The centrepiece of IDFB 2010 this year was Utopia – a wild, outdoor dance spectacular mixing contemporary dancers with Russian, Spanish, Indian and African folk dance groups, all under the direction of Arthur Pita.
Victoria Square was filled by a sprawling stage, around 40 dancers and the music of Birmingham’s (only?) turbo-folk Gypsy and Balkan band, The Destroyers. We captured some of the action, as you can see in this slideshow:
With such a large , public audience there were many in the crowd taking their own photos and videos. YouTube user testmatch has made this video which gives a great flavour of what went on:
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 Danzaat Birmingham Hippodrome, featuring a special guest appearance from Carlos Acosta on the Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.
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.
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.
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!
‘Watch This Space’ was one of the biggest spectacles to take place in Birmingham in 2008 and demonstrated IDFB’s aim of taking dance to the people. Thousands of people witnessed an incredible fusion of athletic dance styles in Victoria Square, which was temporarily transformed into the most public arena in the city.
An event for the people, captured by the people
These days when you put thousands of people in front of an event like ‘Watch This Space’ you’re bound to see cameras and mobile phones held aloft. It used to be irritating, now it’s almost taken for granted.
As a result, some great photos were taken and uploaded to photo-sharing websites like Flickr by, among others, jable1974, Matthew Ager, newfolder and abrinsky.
It wasn’t just photos – with many mobile phones and point-and-shoot cameras incorporating video recording, more people can capture their own footage and upload it to YouTube. That’s what DanceGround did, that’s what flyboyflip did and it’s even what I did:
Blogs were also used by those wanting to share what had taken place – Hip Hop Dance Videos, Fiona Handscomb and myself all took advantage with one commenter being moved to describe it as:
one of the most exhilarating displays of ‘contemporary’ dance ever seen in the city
And these are just the examples I’ve been able to find over a year after the event. However, the question is:
Can dance use technology to reach a wider audience?
I think so, and in at least two ways.
Thousands of people saw ‘Watch This Space’ in the flesh; by now at least twice as many have seen the performance via amateur recordings . I wouldn’t argue that the two experiences are necessarily equal, but I would say this shows that the Internet provides the means for compelling content to reach a wider audience than ever before. That must be exciting for anyone working in any art form.
Secondly, dance is particularly well suited to collaboration with other forms of art and expression (including even architecture). The forms of expression provided and facilitated by the Internet (and especially social media) are no different in this regard – the opportunities are there to be taken.
How? Well, that’s a question for the dancers, choreographers, artistic directors and other creative people to answer.
