24th and 25th April 2010

Dance Cuts is a public platform for new dance work and an opportunity for artists to meet, share and discuss their work. The weekend-long event will also feature Turn Out, three performance pieces selected to tour from the 2009 Turn platform.

We are currently inviting submissions for inclusion in this prestigious event in the following categories:
* Live dance pieces
* Dance for camera
* Sited works for foyer/bar area

Submissions must be:
* New and original
* From artists based in the North West
* No more than 20 minutes in length
* Accompanied by supporting video footage, either on DVD or hosted online (e.g. on You Tube)

Submissions can be:
* From any dance style or genre
* Dance for Camera or live performance
* Collaborations with other art forms

Applicants must be:
* Able to attend from 6pm till 10.00pm on Saturday 24th April
* Available from 10.00am till 10.30pm on Sunday 25th April

Selection will be made by a panel of three professionals from across the partner organisations. There are limited places and therefore priority will be given to:
* Conceptually strong work
* Innovative choreography
* Work previously unseen in the North West

To apply:
* Download and complete our application form. All applications must be accompanied by supporting video footage. Applications without this cannot be considered.
* Return your form to hannah.robertshaw@ludusdance.org no later than 5.00pm on the 15th February 2010.

Successful applicants will be notified by 1st March 2010. For further information, please contact Hannah Robertshaw on 01524 35936 or via the address above, or visit the website www.ludusdance.org/dance-development/dance-cuts-2010

The new Spring season brochure is out from the Highlights Rural Touring Scheme for Cumbria and Durham. It includes details of fifteen exciting shows covering the whole range of performing arts and also has information about this year’s Contemporary Craft Tour, Thrift & Thread.

Performances for everyone
The Spring season includes over 50 theatre, dance and musical performances in more than 30 different venues across the region. These range from children’s puppet theatre in Alston and Askham, to jazz cabaret in Castle Carrock and Barnard Castle. Familiar names include singer songwriter, Kirsty McGee and storyteller, Hugh Lupton and the season also includes topical dance performances from the C Scape Dance Company.

“Highlights is all about offering professional, entertaining and exciting events in local communities,” explains Barbara Slack, one of the Scheme’s two programme managers. “This is the thirteenth year of Highlights in this area and we have a network of local promoters, each one choosing, organising and publicising the events at their venue on a voluntary basis. The result is a touring programme with something for almost everyone and taking place in venues that are right on the doorstep of rural communities.”

Rosie Cross is the other Scheme manager: “The programme is heavily subsidised with support from local arts organisations and councils as well as Arts Council England. This means that we can bring top flight companies and musicians into the area and offer tickets at a fraction of the commercial costs. First time visitors are usually stunned by the quality of the performances – they can’t quite believe that something so good is available in their local village hall!”

Contemporary crafts
Highlights is also promoting its sixth contemporary craft tour, Thrift & Thread, in 2010. The tour receives additional financial support from the Northern Rock Foundation and the exhibition will be on display at three venues (Dufton, Bowes and Stanhope) during May.

Karen Babayan is the recently appointed Crafts Officer at Highlights: “This year’s tour is all about textiles with an evocative flavour of make-do and mend,” she explains. “We are extremely privileged to be showcasing the work of Mandy Pattulo, who recycles and re-uses old textiles to create contemporary heirlooms and garments. Until 2007, Mandy was course leader for the Foundation Degree in Textile Design at Newcastle College. She left to pursue her own practice in printed textiles, embroidery, knit and fabric manipulation and has exhibited in the UK and in Japan. As well as the Contemporary Craft Tour, Mandy will also be working with dancer and drama specialist, Virginia Kennedy on a series of workshops in schools and community centres across the region.”

Karen, who is a visual artist herself, has previously worked in galleries across the north of England, both as a curator and education officer. She has a particular interest in textiles, so is extremely enthusiastic about the theme of this year’s tour. “Each year, the Contemporary Craft Tour brings something different and this year’s will be no exception. The opportunities for families and school children to participate in textile, dance and drama workshops and then see their own work displayed alongside Mandy’s during the tour, will be tremendous.”

“We know from past experience that the Contemporary Craft Tour usually surprises visitors with its diversity and sheer quality of craftsmanship,” Karen concludes, “and Thrift & Thread promises to be one of the best yet.”

A brochure with full details of the current programme is now available from libraries, Tourist Information Centres and local promoters across the area or from the Highlights offices in King’s Head Court in Appleby or it can be downloaded from the Scheme website at www.highlightsnorth.co.uk.

Youth Dance England is inviting young dance groups to apply to take part in its flagship performance event next year.

As part of its national dance participation scheme U.Dance, YDE is to present a three-night event called U.Dance England 2010, which will showcase the work of dance groups from around the country.

Groups of up to 20 dancers aged 11 to 19 can apply to take part. Short-listed acts will perform at regional events between January and March 2010, where a panel of judges will select the groups who will perform at the main show, which is scheduled to take place in Birmingham next July.

Meanwhile, YDE is also looking for artists to take part in its Young Creatives Programme 2010. The scheme aims to give young choreographers between the ages of 15 and 19 the chance to develop their skills and create new work.

Those chosen will collaborate with high profile figures from the dance world. Last year’s participants had the chance to present work at the Royal Opera House.
The deadline for both schemes is November 30.

For more see www.yde.org.uk

Dance Daze will offer the very best in contemporary and street dance and promises to have everyone’s toes tapping. View the video clips below of acts already confirmed for the line-up and then visit www.lakesalive.org for more information.

This new day long festival offers the very best in contemporary and street dance and promises to have everyone’s toes tapping. Whether you’re a dance aficionado or have yet to experience the exhilaration of watching live dance close up, this is a rare opportunity to see many internationally acclaimed dance acts in one place at one time – and all for free. But be warned, the energy of performances you witness may leave you in a daze for days!

Acts already confirmed in the impressive line up include Srishti with a football inspired dance, Stopgap who present a funky mix of 70’s kitsch, cluedo and vintage Britishness to a soundtrack from up and coming Brighton bands, Liz Lea and Marc Brew.

Teen sensations, Balletboyz II will be performing Laws of Motion, a thrilling, pulsating and fluid male quartet that pushes its dancers to their physical limits.

Also performing are the colourful Northern Belly Company who delight audiences all over the North West with their warm and accessible dances. Using music from all over the Middle East they will have you shimmying too in no time. Come and watch or if you’re felling the beat, join in the fun!

Another highlight will undoubtedly be Punchdrunk, with a quirky dance theatre work in which three characters create a world made from straw. Punchdrunk is an award-winning theatre company, whose work is usually presented on an epic scale, staged inside vast, empty buildings transformed into the world of the performance. This is a rare chance to see Punchdrunk’s unique physical performance style released from the shadowy confines of installation theatre, in an occasional piece made for daylight and the great outdoors.

‘Punchdrunk put the wonder back into theatre’ – The Guardian