In the last few years Breakin’ Convention has been increasing their commitment to the development of hip hop theatre as a genre and in particular the support of UK-based companies. Through their education and professional development strands they aim to offer a range of opportunities and platforms as well as connecting companies with Arts Council England, other funding bodies and arts organisations.

One of our courses is Open Art Surgery, a unique intensive masterminded by Breakin’ Convention Artistic Director and hip hop theatre pioneer, Jonzi D for professional hip hop artists to engage and understand hip hop theatre better. Open to dancers, DJs, beatboxers, emcees, musicians and graffiti artists, participants receive training, mentorship and studio space to experiment and create new works in progress.  This culminates in the Open Art Surgery performance at the end of the week where the results are shared to a live audience who are then invited to critique, question and feedback to the artists.

Birmingham Hippodrome continues their dedication to supporting hip hop by partnering Breakin’ Convention to deliver Birmingham’s first ever Open Art Surgery in July. Jonzi will be joined by co-mentor Soweto Kinch and will feature local artists including Mad Flow, Marso Riviere, NeneTaps (MDK), Marius and Andrei (MDK), DJ Psykhomantus, RTKAL and Sticky Toffee.

The live event will be hosted by Jonzi D alongside Birmingham’s award winning jazz musician Soweto Kinch as they introduce the fresh new work developed during the week. Expect to see the very best in breaking, popping, locking, rapping and turntablism chewed up and given a theatrical overhaul.  Birmingham Hippodrome and Breakin’ Convention’s commitment to offering high quality theatre at an affordable price is evident in the £5 ticket price.

The Open Art Surgery performance takes place on Saturday 20 July 2013, 7.45pm at Patrick Centre, Hurst Street, Birmingham, B5, 4TB. 

Tickets are available from the Hippodrome’s website.

Forgive me for not regurgetating this copy from Breakin Convention. 

Photo: Hotdogs by Matt Cattell

A few festive bits and bobs happening around Birmingham…

The Frankfurt Christmas Market closes on Friday 23 December, as does the Festive Pop Up Bazaar on New Street.

It’s the BrumNotes/This Is Tmrw Christmas Party at The Victoria tonight. Click the link or ogle the poster below (sidenote: are Lewes Herriot‘s gig posters the best around town at the moment? Answers on a postcard).

Birmingham Hippodrome have Cinderella on until the end of January and has already picked up some really good reviews from the Birmingham Mail and The Stage. I went along to the press night last night (disclosure: that means they gave me free tickets) and liked the lovely horsey best.

In other theatre-based offerings:

• The Rep have The Snowman at the ICC and Sleeping Beauty at the Crescent Theatre.
• Blue Orange Theatre in the Jewellery Quarter are doing A Christmas Carol
• The MAC have The Lost Happy Endings

In fact, Area Guide’s December issue has a Christmas theatre round-up from page 26 onwards. Ah, and Visit Birmingham have a Christmas round-up too.

Film-wise, Kino 10 are showing The Nightmare Before Christmas plus some short films at St Columba Church on Friday 23 Dec and The Electric have a smattering of festive films too.

Town Hall & Symphony Hall have a bundle of events going on:

• Polar (this afternoon)
• The CBSO’s Great Big Choral Christmas
• Christmas Eve Classics
• Boxing Day Gala

Meanwhile, down in that London, Birmingham Royal Ballet are seeing out the year performing The Nutcracker at the O2, which sounds like a pretty big deal to me.

There’s loads of other stuff too, obviously. If you’ve got any other good suggestions then bung them in the comments.

Stuart Griffiths, Chief Executive at Birmingham Hippodrome, has blogged revealing what we can expect from their new season of dance.

As the climax of Birmingham Royal Ballet‘s 20th Anniversary celebrations, David Bintley’s brand new production of the classic fairytale, Cinderella, has been presented as a gift to the city. You can catch it from 24 Nov – 12 Dec (and follow the Creating Cinderella blog in the meantime), but before then there’s plenty to keep you entertained. A few of the highlights include:

• Birmingham Royal Ballet: Points of View 22 – 25 Sept
• Birmingham Royal Ballet: Romeo & Juliet 28 Sept – 2 Oct
• Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Revelations 5 & 6 Oct
• Fresh from the West End is Blaze – The Streetdance Sensation 7 – 9 Oct

Matthew Bourne will be bringing his latest production north of London for the first time, plus the Welsh National Opera are offering a selection of new operas and revivals.

On the musical front, several favorites will be back by popular demand, with new productions of including Hairspray and Chess. Bringing 2010 to a close, Joan Collins tops the bill at this years pantomime, along with Julian Clary, Nigel Havers, Keith Harris and Orville, and Jeffrey Holland in a spectacular production of Dick Whittington.

For full listings take a look at the Hippodrome’s website along with Stuart’s full blog post.

DanceXchange have announced their Autumn 2010 performance season, which starts from 30 September at The Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome.

• Thu 30 Sep: The Featherstonehaughs – Edits. This highly anticipated new work translates the convention of film, photography and painting into dance.
• Fri 1 Oct: The Featherstonehaughs – The Featherstonehaughs draw on the sketchbook of Egon Schiele. A classic piece created in 1998, which brings the tormented and stunning artistic vision of Egon Schiele to life.
• Thu 14 Oct: New Art Club – This is Now. Britian’s funniest dance duo, jump into the dark pool of yesteryear, as their ‘delightfully silly’ show deconstructs the first ever ‘Now That’s What I Call Music’.
• Sat 6 Nov: Tavaziva Dance – Wild Dog. These high-octane performers capture the beauty and elegance of one of Africa’s most endangered species against a mind-blowing soundtrack by award-winning Bawren Tavaziva.
• Thu 11 Nov: Eddie Ladd – Ras Goffa Bobby Sands / The Bobby Sands Memorial Race. This solo dance piece is performed on a 12ft x 6ft running machine, following the life of Bobby Sands, who dies on hunger strike in the H Blocks, Belfast in 1981.

Tickets can be bought online at www.dancexchange.org.uk or by calling 0844 338 5000.

If you’ve not yet signed up to CiBmail – our weekly email stuffed with news and upcoming events – then jump on it, we’ll have a competition giving away danceXchange tickets soon.

Six Summer Saturdays Week 2 from Birmingham Hippodrome on Vimeo.

If you’ve been in and around Birmingham for the past four weekends you’ll have seen all sorts of shenanigans going on as part of Six Summer Saturdays. Shows and highlights from the best outdoor theatre have been organised by the Hippodrome, which are free to catch all over the city.

There are only two Saturday’s left in the series, but still plenty of performances to catch on 21 August and 28 August.

Around these parts there’s:

• Culture Vulture Family Weekend at BMAG
• sampad arts mela at MAC
• Come On, Vogue at Hippodrome
• Walking As One at Centenary Square
• Mind Out at The Patrick Centre
• Artswalk 2010 in Handsworth
• Open Weekend at NAGW
• Open Weekend at Wolverhampton Art Gallery

and various other things besides.