A dance artist’s controversial attempt to induce an epileptic seizure on stage at Bradford Playhouse has been condemned by sufferers and their carers.

Rita Marcalo has stopped taking her medication in preparation for the Involuntary Dances event, billed as a combination of art showcase, pyjama party, club night and voyeuristic pleasure.

The performance will be at the Little Germany theatre next month and could last 24 hours, as she can not exactly predict when she will fit.

It is the first in a trilogy of works looking at the relationship between dance, epilepsy and drug research which has attracted Arts Council funding.

Miss Marcalo, the artistic director of Leeds-based dance company Instant Dissidence, suffers about two seizures a year while on medication.

During the performance, she will engage in a series of potentially fit-inducing acts, including smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol, stimulating the brain through strobe lights and depriving herself of food and sleep.

If and when she has a seizure an alarm will sound and cameras will record her.

But Zoe Swift, 31, of Hirst Wood, Shipley, whose brother, Scott Curtis, 25, and four-year-old daughter Jessica have epilepsy, said: “If people want to see this there is something wrong with them.”

Ward Councillor Sajawal Hussain (Lab, City) said: “I don’t think it should be allowed to go ahead because there are serious dangers involved.

“I am for raising awareness but it isn’t the right platform.”

And a spokesman for charity Epilepsy Action said: “This is potentially very dangerous and something we would strongly urge this person not to do.

“At the very least, the performance should carry a health warning advising people that they should not attempt this themselves under any circumstances.”

Eleanor Barrett, director of the Playhouse, said: “I can understand why there are concerns.

“Rita has suffered with epilepsy since she was 17 and this is a part of her physical expression of who she is.

“She has decided to take something negative and turn it into something positive and it is empowering for her.”

She said the artist would be monitored by a medical team.

The performance is part of a six-month project made possible with the help of a £13,889 Arts Council grant.

An Arts Council spokesman said: “This project raises awareness of a disability through the artist’s personal experience of epilepsy, and we support this."

Miss Marcalo was not available for comment last night as she was said to be out of the country.

The event is scheduled to begin at 1pm on Friday, December 11. Tickets are being sold at £5 each.