Posts Tagged ‘Family Weekend’

DanceXchange’s Spring/Summer season

IDFB co-producer DanceXchange’s Spring/Summer 2011 season at The Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome is packed with exciting performances.

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.

Kip Johnson in LOL (lots of love) - photo by Nuno Santos

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.

Enrique talks DanSense

Enrique Cabrera is the director of his own company, Aracaladanza. We caught up with him whilst he was in Birmingham re-working his show DanSense, being performed in the brand new double bill Funny Bones – part of our Family Weekend.

Enrique Cabrera

Q: What inspired you to create DanSense?
EC: DanSense was originally created for the first International Dance Festival Birmingham in 2008. It is inspired by the five senses and is a fun exploration of how we experience the world around us through them. We work with flowers for the smell, dresses covered in spoons as we explore taste and finish with water, which, for me, stimulates all five senses!

Q: You are currently rehearsing the piece – will it change significantly from when you first created it in 2008?
EC: Well I’m working with different dancers for this performance, and I like to work with each dancer’s individual energy. Everyone has a different way of moving – even just watching people on the street they all move differently. I like to work with this individuality rather than force a particular movement on a dancer, so parts of the performance are being re-worked slightly and will change from the original piece.

Q: What age group is DanSense aimed at?
EC: It is aimed at children of all ages.

Q: Why did you choose to create a dance piece specifically for children?
EC: I create a lot of dance pieces for children and families. People need to have stimulation throughout their childhood, and throughout their whole lives really, although it is especially important for children. Dance is just one way of doing this, but is perfect for young children. A baby’s first experience of the world is through movement and sound, not through speech, so using dance and movement is the perfect way to engage them and communicate ideas and imagery.

Q: Did you dance yourself as a child?
EC: I didn’t start dancing until I was around 21 or 22. I started to do puppet theatre then and took some dance classes to help with the movement. I immediately loved it and decided that dancing was what I wanted to do, so I changed my career.

Q: What was it about dance that made you want to change your career?
EC: I could see the potential it had – although theatre was great I felt dance had even more opportunity for expression and communication. Movement is fundamental and communicates on a basic level that words can’t, and also, the body is an amazing tool to work with.

Q: What do you feel the benefits are of being involved with an event like IDFB?
EC: Any international festival, in any city around the world, is immensely important as it allows the people of that area to see so many different kinds of performances they may never see otherwise. Also a lot goes on behind the scenes at an international festival like this – co-operation between companies and dancers, sharing ideas, changing opinions and meeting new people. Many new friendships are made and can often result in new collaborations further down the line. The festival will be an amazing experience for Birmingham.

Dance with us

The Festival is not just about the fabulous line up of performances we’ve programmed, but it’s also about giving people of all ages, dance abilities and interests to join in the fun at a town or city centre near you. Have a look at the Take Part section of our website and see what kinds of opportunities there are to get involved.

Whether you’re looking for tango, flamenco, folk, hip hop or something fun for the kids to do, do keep checking back for regular updates – we’ve got an array of workshops as well as education and outreach programmes to get you dancing.

Take Part on the IDFB Website
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