Professional Dance Industry Programme Runs Alongside Birmingham International Dance Festival Kicking Off This Friday

Birmingham International Dance Festival (BIDF) 2018 kicks off at the end of this week, Friday 1 June. This edition of the festival seeks to open new up conversations, provoke new thinking and provide inspiring new opportunities for artists and the public to think about dance, their lives and to consider their place in the world.

With this in mind BIDF, with funding support from Dance Hub Birmingham, is working with partners in Birmingham and the Midlands to provide inspiring programmes to bring artists and audiences together.

Paul Russ, Associate Artistic Director of Birmingham International Dance Festival said, "I'm always deeply inspired by the perspectives artists bring to conversations about how we can all consider ourselves in the world, how we can make positive contributions to making the world a more dynamic, socially conscious and open place to be".

The programme includes:

Slowing & Stilling by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in partnership with Birmingham International Dance Festival.

Mon 11 & Tue 12 June.

Artists come together to consider the ways in which practice and process can be honoured in a time short, product obsessed culture, from delicate acts, to ferocious interventions. Drawing on Slow Movement philosophies, participating artists will think, talk, write, dance, rest and eat together.

Is it possible to imagine a future world where through their work they can all live in a slower environment with reflection, collaboration and compassion creating an alternative pace in city spaces? How does this thinking open new dialogues and thinking for their interactions with the public through the art making?

There are public activities during the two days to bring artists and public together to consider these searching questions.

https://www.bidf.co.uk/Event/slowing-stilling

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SALON BHAM! - 'What does it mean to have a lifelong career in dance?'

Weds 13 June / 9am

Co-curated by Birmingham Dance Network, DanceXchange and C-DaRE at Coventry University, SalonBham! returns to Birmingham International Dance Festival to ask the question: 'What does it mean to have a lifelong career in dance?'

Arts professionals at any stage of their career are invited to join internationally recognised artists including Liz Aggiss, Jonathan Burrows, Wendy Houston and Kerry Nicholls, to discuss, dance and dine together while grappling with the challenges of sustainability, taking care, parenting and health.

Expect a stimulating and invigorating programme of moving, talking and sharing with a day packed full of thought provoking workshops, activities and performances.

https://www.bidf.co.uk/Event/salon-bham

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Workshops and Classes

BIDF offers a great variety of workshops and classes with visiting artists ranging from a morning technique class to an all-day development workshop. 14 workshops/classes, can be bought individually, or pay for a £45 pass and have access to the full professional class programme.

Highlights of the workshops and classes programme include a lecture on virtual reality with Gilles Jobin whose boundary pushing VR_1 appears at the festival this year 1-4 June; Midlands Made (5 - 8 June) morning professional classes led by artists from Birmingham and the Midlands participating in Midlands Made programme, legendary Portuguese choreographer Rui Horta (14 June) conducts a masterclass in choreography and space; Candoco Dance Company offer a professional class on 14 June followed by a chance for more to join in a Dancers Development Day on 15 June; Australian James Batchelor workshops site specific work and ideas on Thursday 21 June.

https://www.bidf.co.uk/Event/professional-class-programme

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Art 50/50 Brexit Brunch by Sky Arts and DanceXchange

Saturday 23 June /10.30am

Presented in partnership with the Centre for Brexit Studies at Birmingham City University, enjoy a participatory sharing of ideas surrounding the current state Brexit as part of Sky Arts, Art 50/50 project led by internationally renowned choreographer, Gary Clarke. Chat, mingle, eat and discuss. Brunch is included.

https://www.bidf.co.uk/Event/art-5050-brexit-brunch

Birmingham International Dance Festival (BIDF), produced by Birmingham-based DanceXchange, returns to the city from 1 - 24 June 2018. Expect fantastic dance in the city's theatres and a takeover of Birmingham's streets and squares, with show-stopping free performances and opportunities to get dancing, visit www.bidf.co.uk for the full programme.

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