Dance, film, jewels and fashion

This week has been a very busy one…

Tuesday was the International Dance Festival Birmingham advocacy document launch. It was nice to see IDFB supporters. Hip hop artist Salah was there too and had treated attendees to a special dance number.

On Wednesday, I produced a Royal Television Society event. The event, which sold out, was a screening of award-winning indie film Crying With Laughter at The Electric Cinema. The film is a gritty dark comedy that has a tag line of ‘a bad trip to memory lane’. After the screening, I chaired a Q&A with lead actor Stephen McCole, Synchronicity Films’ writer/director Justin Molotnikov, Britfilms’ Nick McCaffery and Wellington Films’ Rachel Robey.

I just want to thank Tom Lawes and Sam Bishop from The Electric Cinema for their continuing support for the RTS Midlands events.

Thursday was all about edgy jewellery. I was invited to the Brilliantly Birmingham event on Thursday at the mac. It’s their 11th season and the launch featured an exclusive preview of FLUX – an exhibition of new and emerging UK and international contemporary designer makers. Sadly, I did not make it to the event, but am sure it went smoothly as my friends at Rewired PR have had something to do with it.

Friday was a tribute to the legendary Andy Warhol – a nice treat to end the week with a fashion show at Mechu and just dancing the night away. Sponsored by Dom Perignon and Harvey Nichols, the coolest thing I’ve seen was the photo booth that printed Warholian style photos with a built in wind machine inside for that extra glamorous look.

Phew! Thank goodness for the weekend…

International Dance Festival Birmingham 2010: I ♥ Dance

Four weeks. More than 100 performances. World-class artists. That was International Dance Festival Birmingham 2010. I’ve had such an amazing time working as a Marketing and New Media Officer for the Festival. Not only did I get to work with such an amazing team from DanceXchange and Birmingham Hippodrome, I have met some of the nicest and talented people in the world of dance such as the beautiful Rosie Kay, renowned British choreographer Akram Khan and Arthur Pita to name a few. The good news is that I am continuing with the online presence for IDFB and am very much looking forward to working more on this project.

I felt quite privileged to see such an extensive range of dance styles from renowned artists from all over the world. It was interesting to hear from the Arab artists about their shows and about how their dance is very much connected to their spiritual side. Here are a couple of videos of two talented artists from Tunisia/Algeria and Egypt from the IDFB channel on YouTube:

Ahmed Khemis, Tunisia/Algeria

Salah El Brogy, Egypt

Utopia and (in)visible / visible dancin’ were two great outdoor performances that were part of the Festival. These both proved how dance is increasingly becoming popular as the public have received them very well.

visible dancin’ – May 9, 2010, High Street, Birmingham

IDFB has reached canal networks, has been out and about in the region and has touched many around the world (thanks to being online). I very much look forward to the next one in 2012. Watch out for other news via its Facebook group. Really pleased to have seen it grow to more than 1,000. Check out its Flickr page too. The video packages, which I helped produced, will also be out soon. In the mean time, I leave you with a bit of Put Your Foot Down!

Put Your Foot Down! Finale – May 15, 2010, Bullring, Birmingham