At this point I should chuck in a disclaimer that I’ve been working with the festival’s organisers for a year or so on how they approach things online. However, that does mean that I’ve got a bit of a clue about what the line-up includes. Which is nice, because there are any number of ways of slicing and dicing a festival’s programme – this is my attempt to group it up a bit.

There’s more going on than I’ll mention here so see the IDFB website’s What’s On and Taking Part pages for the whole caboodle.

Local stuff

• Rosie Kay Dance Company – 5 SOLDIERS The Body is the Frontline – Rosie’s based in Birmingham and this is a new commission which will explore the physical toll taken by war
• Colin Dunne – Out of Time – Colin was born in Birmingham, was nine times world Irish step dance champion and also principal dancer in Riverdance. This is his first full-length solo work
• DX Productions & Two’s Company – Funny Bones – something for the kids: a brand new in-the-round double bill of contemporary dance for over 5’s.

Big ticket items

• Akram Khan Company – Gnosis. See pic above.
• Mark Morris Dance Group – L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato. This has had more 5 star reviews than I’ve had hot dinners.
• Ballet Nacional de Cuba – Magia de la Danza and Giselle.
• Outspoken Weekend. Something you won’t see anywhere else – a season dedicated to new performances from Arab artists, 8 shows in all (see the What’s On page for the lot)

Something a bit different

• Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui/Sadler’s Wells London – Sutra. 17 Shaolin monks. A set designed by Antony Gormley. Sharp suits. Nuff said.
• C!RCA – Circa. Described as ‘a thoroughly new circus’. This was a big hit at last the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
• Chris Haring – Running Sushi. I don’t know much about this other than that it’ll be at Ikon Eastside and the order of the 12 performances will be chosen by audience members who picking sushi off a plate

Free stuff

For IDFB 2008, Victoria Square was taken over by two stages, gantries, firecracker-stuffed cars and three dance companies. It was so good I went twice. This year we’re told that:

contemporary dancers will form a brand new dance company collective alongside 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

The event’s called UTOPIA and will be performed a few times over the Bank Holiday weekend of 1-3 May. In the words of the choreographer:

There’ll be bits of furniture all over the place and basically it’ll look like 40 people, plus the band, have attacked the square

Which sounds pretty good. As does Waves, which is right up my street. Wander past the Hippodrome between 8-11pm from 22 April to 5 May to see/play with that.

Put Your Foot Down is the final showpiece on 15 May – an afternoon of free performances and dance demos, with a mass synchronised hip hop/street dance routine lead by Salah, a hugely popular hip hop artist from France, in St Martin’s Square, Bullring.

Taking part

There’s also a whole bunch of workshops and classes you can get involved in.

The Destroyers certainly are an eclectic bunch, drawing influences from a range of traditions: klezma, mariachi, ska, bhangra, Balkan Brass, celtic folk, gypsy jazz, and flamenco. The new branding will need to reflect this.

Interested?  Contact Louis Robinson for a full brief: robinson_lja@yahoo.com.

Set in no particular time this opera draws freely from past, present and future to create an upbeat cautionary tale for discerning audiences of adults and children

It’s a family affair by the looks of things, and will be taking place on Sat 6 Dec at the Town Hall between 11am and 1pm.  The first 45 mins will be a workshop to prepare the kids for singing roles in the chorus for the performance, which will start at 12pm.

Pete at Spaghetti Gazetti reminded me of this. His post also has the flyer and a story about Paul Murphy from back in the day.

If I could, I’d be checking out The Destroyers (amusingly described as “Oompah oompah oompah oompah oompah oompah pah, OY! x 1m” by one unconverted soul), the Sugar Hill Gang and the 4Talent stage.

In fact, 4Talent can have an extra plug because not only are they hosting the stage debut of CiB-founder Pete Ashton and friends, including this chap:

but they’re also giving away USB wristbands to the first 100 people through the door.  They’ve been preloaded with videos, MP3s and a podcast from the acts they’ll be featuring on the night.  If you need to know more, here’s what the 4Talent wristbands contain.

Directed by John Humphreys and shot by Prime Chris in the late hours of a friday night in May, the merry band bring the dawn in atop a multi story with city views.

And here it is:

The Destroyers will be playing the Moseley Folk Festival at the end of August, which I really must grab a ticket for.