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WREXHAM STUDENTS HEAD TO LONDON TO PERFORM AT BIG DANCE 2012 LAUNCH EXTRAVAGANZA |
A group of students from Wrexham are heading to London next week to take part in a dance extravaganza to launch the UK’s biggest-ever festival of danceThe six teenagers will be travelling to the famous St Pancras train station on Thursday 5th July 2012, where they will perform a brand-new dancework to officially celebrate Big Dance 2012. Big Dance 2012 sees events taking place in all sorts of locations and in all dance styles, open to anyone regardless of dancing ability. Funded by Legacy Trust UK, and in Wales by Arts Council of Wales through National Lottery funding, it will create a lasting impact from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by funding ideas and local talent to inspire creativity across the UK. Big Dance Cymru is co-created by Dance Cymru and Wales Millennium Centre. Big Dance’s official launch will see the world-famous Grade 1 listed Victorian station overtaken by dancers from across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales as they entertain commuters and the world’s media with dance of all styles. The Wrexham group – Emily Baker, Jasmine Cross, Laura Drury, Rebecca May, Grace Thorne and Jacob Sheibani – will perform a brand new work between 5pm and 7pm, as well as taking part in a large scale dance number involving all of the other dancers. The dancers – who are all aged between 15 and 18 and are members of the Youth Dance and Technique class based at Yale College in Wrexham run by dance development organisation North East Wales (NEW) Dance – will perform Home, a new contemporary dance work choreographed by NEW Dance’s Jamie Jenkins to music entitled Home by Gabrielle Aplin. In it, they will use movement to explore relationships and friendship and the idea of needing ‘a safe place’. Several big names from the dance world will be in attendance including Arlene Phillips, the famous West End choreographer and former Strictly Come Dancing judge, as well as Kate Prince, who has choreographed for TV programmes including So You Think You Can Dance? as well as one of the opening ceremonies at the last Olympic Games. Sam Wyse, Artistic Director of NEW Dance, said: “This is a most marvellous opportunity for these young people to represent Wales at one of the huge events happening around the Cultural Olympiad and they are all so excited to be going. They will be performing at the station’s busiest time of day, so we are really pleased about that. ”It is a huge privilege and we are all looking forward to our trip to London on the train, dancing at the station and then coming back home on the train.” The dancers will also perform Home at Llangollen International Eisteddfod. They will also be joining with other members of their Yale College group to take part in 3D, an ambitious project at Ruthin Craft Centre, which will see 15 students working with professional dancers and artists to choreograph a new dance inspired by the exhibitions at the centre, resulting in an installation performance at 7.30pm on 20th July. Jên Angharad of Big Dance Cymru, said: “This is a great opportunity to showcase talent in Wales, to represent Wales on a national UK platform and to celebrate dance. We also have National Youth Dance Wales and two youth dance groups, one from Powys and one from Cardiff, performing during the U.dance 2012 platform at the Southbank Centre in London, so while we have a lot of dance activity happening in Wales for Big Dance 2012, it’s also great that we can showcase some of the wonderful energy and enthusiasm of our young dancers in the celebrations in London.” Louise Miles-Crust, Wales Millennium Centre’s Artistic Programme Manager and co-project manager of Big Dance Cymru, said: “I’m so pleased that students from NEW Dance are performing and representing Wales at the Big Dance launch in London. It’s a fantastic opportunity for them and a fitting way to launch Big Dance Week in Wales.” Hundreds of dance events will take place across Wales as part of the summer-long Big Dance Cymru programme, ranging from traditional folk dancing and tea dancing to hip hop and Zumba, and from professional performances to events that will get members of the public up and moving. Other highlights in Wales include: * Big Dance Week, from 7th-15th July, which will see activities across the country in all dance styles, for all ages and in all manner of venues. Saturday 14th July is Big Street Dance Day, when streets, parks and other public spaces will come alive with dance, as members of the public are encouraged to take part. * A week-long tour of mass-participatory performances of “The Readers” from the acclaimed David Rolland Choregraphiés Company, from 7th-14th July. Audience members will be given a booklet filled with instructions based on minute gestures to form a collective choreography. * An attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for the biggest ever Bollywood dance in Cardiff Bay on Sunday 15th July. The annual Cardiff Multicultural Mela attempts to beat the current record, which involved 4,428 participants in Mumbai, India, on 26th March 2012. Local dance groups, community groups and members of the public are invited to learn a simple dance routine and take their place in the record books. For more information on Big Dance 2012, visit www.bigdance2012.com For more information on NEW Dance, visit www.newdance.org.uk or call 01978 869456 |
| Big Dance 2012, web site: www.bigdance2012.com |
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Saturday, June 30, 2012 |
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