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What’s on in week 2

Here’s a round-up of what’s happening this week (26 April-2 May) at International Dance Festival Birmingham. It’s only the second week of the Festival and it’s jam-packed with fantastic dance experiences, so there’s something for everyone!

The Performances

The world-renowned Ballet Nacional de Cuba presents a stunning mixed bill Magia de la Danza at Birmingham Hippodrome, featuring a special guest appearance from Carlos Acosta on the Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

carlos-acosta

At The Rep, we have the extraordinary Sutra by celebrated Flemish/Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui in collaboration with Turner Prize-winning artist Antony Gormley and 17 Monks directly from the original Shaolin Temple in China. This show has had fantastic reviews, and is definitely a must-see.

Meanwhile, The Patrick Centre presents a hilarious double bill; Pere Faura’s ‘This is a Picture of a Person I Don’t Know’ and Club Fisk’s Forestillinger, Birmingham Hippodrome hosts Ballet Nacional de Cuba’s Giselle, and The Rep has circus-inspired spectacular CIRCA.

The IDFB 2010 Shop will also be open in the Pavillions shopping centre, with classes, rehearsals and opportunities to get involved in the Put Your Foot Down event. You can also buy tickets and merchandise or chat to the IDFB team and find out what’s coming up in the Festival.

Free events

There are free performances of Utopia in Victoria Square on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Directed by Arthur Pita, Utopia combines contemporary dancers with Russian, Spanish, Indian and African folk dance groups, all moving to the turbo-folk Gypsy and Balkan beats of Birmingham’s very own band, The Destroyers. Don’t miss this free global dance spectacular.

Outspoken Weekend

Supported by the British Council, the Outspoken Weekend starts on Thursday with a range of performances, talks and films celebrating dance from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia. Outspoken is the first UK performance season dedicated to new choreography from Arab artists, and features exclusive previews and thought-provoking discussions. You can see the full line-up here. Some of the Outspoken events are free – for the others, individual tickets are available, as is a £30 weekend pass.

outspoken

It’s a busy festival with lots going on, so to keep up to date with what’s happening follow IDFB on Twitter and sign up to the Facebook Page. Please also let us know what you go to see – we’d love to hear from you about what you’re enjoying in IDFB 2010!

What’s on in week 1

The waiting is finally over! Here’s a round-up of what’s happening this week (19-25 April) at International Dance Festival Birmingham.

The big launch

Festival proceedings get underway today (Monday) with Dancing on the Waterways at Brindleyplace. Elsewhere in the region on Monday, there are free traditional dance performances to get the festival going in United Colours of Dance Out & About. You can see them in Coventry, Stoke-on-Trent, Hereford, and Stratford-upon-Avon throughout the afternoon.

The performances

We’ve got Mark Morris Dance Group’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato at Birmingham Hippodrome, with performances from Thursday through to Saturday.

L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato | International Dance Festival Birmingham

The show has been at the Coliseum in London recently, earning five stars reviews from both The Times and Guardian, Londondance.com and ballet.co.uk have rounded up the reviews.

There are two further shows on Friday and Saturday:

The debate

Tomorrow (Tuesday) there’s also a debate on the future of public investment in the arts with Ed Vaizey and Sion Simon at The Patrick Centre. We’ll be liveblogging that event so if you can’t make it in person you’ll still be able to follow along and contribute.

And there’s even more besides:

Keep up to date with what’s happening – follow IDFB on Twitter and sign up to the Facebook page. We’ll see you around!