International Dance Festival Birmingham 2016 has put a callout for proposals of work to be performed in ‘Outdoor Places or Unusual Spaces’ (OPUS) for the 2016 edition of the festival.

To see full details go to the full brief on the DanceXchange site: http://www.dancexchange.org.uk/about/commissions-auditions

IDFB is inviting professionals to submit a great idea and concept for a new festival commission for IDFB 2016, with a particular focus on dance or cross-artform projects that take place in outdoor places and unusual spaces. We welcome ideas from any UK or International Artist. The IDFB team will work alongside the successful professional artist/company to produce and realise the OPUS Idea in a collaborative way. The Artist will be paid a fee as collaborator (please include this in your submitted budget), and the project will be creatively produced by IDFB. We welcome proposals that come with a company of performers. Alternatively, performers can be recruited for the project, collaboratively through a fair and equal process. Collaborators or partners should be researched and named within the proposal where relevant, but please note that all artistic personnel will be mutually agreed by the Artist and the Creative Producer.

Deadline for proposals to be submitted: 29 April 2015, 10am

If you have any questions about your proposal, please contact Hannah Sharpe on 0121 689 1093 or email hannah.sharpe@dancexchange.org.uk

We are all very excited to tell you about the return of the International Dance Festival Birmingham 2014! You will be able to experience a range of performances from ballet to large non-choreographed social dances. With so many brilliant performances to talk about, the following will just be a selection of my top picks for the festival.

For Starters, ‘Three Short Works’ 24th – 26th April

The International Dance Festival Birmingham 2014 kicks off with ‘Three Short Works’. From the Birmingham Royal Ballet, a selection of performances called Quatrain, Kin, Les Rendezvous and Façade. Les Rendezvous will be available to see from 24th–25th April, with Quatrain and Kin continuing to be shown alongside Façade on 26th April.

QUATRAIN

Inspired by the fantastically exciting and vibrant tango rhythms of Astor Piazzolla’s The Four Season’s of Buenos Aires, Company First Artist Kit Holder creates his third ballet for the Company. Following the success of his previous work, 9-5, which featured in IDFB 2012, these premiere performances of his latest work are keenly anticipated.

KIN.

An exciting new ballet from Royal Opera House Choreographic Affiliate, Sadler’s Wells New Wave Associate and former Birmingham Royal Ballet dancer, Alexander Whitley. The ballet, to music by young American composer Phil Kline, will receive its’ premiere at IDFB 2014. Not to be missed!

LES RENDEZVOUS

A huge hit when it was first performed in 1933, Les Rendezvous was the first ballet in which Ashton put aside the comedy for which he was known and concentrated on pure technique. Loosely based round a group of friends meeting up in a park, the ballet is a series of fiercely difficult divertissements which give the whole cast the chance to show off their virtuosity.

FACADE

Finally, based on Edith Sitwell’s deliciously nonsensical poetry, Façade embraces the fun of it all with whole-hearted and wilful abandon. Be entertained by a series of delightful characters dancing tangos, foxtrots and waltzes, all with their tongues firmly in their cheeks. Choreographed in 1931, Façade was Sir Frederick Ashton’s first big hit, and is full of the gentle comedy he is known and loved for – an enjoyable break from the sanity of everyday life!

World Premier, ‘Headphones’ 30th April – 4th May

Promising to provide us with a fresh organic series of performances, Corey Baker brings us ‘Headphones’. In keeping with Corey Bakers’ ethos of producing engaging and unique productions, ‘Headphones’ will allow the audience to direct part of the dancers’ choreography. Set to hide ‘undercover’, the performances will be surprising and unpredictable with elements of comedy.

You can watch this trailer to get an idea of the fun performance, as well as directly suggest moves by tweeting @IDFB #headphones.

‘Lord of the Flies’ 14th–17th May

Mathew Bourne has invited 24 young people to join his latest hit production ‘Lord of the Flies’ based on the classic novel written by William Goulding. There are 8 professional dancers within the cast, to work alongside the newly recruited dancers to give a unique opportunity to young dancers in each city that the production is set to perform in. Because of this the theatre performance has already gained great publicity. The combination of mentoring and unity has made the project a wonderful success already and should be a great motivational piece, especially for young people who with a passion for dance.

‘Lord of the Flies’ will be performed at The Birmingham Hippodrome over 4 days with tickets available now.

‘Spill: A Playground of Dance’ – 25th May

DanceXchange is housed within Birmingham Hippodrome, both of whom have worked together to produce the 2014 International Dance Festival Birmingham. Owning 3 dance studios and The Patrick Centre (a 206 seat studio), DanceXchange strives to support the dancing community and enable their dancers to showcase the best of their talents. ‘Spill’ was first shown in 2012, and is an outdoor production that will be performed in the beautiful Cannon Hill Park. Choreographed by Australian Artist Shaun Parker, of Shaun Parker & Company, it should be a playful piece using street gymnastics and location based props of swings and roundabouts.

With so many different events and performances there is bound to be something for everybody and you can view IDFB’s 2014 staff picks here to find some first hand recommendations!

BE Festival 2013, 2nd-6th July.

Starting tomorrow: a week long theatre/dance/circus/live art festival at AE Harris Factory in the Jewellery Quarter.

BE FESTIVAL is Birmingham’s international theatre festival, bringing together the most daring and unforgettable new performances from across Europe. Audiences are offered the opportunity to see four 30 minute-long shows each night and to eat dinner with the performers in the interval. It’s a unique format that enables you to experience and engage with the wide diversity of European theatre. Furthermore, each show is designed to delight and inspire people no matter what language they speak.

Have a look through their programme to find out more about what to expect over the next week for BE Festival.

 ‘Flatpack Festival has become one of the cultural highlights of the West Midlands’ calendar year” said the Birmingham Post last week, in an interview with Flatpack founder Ian Francis.

After what has felt like a quiet few months (and extended January blues) it seems that the fun of a festival season is once again upon us what with Art SOAK, Theatre Fever, Flatpack and the University of Birmingham’s Arts and Science festival taking place in Birmingham over the next few weeks.

“Running Monday 18th – Sunday 24th March, and led by the University’s Cultural Engagement team, University of Birmingham’s Arts and Science festival celebrates the wealth of ideas, research and celebration across campus. The programme is rich and diverse and with over 70 events, there’s something for everyone – from Ancient Egyptian communication to Intelligent Robotics; Big Band performance to Classical Recitals; Urban vegetable growing to Dirty New Media. Alongside University initiated events, we have also collaborated with regional partners including Flatpack Festival, Vivid Projects, Birmingham Opera Company, Kino 10, and Writing West Midlands.”

Here’s a link to their programme of events.

This week there are a few Valentines events taking place in Stirchley.

“Love Stirchley More – a festival of love, commerce and art”

Thursday 14 – Saturday 16 February 2013.

Stirchley Prospects invited several local community groups, businesses and individuals to come together and present a whole host of activities on the high street. There are going to be performances, pop-ups, film screenings and more, with the full programme available on their blog. Highlights of the mini festival include the Love boat show with comedian Barbara Nice (performance on a canal boat nonetheless), a pop-up event ‘get your noodle out’ from community baker and Stirchley ambassador Loaf, and a series of fun short films from Stirchley Happenings & KINO 10 upstairs at the Bike Foundry.

The overall aim of the event, is to raise the profile of Stirchley. There are certainly a lot of good things going on. I’m slightly biased of course because I do live here, and I’m on the committee for the Stirchley Community Market, a community organised food and arts market, with local stallholders selling local produce – with the first market of the year returning on the 2nd April (plug over!)

“It is hoped that Love Stirchley More will grow and become a regular event, a stepping stone towards becoming a bigger festival, harking back to the Stirchley Carnival which took place regularly up until 1939 and briefly resurrected in the 1980s.” When Stirchley Prospects/Place Prospecters were researching the area they came across some wonderful programme covers which have taken my fancy too:

While the rest of the festival season winds down, on the 19th-21st October Supersonic Festival shows up again for its 10th year running to give the music scene a good hiding . If you haven’t been before then your eardrums are in for a treat (and a bit of a pounding) as the weekend session, run by Birmingham’s Capsule, takes over Digbeth’s Custard Factory in a multi-discipliniary cornucopia of experimental performances, workshops and films. Check out the line up here for a glimpse of what’s going on.

Tickets are still available from a multitude of locations around the city and if you happen to have an records left about then you can hand them in at this weekend’s Zinefest for the Vinyl Rally – Record Amnesty < which looks awesome fun.

And to give you a little taste, here’s a video from last years Supersonic:

Little Zine Party from 12pm, Saturday 4th August at the Ort Cafe, Balsall Heath. Celebrating zines & DIY culture. There will be Zines for sale, readings & workshops (see below).

Future Poets Festival Saturday 4th, 12pm–6pm at the Mac, Cannon Hill Park. A programme of workshops, exhibitions, installations, screenings, performances and more.

Supersonic Festival taster Saturday 4th 7.30pm, Capsule are bringing “cacophonous, abstract, abrasive and titanic sounds” into the walls of the Eastside Projects space.

The Old Joint Stock Musical Theatre Company are having ‘A Musical Matinee’ a cabaret of musical theatre 2.30pm, at The Old Joint Stock on Sunday 5th August.

Jamaica In The Square is on between 2-6 August, celebrating everything to do with Jamaican culture from traditional Jamaican food and Caribbean punches, to music, dance and entertainment.

Junction Festival of Contemporary Arts is taking place 3–5 August in Wolverhampton. Showing work from over 75 local and regional artists including visual art, performance, projections, interventions, poetry and music.

A new artist-run space, ‘Terrace’ in The Great Western Arcade is displaying Birmingham artist Paul Newman’s show ‘A Short Night in Tableau Yellow‘. From now until 20th August.

Finally, not quite in the postcode region but also worth a mention: Godiva the journey from Coventry to London, a giant puppet made in Coventry reaches London, pulled by 100 cyclists.

Espirito Brum is the UK edition of Espirito Mundo, a cross cultural celebration bringing together musicians from Brazil and Birmingham, in a three day festival that forms the first stage in a ongoing global exchange.

This’ll run from 14-18 September and will have contributions from an impressive roster of organisations:

Espirito Brum is a collaboration between Espirito Mundo, Instituto Quorum (Espirito Santo, Brazil), Magpie Brown, Friction Arts, Spotted Dog, Oya Batucada, South Birmingham College and PST. It receives creative support from Marketing Birmingham, 7 Inch Cinema, Punch Records and Shakti Women.

On the subject of exotic festivals, I didn’t make it down to Jamaica Live on Saturday but, judging by the photo I’ve been sent by Ammo from Punch, I must’ve been in the minority.

The event which has most piqued my curioisity is entitled “My Dad’s on Twitter but he doesn’t know why”.  More than just another opportunity to ‘talk shop’, this event promises to collate the ideas and input of attendees into a collaborative group mind map exploring how and why people use social media.  In addition, after the event there will be an opportunity for an online audience to have input into the map as well.  I’m keen to see how this will utilise Bubbl.us – something I stumbled across earlier this week, and which looks like another great free tool.

The event which has most piqued my TASTEBUDS however, is definitely the festival finale – a grand high tea for 300 creative workers in Fazeley Studio’s magnificently restored 19th century chapel reception.  Fazeley currently provides a high tea for tenants every Thursday and have decided to build upon the success of this for the festival.  I’ve been promised there are exciting and secretive things planned for this event which will be unveiled on the day, but if the promise of the tea alone isn’t enough of an incentive, there will also be a preview of the latest Ikon Eastside exhibition – an installation by an emerging Chinese artist called Xu Zhen.

For more details on all of the events taking place during the festival, the Fazeley Digital website will keep you in the loop,  as well as provide opportunities to sign-up for certain events and provide feedback/interact with others.