A utopian bank holiday at IDFB 2010

04th May 2010. Posted by Tara Tomes.

This weekend, Birmingham city centre was brought to life with a free extravaganza of music, song and dance as part of the International Dance Festival Birmingham.

Throughout the weekend, over 6000 people experienced ‘Utopia’, a mass dance piece by 50 dancers from four countries performing alongside folk band The Destroyers. As the centre piece of the festival, Utopia was a visual extravaganza that included an enormous turquoise and gold stage placed over the city’s central fountain in Victoria Square. The festival even got special permission to wrap the famous “floozy in the jacuzzi” in gold.



Utopia was a riotous celebration of different cultures, with Russian, Spanish, Indian and African dancers joining with local contemporary dancers to create a relentless stampede of colourful dances and frenzied songs. The dance groups worked alongside director Arthur Pita and assistant choreographer Yann Seabra to create a brand new piece with The Destroyers, who composed new music drawing on their eclectic, turbo-folk style and Balkan influences.

IDFB continues until 15 May in venues across the city. Highlights still to come at the festival include Strictly Come Dancing – The Professionals, a new work by Akram Khan, ex-Riverdance star Colin Dunne, and Deborah Colker’s ‘Cruel’. The festival finishes with a mass participation event, Put Your Foot Down, at Bullring.

For full listings, visit www.idfb.co.uk.

Photographs by Tim Cross