The oppportunity offers both the chance to have your work seen by thousands of people in Birmingham city centre, and to be involved in IDFB 2012! The deadline is Tuesday 28 February.

Please click here for the full design brief, and to download the application form.

We are also looking for a Costume Designer for Wings of Desire, our major new outdoor dance theatre spectacular that will transform Victoria Square from the ordinary to the extraordinary, incorporating dancers, rock climbers, circus, soundscape and architectural projection. Please click here for more information about how you can get involved in this new, ambitious production.

TAO Dance Theatre has performed in various modern dance festivals throughout China and worked with renowned Chinese artists from different genres including theatre, experimental music, visual arts and installation.

So, what can you expect from this double bill at The Patrick Centre? Weight x 3 is a duet about the perceptions of physical practice, performed to the music of Steve Reich.  The company’s newest work, 2, is a duet performed by Artistic Director and company founder Tao Ye and Duan Ni. Composer Xiao He recorded conversations during rehearsal and his everyday life so he could use natural spoken rhythms to develop the accompanying sound score. Check out this rehearsal footage for 2:

You can watch Weight x 3 and 2 on Friday 11 November at The Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome at 8pm. Tickets are £10 // £7 concession in advance and £12 // £9 concession on the day. You can book online or call 0844 338 5000. Find out more about the DanceXchange season offers where you can get up to 50% off ticket prices.

Some Like it Hip Hop runs between Thursday 13 and Saturday 15 October. Inspired by Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, you can expect some cross-dressing, a comical tale of love and mistaken identity delivered in ZooNation’s signature hip-hop and comedy styles with a generous helping of physical theatre.

The show is written by ZooNation founder Kate Prince and Felix Harrison, and is the company’s first full-length production since the award-winning West End smash hit Into the Hoods. With original music by Josh Cohen and DJ Walde, the all star cast includes Tommy Franzen (So You Think You Can Dance, Blaze, Goldberg) Lizzie Gough (So You Think You Can Dance, Blaze) and Teneisha Bonner (Into the Hoods, Insane in the Brain, StreetDance 3D, Shoes). Check out the trailer:

What are you waiting for? Book now!

Full price tickets are between £12.50 and £30. If you’re booking by phone, calls cost from 5p per min and a 5% transaction charge applies. This offer is non-retrospective, and can’t be used in conjunction with any other offer. Tickets must be purchased in pairs. Birmingham Hippodrome reserves the right to remove this offer at any time.

The season starts with the brilliant Hofesh Shechter Company’s Uprising & The Art of Not Looking Back on Thursday 22 – Saturday 24 September. In this exciting double bill, Uprising features seven men emerging from the shadows bombarding the stage with high energy against a brilliant percussive score composed by choreographer Hofesh Shechter himself.

Meanwhile, The Art of Not Looking Back is inspired by, and made for, the extremely talented female dancers of the Hofesh Shechter Company. This piece has been restaged with support from dx.

The following week 2Faced Dance Company perform In the Dust on Thursday 29 September – Saturday 1 October. Exploring themes of decay and destruction, the award-winning company return with a triple bill of darkly explosive new break-infused contemporary dance works from critically-acclaimed choreographers Tom Dale, Place Price finalist Freddie Opoku-Addaie and 2Faced Artistic Director Tamsin Fitzgerald.

It’s also the ten year anniversary of dx’s touring company Bare Bones, and to celebrate 10 years of innovative performance, a new production Bare Bones The Decade will be performed on Wednesday 5 – Thursday 6 October. The show features iconic solos and duets from previous Bare Bones productions, by some of the UK’s top choreographers – Hofesh Shechter, Carol Brown, Charlotte Vincent, Jasmin Vardimon and Luca Silvestrini. Bare Bones The Decade will also be performed at The Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House and Wales Millennium Centre in October.

Also in October, for dx’s anniversary Associate Artist Rosie Kay and her company are presenting Double Points: K & Asylum on Thursday 13 – Friday 14 October. Based on the seminal work by Dutch/Italian choreographer Emio Greco, Double Points: K features precise dance structure, synchronicity and stamina. Meanwhile, Asylum weaves a narrative of finding your identity through the sheer determination of the human spirit.

Frauke Requardt’s new work Episode is on Thursday 20 – Friday 21 October. Expect an atmospheric experience with live on-stage soundtrack by pianist Niko Meinhold and Andrew Plummer’s deep, deep voice, alongside an immersive, eerie soundtrack by the Ringham brothers.

Then there’s Darshan Singh Bhuller’s Caravaggio: Exile and Death on Thursday 27 – Friday 28 October. This dance show is inspired by the life and work of the 17th century master painter, Caravaggio.

Vocab Dance Company’s Episodes of Blackness is on Friday 4 November. The double bill features new work Word!, which is a choreographic response to headlines around youth culture and there’s also a revival of the highly acclaimed Kwenda-Kwenda, which is a compelling exploration of a female’s wish to step away from ones roots but anxious about the loss of tradition.

One of China’s most exciting companies  TAO Dance Theatre will perform Weight x 3 & 2 on Friday 11 November. Weight x 3 is a duet about the perceptions of physical practice, performed to the music of Steve Reich and the company’s newest work, 2, is a duet performed by Artistic Director and company founder Tao Ye and Duan Ni.

Prepare to be mesmerised by Company Decalage’s La Porte & Eteins Pas on Saturday 26 November. This is a moving double bill by dx’s Associate Artist Mickael ‘Marso’ Riviere’s company, combining original music, hip-hop, bboying, Capoeira and contemporary dance. In La Porte, the characters of Life and Death become real while Eteins Pas is partly improvised, and inspired by the idea of life after death, and out-of-body experiences.

And finally closing the autumn season is the brilliantly talented Aakash Odedra. Rising is on Friday 9 December. A new evening of work, Rising explores different processes and aesthetics to create a new personal language.

All performances start at 8pm at The Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome. Most first night performances have post show talks.

Tickets are £10/£7 concession in advance and £12/£9 concession on the day. They can be booked online via the dx website www.dancexchange.org.uk or by phoning 0844 338 500. And don’t forget there’s a season ticket offer! Book for 3 shows or more at once and get 20% off, book for 5 shows or more at once, get 50% off. This means you could get tickets for all 10 shows for just £50! This offer is only valid for advance ticket purchases booked by phone or in person, not online.

As we head into the most hectic and exciting period in the festival’s calendar, we’re looking for an agency or individual to support our in-house media and PR activity.

Building on the success of previous festivals, we want to generate greater profile and media coverage than ever before. If you have a strong track record in securing media coverage and a creative, “can do” approach to PR, you could be just what we’re looking for.

For a full brief and details of how to submit your proposal, please visit the Jobs section of the DanceXchange website, or call 0121 689 3170.

The submission deadline is 10am on Monday 19th September 2011.

How did you cast for the musical? Have you had trouble finding artists for such an important role?

Casting the show is the most difficult aspect in Thriller Live because Michael Jackson was such a unique talent. I decided from day one that I didn’t want the show to be a straight tribute performance with one impersonator. I wanted to take the audience on a journey and display all of Michael Jackson’s different personas and talent on stage. Therefore we have 5 lead principal singers sharing the songs throughout – including a child for the early Jackson 5 hits, a soulful singer, the pop singer, a rock singer and a female singer which surprises many people – but she brings a lot of balance to many of the songs.

Then there is also the dancers. We have one lead ‘MJ’ dancer, who fronts songs such as ‘Smooth Criminal’, ‘Thriller’ and ‘Billie Jean’. On top of this we have 10 male and female dancers who bring the stage to life with fantastic choreography from Director Gary Lloyd. For these dancers it is a dream come true to be in a show inspired by an icon they grew up on, learning his moves daily.

Why is there a big gap between the first Jackson Celebration of ‘91 and the musical?

The Annual Michael Jackson Celebration started in 1991 and ran every years for 10 years. In 2001 Michael personally attended the show in London and watched over 100 performers pay tribute to him. Afterwards he came on stage and told the 3,000 fans in attendance that he thought the Celebration had been ‘beautiful and incredible!’

Is it true that Jackson didn’t want to start this show about him?

No, from the outset his management were fully aware of the show, and in 2007 Michael wished me luck with the production. He had always been fully supportive of the Annual Michael Jackson Celebration, even sending over his own video crew to film the event and fans.

It’s a great shame that he never got to see Thriller Live, but Kenny Ortega [Director of Michael’s This is It tour - ed.] recently told us that he was planning on coming to watch the show during his ‘This Is It’ stay in London – but dressed in disguise!

Do you believe that the performances scheduled in July in London would have meant his artistic rebirth? Or his golden moment had passed?

I believe the This Is It concerts would have reaffirmed Michael Jackson as the world’s greatest entertainer – and would have taken concert production to a whole new level. Michael was a perfectionist and was always looking to better his previous work. He was the ultimate showman, and he still had so much more to give – both on and off stage.

Do you see any possible heir of Jackson in the pop world?

There will never be another Michael Jackson. The music industry has changed and is far more instant then it was 10, 20, 30 years ago. Michael grew up during the Motown era, and worked hard with his brothers touring and perfecting their craft. Furthermore he learnt from greats such as Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Jackie Wilson and James Brown. He always said he would ‘study the greats and aim to become better!’

You may find an individual who can sing better, or dance better – but what made Michael the King of Pop was that he did everything, and he did it so very well and with his own style. As a songwriter he was sometimes underrated – but like at hits such as ‘Billie Jean’, ‘Wanna Be Startin Somethin’, ‘Earth Song’ and ‘Don’t Stop Til’ You Get Enough’ – pure pop classics. As a singer he had an incredible 4-octave range, and as a dancer he created breakthrough videos such as ‘Beat It’ and ‘Thriller’, and was complimented by none other than Fred Astaire.

THRILLER LIVE will be at Birmingham Hippodrome on Monday April 18 until Saturday 30 April. Tickets are priced between £13.50 and £32.00. You can book online at www.birminghamhippodrome.com or call 0844 338 5000. Please remember that transaction fees apply.

We’re giving away two free tickets for the opening night on the 18th. Simply go to the IDFB Facebook Fan page, ‘Like’ us and tell us what your favourite Michael Jackson video is. We’ll do a draw and we’ll announce the winner on Friday April 15.

Also, on Saturday April 16, a mass Thriller flash mob will be descending on central Birmingham and you can be part of it. You can register online and to find out more, go to http://thrillerinthecity.com/.

Here’s the Thriller in the city video:

Thriller in the city is presented by Birmingham Hippodrome and supported by Dancing for the Games; a project inspired by London 2012 and part of the Cultural Olympiad in the West Midlands and DanceXchange.

Founded in 1974, The Trocks are a company of professional all male dancers who perform an entertaining view of traditional, classical ballet in parody form. Their inspired blend of their loving knowledge of dance, their comic approach and the astounding fact that men can, indeed, dance en pointe have earned them international critical acclaim.

And if you’ve not seen them in action, here’s a video:

 
The Trocks, who have performed in over 500 cities in 33 countries, are winners of the Critics’ Circle National Dance Award and the TMA Theatre Award. They were invited to perform at The Royal Variety Performance in 2008.
 
Tickets are priced from £12.50 – £29.50. Evening performance times are 7.30pm and the Saturday matinee is at 2.30pm. To book, call 0833 338 5000 or go online at www.birminghamhippodrome.com. Please note that there are booking charges.

Sounds like a lot of fun, so see you there!

Last week, the season kicked off with David Toole and Lucy Hind’s satirical dance duet Extra-Ordinary. David and Lucy will be continuing to work together with acclaimed UK choreographer Liam Steele in collaboration with South African dance company Remix, in partnership with DanceXchange and The Baxter Theatre in South Africa, on an exciting Unlimited commission for the Cultural Olympiad in 2012, so look out for more information on that project soon.

This month, IDFB’s (in)visible/visible dancin’ choreographer Luca Silvestrini is back in Birmingham with LOL (lots of love) on Thursday 17 February. Luca’s latest work has received 4 star reviews from The Times and The Guardian, and explores the very current theme of social networking and how it impacts on the way we live and love.

Here’s the trailer:

Tilted Productions’ Masquerade is on Friday 11 March. Described as “an excursion of the sleeping mind”, this piece for six dancers is inspired by Freud’s interpretations of dreams and features prosthetics by renowned SFX artist John Schoonraad.

London’s leading Hip hop company Avant Garde Dance, under Artistic Director Tony Adigun, are making their Birmingham debut with Illegal Dance on Sunday 26 March. A 360-degree multimedia production, the show is set in an underground society where dance and artistic expression are forbidden. The Stage described Avant Garde as “bold, inventive dance… an adventure in hip hop.”

A strong double bill comes to The Patrick Centre on Thursday 21 April from Company Chameleon founders Anthony Missen and Kevin Turner. Kith/Kin explores male relationships and identity. Before the Night Fell, made with choreographer Beth Cassani, looks at notions of camaraderie and bravery. Meanwhile, Rites is about coming of age, peer pressure and the events that shape men as sons, brothers, fathers and friends.

Kate Mason’s Mobius Dance Theatre will perform Such is Life at The Patrick Centre on Thursday 5 May. The show’s five fantastic performers will perform an athletic, high-octane theatrical work with a quirky edge.

Finally, dx will be presenting its annual Family Weekend – a weekend of dance performances and workshops for children and their families. There are two great shows featuring in the Family Weekend: White Caps, which is on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 May, and See Saw on Saturday 21 May at 7pm and Sunday 22 May at 11am and 2pm.

Champloo Dance and Travelling Light’s White Caps combines film, music and physical performance. This piece, created by Wilkie Branson, is about the emotional and physical journey of two b-boys.

“Stronger”- an excerpt from White Caps from Wilkie Branson on Vimeo.

Meanwhile, Irish dance company Ciotog’s See Saw introduces young children to dance with an intimate and informal performance by three dancers interacting with the audience. Choreographer Ríonach Ní Néill said that the title See-Saw refers to people watching and looking, “the balance between looking and being looked at”

All shows start at 8pm except during the Family Weekend. Please check the website for age suitability.

Also, good news – ticket prices are staying at last season’s reduced rate:

In advance: £10/£7 concession
On the day: £12/£9 concession

For ticket sales call 0844 338 5000 or to book online and for more information visit www.dancexchange.org.uk.

Watch the cast interview below.

Our pals at Birmingham Hippodrome said:

Follow Dick and his Cat on their journey to London; set sail to foreign lands and help our heroes fight off the evil Queen and King Rat in an attempt to save the day and win the heart of the beautiful Alice Fitzwarren.

This year’s pantomime is bursting at the seams with magnificent scenery, stunning special effects and glittering costumes plus even more hilarious jokes and crazy antics!

Tickets are priced between £11 and £35. Check the schedule and prices here.

You can book online or call 0844 338 5000. Please remember to leave plenty of time to get to the theatre during adverse weather conditions over the winter.

For games, downloads and more information, check out the official Dick Whittington production website.

5 SOLDIERS is a dance theatre work with a female and four male dancers. It looks at how the human body is essential to, and used in, warfare. The work, choreographed by Rosie Kay, explores the physical training that prepares you for war, as well as the possible effects on the body, and the injury caused by warfare. For more 5 Soldiers news, visit the Rosie Kay Dance Company website. You can also watch the BBC coverage on the 5 SOLDIERS Facebook Group.