THIS IS DANCE is a growing collective of presenting partners, co-producers, and commissioning organisations dedicated to showcasing ambitious international dance in Birmingham, challenging expectations of what dance can be, and bringing joy to audiences across the city.
Now in its second year, THIS IS DANCE, is a unique partnership which includes Fabric, Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Midlands Arts Centre, Fierce Festival and Sampad Arts
The partners share an ambition to create more opportunity, supporting artists, and increasing engagement, making dance a vital part of Birmingham’s cultural identity.
The latest programme brings together a local and international line-up of artists and companies from the UK, Italy, USA, Canada, Poland, the Netherlands, Germany and Benin.
Paul Russ, Fabric’s CEO and artistic director said: “THIS IS DANCE demonstrates how organisations with distinct identities can work collectively to grow the city’s cultural offer, positioning Birmingham as a city where adventurous dance and performance can flourish.
“THIS IS DANCE will strengthen Birmingham’s reputation for bold and adventurous performance and create the conditions for dance and choreography to reach wider audiences and have greater impact than would be possible independently.”
Fabric’s autumn season features two partnerships which challenge expectations of what dance can be.
They will be co-presenting with Fierce Festival in the UK premiere of Weathering by Faye Driscoll at Midlands Arts Centre, happening from 14to 16 October.
This landmark show features ten performers who create a slowly evolving live scene on a moving platform, forming a living sculpture of constantly shifting images, connections and relationships.
Bodies gather, separate and reconfigure glacially shifting, as the work unfolds in real time before the audience. Surrounding the stage on all sides, spectators are close enough to hear every breath, smell the sweat and feel the heat of the action.
Fabric is also co-presenting three new performances with Birmingham Hippodrome in The Patrick Studio in November.
The line-up includes The Dirty Work by Jo Bannon on Saturday, 7 November. The new solo performance combines classic magic imagery, including a white rabbit, magic wand and puff of smoke, with Bannon’s lived experience of visual impairment to explore the relationship between truth, illusion, performance and reality.
Silvia Gribaudi’s Graces will be staged on Friday, 20 November. The performance uses humour and a direct, empathetic comic style to turn imperfection into an art form, while blurring the boundaries between dance, theatre and performance.
The programme will also feature Anatomy of Survival on Thursday, 26 November. Fresh from its debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it received four-star reviews, the show brings together award-winning playwright Vivienne Franzmann and choreographer and psychotherapist Frauke Requardt.
The production draws on 22 different eyewitness accounts of an everyday altercation to examine how human nervous systems continue to respond to conflict in instinctive and primal ways.
Jon Gilchrist, Birmingham Hippodrome’s artistic director and CEO, said, “We’re excited to build on the success of THIS IS DANCE with a vibrant new season.
“Together with Fabric and our partners across the city, we’re creating more opportunities for artists and audiences to experience bold, inspiring dance from Birmingham and around the world.”
The full THIS IS DANCE programme includes a masterclass with Justine A Chambers, performance artist Dana Mitchel and The Car Man by Matthew Bourne among other performances.
