DanceXchange and Birmingham Hippodrome launch International Dance Festival Birmingham 2014

The award-winning International Dance Festival Birmingham, one of Europe’s biggest dance festivals, returns to the city from 24 April 2014 for the fourth time, bringing the theatres, streets and squares of Birmingham to life with four weeks of dance. With five world premieres and brand new commissions, there are more theatre shows as part of the festival than ever before. Following three previous successful festivals in 2008, 2010 and 2012, this biennial event, co-produced by DanceXchange and Birmingham Hippodrome, features a jam-packed programme bursting with world-class performers, unique international collaborations, premieres, new commissions and a range of participatory opportunities in venues across Birmingham and the West Midlands. The success of Birmingham Royal Ballet with their IDFB 2012 performances will see the company kick off the 2014 festival with two mixed bills featuring world premieres of new works by young, emerging choreographers and heritage pieces by one of the choreographic greats of the twentieth century. Much loved and familiar names returning here for the festival include the legendary Sylvie Guillem, Sadler’s Wells’ Breakin Convention and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s new work m¡longa, a contemporary take on Argentine tango. Finally, internationally acclaimed New Adventures and RE:Bourne bring a new production of Lord of the Flies to the Hippodrome featuring a cast of young performers from the Midlands. Concluding this year’s IDFB will once again be a major free outdoor performance in Birmingham’s Victoria Square – B-Town. International and pioneering performers from the worlds of street dance and music unite to present a b-boy dance spectacular battling across multiple stages in the square. The IDFB for 2014 will continue to build on the successes of our previous three festivals, reaching wider and new audiences for dance by presenting work in innovative ways and creating new opportunities to participate. IDFB 2014 will showcase some of Birmingham’s finest venues, and gives DanceXchange and Birmingham Hippodrome the opportunity to present a wide range of innovative and entertaining dance.