Press Office

All press releases can be downloaded from the section on the left, with the most recent under the IDFB Press and Information Pack.

For further information, high resolution images, or to arrange interviews and press visits, please contact Press Manager Emily Malcolm on +44 (0)121 689 1082.

For national and international media, contact Rewired PR’s Tara Tomes on +44 (0) 121 236 2132.

RECENT NEWS

Press Release

For immediate release 23 June

Dance festival leaps to new heights

The second International Dance Festival Birmingham (IDFB 2010), which ran from 19 April to 15 May this year, more than doubled its audience figures. The total number of performances also increased by nearly 150%, compared with the first Festival in 2008.

The total audience numbers for ticketed and free shows during the four week Festival were 55,113, compared to just over 23,000 in 2008. Added together with the 10,308 participatory experiences also delivered as part of the Festival, this brings the total number of experiences with dance to 65,421 – an increase of 163% compared to 2008.
The number of free performances in particular increased massively from 24 to 101, an increase of 320%.

As a result audience numbers for free events also increased significantly: 27,535 people (an increase of 262%) who might not usually see dance came into contact with exciting and innovative performances during the four week Festival.

Free performances were held everywhere from theatre foyers and on the streets, to shops, city squares and even on a canal barge, improving the visibility of dance to the general public and creating a real “festival feel” to the events.

The diverse programme included over 30 different dance and performance styles, and represented 25 countries from six continents. Highlights included the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Mark Morris Dance Group, Strictly Come Dancing – The Professionals, Shaolin monks and the UK’s own Akram Khan and Rosie Kay. Preparations for the Festival in 2012, which will again run from mid-April to mid-May, are already underway.

David Massingham, Co-Artistic Director of the Festival said, “We’re really pleased with the success of IDFB 2010 and to have increased the impact of the Festival so significantly, particularly in terms of taking dance to the streets of the city. With many new commissions and unique shows there has been a very distinctive feel to this year’s Festival. We hope to build on this and continue to present a varied and high quality programme at the next Festival in 2012, further advancing Birmingham’s reputation as a world centre for dance.”

IDFB is one of the world’s largest dance festivals and in 2010 was funded by Advantage West Midlands, Arts Council England West Midlands and Birmingham City Council, with sponsorship from Brewin Dolphin. IDFB is also working in partnership with the West Midlands Culture Programme for London 2012. For more information go to www.idfb.co.uk

ENDS

For all press enquiries, please contact:
Emily Malcolm, Press Manager for IDFB
0121 689 1082 or emily.malcolm@dancexchange.org.uk

A selection of high res images are available on request.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

  • To view the full figures, please download the corresponding press release
    Over the next two months a full evaluation will be compiled for IDFB 2010, and further figures and audience profile information will be released once available.
  • IDFB 2010 was produced by DanceXchange and Birmingham Hippodrome.
  • DanceXchange (dx) is a powerhouse of dance with excellence, innovation, education and inclusion at its heart * and, together with Birmingham Hippodrome and Birmingham Royal Ballet, is part of the largest dance partnership in Britain. dx takes the best British dance to a worldwide stage, and brings outstanding talent from across the world to Birmingham. dx also engages people from all backgrounds in healthy dance activity, and
    nurtures gifted young people to help shape the dance artists of the future.
  • Birmingham Hippodrome is the busiest single theatre in the UK, welcoming c500,000 paying visitors every year. It is unique in being the home of a classical ballet company, Birmingham Royal Ballet and a national dance development agency, DanceXchange. Birmingham Hippodrome sells more seats for dance than any other theatre outside London.
  • IDFB 2010 was funded by Advantage West Midlands, Arts Council England West Midlands and Birmingham City Council. The corporate sponsor for the 2010 festival was Brewin Dolphin.
  • Advantage West Midlands is the Regional Development Agency (RDA) for the West Midlands region – one of nine RDAs in England established to transform English regions through sustainable economic development. Advantage West Midlands takes the lead role in setting the strategy and focus for regional economic improvement; building the partnerships needed to achieve the region’s vision; and ensuring that public money
    is targeted to those activities and projects best placed to make a real difference.
  • Brewin Dolphin is one of the UK’s largest independent private client investment managers. The investment management firm supported the event to further build a bridge between the city’s thriving professional community and its innovative arts offering.
  • Additional partners for the festival included media partner BBC WM and accommodations partner Crowne Plaza Birmingham.
  • Venues hosting IDFB 2010 included Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, The Patrick Centre, Town Hall Birmingham and Ikon Eastside, as well as a number of specialist and outdoor spaces.
  • IDFB first took place in 2008 and generated almost 25,000 audience and participatory experiences.
  • IDFB 2010 worked in partnership with the West Midlands Culture Programme for London 2012, along with a range of other exciting programmes including People Dancing, to celebrate and engage people with the region’s world-class cultural offer. www.wmfor2012.com