we take two steps back and look at inclusion?' My little project can't solve anything but just to put different points of view on the table. That's what I like to do."

With files from The St. John's Morning Show

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