To celebrate The Lowry's free family dance exhibition Express Yourself at the arts centre in Salford, one of the painter's most iconic paintings, Coming from the Mill, sees his characters moving and dancing.

The Lowry teamed up with PR agency Weber Shandwick to develop a one-minute animation to demonstrate that literally everyone can dance - even one of Lowry's famous characters.

In the video, the painting's figures come alive and walk from the mill until, unexpectedly, one of the figures starts to dance and a crowd gathers to watch.

Michael Simpson, head of galleries at The Lowry said: "Shows like Britain's Got Talent and Strictly Come Dancing have helped dance to grow in popularity and shed some of its 'elitist' image.

"People don't see dance as just something that highly skilled, able bodied and fit people do anymore – it has become a way to express yourself and have fun.

"The purpose of the exhibition is to encourage everyone to dance and show that anyone can do it. We've done just that with this video."

Jo Leah, managing director of Weber Shandwick North, who developed the video, said: "This animation is the perfect way to communicate the core message of the exhibition to a wide audience.

"It's exciting to see how the traditional art and modern day digital techniques complement each other to create a completely new piece of art."

Accompanying the animation, Weber Shandwick has used a piece of music created especially by Salford University, which incorporates an urban and industrial feel in keeping with the history of the painting.

Open to the public until September 27 and completely free of charge, Express Yourself is an interactive exhibition that aims to open up dance to everyone and learn what the human body is capable of.

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