City News

Birmingham is set to secure its position as an international dance capital with the announcement of the inaugural International Dance Festival Birmingham. A joint venture between DanceXchange and Birmingham Hippodrome, the month-long Festival will take place across the city between 28 April and 24 May 2008.

International Dance Festival Birmingham will capture the imagination with a world-class programme that encompasses all styles of dance and expresses the youthful, diverse and energetic spirit of Birmingham. It will bring outstanding dance from across the globe, showcasing the work of world-renowned dance companies including Kirov Ballet and Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, alongside specially choreographed commissions and large-scale participatory and site-specific performances. Akram Khan MBE presents his new collaboration with National Ballet of China, bahok, as one of the Festival highlights.

Featuring some of the world’s greatest choreographers, International Dance Festival Birmingham promises to engage established audiences and newcomers alike through the sheer diversity of its programme. With host venues scattered across the city centre from The Birmingham REP and Town Hall, to Birmingham Hippodrome and IKON Gallery’s Eastside venue, there will be lots of opportunities to see and participate in dance activities. The Festival will also take over outdoor locations in the City Centre and shop windows in the stylish retail heart of the City, really bringing dance to the people!

David Massingham, Artistic Director of DanceXchange and Festival Co-Director comments: “In great cities all around the world, I see arts festivals creating passion and energy, adding spirit and excitement, galvanising local communities, celebrating identities. Birmingham's new International Dance Festival is about bringing one of the most human and accessible artforms into our everyday lives.”

Research carried out in 2006 determined that the West Midlands has a growing audience for dance. The overall picture is one of an increasing audience for both contemporary dance and ballet; true of the UK as a whole but the West Midlands has seen some of the largest increases in audiences of all the UK regions. Between 2002/03 and 2005/06, dance attendance in the West Midlands grew by 12.7%. The research also found that dance audiences in the region are younger and more ethnically diverse than almost any
other artform, opening up an opportunity for the Festival to increase levels of interest in dance and take advantage of the changing demographic of Birmingham to find a new, young and diverse audience for dance.

Stuart Griffiths, Chief Executive of Birmingham Hippodrome and Festival Co-Director is confident that the festival will secure Birmingham’s position as unthreatened dance capital of the UK: “This truly will be a festival with an international reach. We’ve managed to secure the involvement of some of the world’s most prominent dance companies and the programme looks set to help establish Birmingham as a major cultural player within the UK, and across the world.”