Roll up, roll up for the launch of a thrilling new festival, Priceless London Wonderground - a spiegeltent showcasing the best of circus and cabaret in London. Headling is the spectacular Cantina – here’s a sneak peak of what to expect!
Filed under: Circus, Priceless London Wonderground | Tagged: Cantina, circus, Priceless London Wonderground | 1 Comment »
‘Dance should be the perfect art to bridge the gulf between aesthetes and athletes. It requires fitness, practice, dedicated pursuit of excellence and the sort of pain threshold that would make a professional fighter blanch. Yet a gulf between the two disciplines remains. The best art about sport is always about more than just sport. But then, as Rigal (choreographer of Game Over) suggests, so is the best sport.’ (London Evening Standard)
Read the full Evening Standard feature here
Dance meets sport and sport meets dance as we welcome two of Europe’s most acclaimed choreographers to Southbank Centre for the UK premieres of Game Over and Rocco.
Catch Game Over on 17 & 18 May at Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room. Get tickets here.
Catch Rocco on 22 & 23 May at Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. Get tickets here.
Filed under: Dance | Tagged: Boxing, contemporary dance, dance, Football, Game Over, Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Rocco, southbank centre | Leave a Comment »
Southbank Centre is offering a special discount of £5 off all tickets for the Double Bill of Indian Classical Music and Dance, which takes place on the 4th May in the Purcell Room. All you need to do is quote the promo code PALLAVI when booking online, by phone or in person.
With performances from Pallavi Saran Gujral, one of the fastest rising stars of the ancient dance Bhratanatyam, Mick Taylor the internationally acclaimed sitar player, this promises to be a very exciting evening of classical Indian acts.
Click here for more information and to book tickets.
Filed under: Dance, Performance | Tagged: Bhratanatyam, India, Indian, Mick Taylor, Pallavi Saran Gujra, Sitar | Leave a Comment »
What happens when an English ‘b-boy’ breakdancer meets young Rwandan hip-hop fans being helped by a charity that works with street children in Kigali?
Les Enfants de Dieu aims to transform the lives of Rwandan street children by giving them somewhere to live and an education. There are currently 130 boys aged six to 20 years at the centre and they are passionate about hip-hop. In 2011, London-based Catalyst Rwanda took the world-renowned b-boy Pervez, from Live 2 Break Crew, to work with these remarkable young men.
This summer, some of the boys travel to London to take part in Southbank Centre’s Africa Utopia.
Filed under: Africa Utopia, Dance, Street Dance | Tagged: Africa Utopia, Catalyst Rwanda, dance, Rwanda, southbank centre, streetdance | Leave a Comment »
On the 4th May Southbank Centre welcomes the celebrated Bharatantyam dancer, Pallavi Saran Gujral, to perform at the Purcell Room as part of the Double Bill of Classical Indian Music and Dance.
Here is a preview of what we can expect to see on the night:
Bhratanatyam is one of the oldest forms of classical Indian dance, originating 2000 years ago in Southern India, and is rarely performed in the UK. Pallavi will be accompanied by live music from vocalist Venkateshwaran Kuppuswamy, violinist Jyotsna Srikanth and mridangamist (percussionist) Ramamoorthy Sriganesh.
For more info and to book tickets click here
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Only two weeks to go before the ‘wildly funny’ (New York Times) Umbilical Brothers hit the Queen Elizabeth Hall stage, set to tickle your funny bone with their off-the-wall beatboxing antics. Having been nominated for the prestigious Perrier Comedy Awards, The Umbilical Brothers are in London for two nights only!
Take a look at them in action here.
Filed under: Beatboxing, Comedy, Performance | Tagged: beatboxing, Comedy, Easter, Easter 2012, Queen Elizabeth Hall, southbank centre, Umbilical Brothers | Leave a Comment »
Our judge for this Friday’s Dance Your City Competition made headlines last week – the Guardian even talks about ‘fashion history’ and the ‘event of the season’. London Fashion Week 2012: Stella McCartney invites to a dinner in an old church in Mayfair. The guest list includes Kate Moss, Rihanna, Zaha Hadid and Kanye West. Suddenly some of the guests start a flash dance in the evening wear of Stella McCartney. Supermodels and dancers including the choreographer Blanca Li herself surprised the soiree with this special display of fashion. This video gives an idea of the spectacle by the remarkable choreographer, responsible for Daft Punk’s 1997 ‘Around The World’ music video:
There are still some tickets for Blanca Li’s show Elektro Kif this Friday and Saturday. You could even give it a try and learn some cool Elektro Kif moves in the workshop on Saturday afternoon 14:00!
On Friday at 18:00 Dance Your City Competition finals will take place live in The Clore Ballroom, free to everyone and sure to be an epic battle.
Stella McCartney’s party will go down in fashion history (Guardian article)
Daft Punk – Around the World (YouTube)
Filed under: Dance, Dance Your City Competition, Elektro Kif, Misc, Street Dance | Tagged: Blanca Li, contemporary dance, Dance Your City, DanceMob, Elektro Kif, southbank centre | Leave a Comment »
Our panel of experts will choose the ultimate winner of the Dance Your City competition at the Live Final on 2 March 2012. Check out the finalists here www.southbankcentre.co.uk/dyc
Blanca Li
Born in Granada Spain, Blanca Li studied dance in New York and then relocated to France where she founded her own company in 1993. Since then she has created and produced a wide range of dance and non-dance projects featuring flamenco, feature films, classical ballet, multi-media exhibitions and hip hop. In 1999 she created the award-winning Macadam Macadam featuring 11 hip hop dancers, roller skaters and a BMX biker. In recognition of her innovative contributions to contemporary dance, Blanca Li is a recipient of the Manuel de Falla Award, the Globe de Christal and the Premio Max and was named Chevalier de l´Ordre du Mérite and Officier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture.
Kate Prince
Kate is the Artistic Director of ZooNation Dance Company which she founded in 2002. In May 2010 she became an Associate Artist at Sadler’s Wells and ZooNation became a Resident Company.
In 2008 Kate directed and co-choreographed ZooNation’s five-star award-winning production Into the Hoods at the Novello Theatre which became both the first ever Hip Hop dance show to open in the West End and the longest running dance show in the West End’s history. In 2011 Kate wrote, directed and co-choreographed ZooNation’s production Some Like it Hip Hop at Sadler’s Wells Peacock Theatre which enjoyed a critically successful sell-out run.
Kate has choreographed for two seasons of So You Think You Can Dance (BBC) and for the movie StreetDance 3D.
Kenrick “H20” Sandy
Kenrick “H2O” Sandy is a choreographer, performer, teacher and Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Oliver Awarded Boy Blue Entertainment. Kenrick’s career spans over 10 years, both nationally and internationally. Video choreographic credits include Peter Andre and Plan B, Alexandra Burke, Misteeq, Beverley Knight, Big Brovas, Victoria Beckham, Sophie Ellis-Bexter, Dizzee Rascal and All Saints. Boy Blue Entertainment’s production of Pied Piper won an Olivier Award and the company won Best Dance Act Award at the Black Entertainment Film, Fashion, Television and Arts Awards in 2010. With this incredible list of achievements Kenrick is highly recognised as one of the most accomplished Hip Hop specialists from the UK today.
Peter Maniam
PeterManiam is the Projects Manager at Breakin Convention, the UKs festival of Hip Hop Dance Theatre. Launched in 2004, the festival profiles the world’s elite hip-hop performers, nurtures UK-based talent and challenges the possibilities of Hip Hop Dance Theatre. Based at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, the festival now includes a UK tour to Plymouth, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Inverness, Sheffield, Brighton, Bristol and Leeds.
Wendy Martin
Wendy joined Southbank Centre in the Spring of 2011 as the Head of Performance and Dance. She had previously been living and working in Australia. In 2000 Wendy joined Cultural Affairs a the City of Sydney and was responsible for curating a program of outdoor performance across the city during the Olympics as well as producing the live event and broadcast for the arrival of the Olympic Flame into the City of Sydney. At the end of 2000 Wendy joined Sydney Opera House as a producer where she developed a number of significant events and productions. In 2006, Wendy was appointed Head of Theatre and Dance at Sydney Opera House and developed the international performance series “Adventures.” This program has presented work by artists including dancer Sylvie Guillem, director Peter Brook, Juliette Binoche, Akram Khan, Hofesh Shechter, Improbable Theatre, Patti Smith, and comedian Daniel Kitson. She produced Nigel Jamieson’s award winning physical theatre/dance work, Honour Bound that toured Australia, the UK and Europe in 2007. In 2008 Wendy founded SpringDance Australia’s only international contemporary dance Festival that is now a much anticipated annual event. In May 2011 she moved to London to take up the position of Head of Performance and Dance at Southbank Centre.
Filed under: Misc | Leave a Comment »
We’re excited to announce one of two headline shows coming to E4 Udderbelly Festival at Southbank Centre in 2012.
The Vocal Orchestra, created by Shlomo, is a spine-tingling hour of incredible musical entertainment. A celebration of everyone’s favourite tunes using seven mouths, seven mics and no instruments!
Combining jaw dropping human beatboxing, glorious vocal harmonies and floor wobbling basslines, The Vocal Orchestra is a breathtakingly original show, written and created by internationally acclaimed beatboxer Shlomo, and performed by a company of the world’s most exciting beatboxing superstars.
This uplifting mash-up of intricate group beatbox routines and roof-raising interpretations of all-time classics will leave you whooping, clapping and dancing all the way home.
Check out this taster of what to expect…
Filed under: Beatboxing, E4 Udderbelly Festival at Southbank Centre, Performance | Tagged: E4 Udderbelly, Shlomo, southbank centre, Vocal Orchestra | Leave a Comment »
Kate Prince, photo: Rachel Cherry
There’s only 2 days left to enter and vote for your favourite video for Southbank Centre’s Dance Your City competition. Check out the favourites here.
The top 6 acts will go on to compete in the live finals at Southbank Centre on Friday 2 March in front of a line-up of guest judges who are dance-legends in their own right. We’re very pleased to announce that ZooNation’s Kate Prince will join this panel. The final is free to come and watch so make sure you come down to Southbank Centre to take a look at the finalists! The overall winner will get the chance to perform on stage at Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall ahead of the Elektro Kif performance on Saturday 3 March.
Dance Your City Live Final at Southbank Centre on Friday 2 March. More info here.
Vote for your favourite video in Dance Your City here.
Filed under: Dance Your City Competition, Elektro Kif, Street Dance | Tagged: Blanca Li, Dance Your City, Elektro Kif, kate prince, Queen Elizabeth Hall, southbank centre, ZooNation | Leave a Comment »
