The Giant is Coming is a unique event combining interactive installation and live performance, exploring what a ‘giant’ is from a child’s perspective and how great things can come from small beginnings.

In the Installation children will step inside a room filled with the giants of literature, they will climb into a place where all perspectives of size change, and they will sneak into a space to reveal the secrets of being a Giant.

Aimed at six to nine-year-olds, the 20-minute performance incorporates music, song & movement that tells a magical tale of the Giants amongst us, resonating with the theme of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad event ‘Land of Giants.

The performance was created with the help of primary school pupils that collaborated with the creative team in the development of the show. The children explored the ideas of what they believe it means to be a giant and from their ideas the performance was born.

The Giant is Coming also takes inspiration from the Cultural Olympiad event Land of Giants and incorporates elements inspired by a number of ‘Giants’ that are present in Northern Ireland’s history both ancient and modern. The Giant is Coming will be touring Northern Ireland in the lead up to the Cultural Olympiad event and will give children throughout Northern Ireland the opportunity to get a taste of what’s to come on 30 June 2012.

The Cultural Olympiad Event Land of Giants, which is funded by Legacy Trust UK, taking place on 30 June 2012 will be one of the largest outdoor spectacles Northern Ireland has ever experienced. The event is estimated to attract over 20,000 and will incorporate a carnival parade through Belfast City Centre.

Land of Giants will be taking place in the Titanic Quarter bringing live music, dance, performance, carnival, aerial circus and pyrotechnics together to form one of the most spectacular events ever seen in Northern Ireland, the atmosphere is guaranteed to be electric!

Dugald Mackie, Chair of Legacy Trust UK said: “The Land of Giants will help spread the magic and excitement of the 2012 Games outside London and leave a lasting legacy across Northern Ireland. The Games arenʼt just for two weeks, and theyʼre not just for sports fans.  Through projects such as this, they will have an enduring impact on many peopleʼs lives.”

 Legacy Trust UK is an independent charity set up to create a cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Trust has committed £3 million to this national programme, which celebrates the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and aims to create a cultural legacy in each of the successful areas.

Gavin O’Connor, Youth Arts Officer at the Arts Council, said: “The Arts Council’s continued support for the Belfast Children’s Festival is based on the knowledge that the arts are a means to improving quality of life, enabling self-expression, enhancing learning and furthering the exploration of personal and social identity for children and young people as they grow and develop.”

The Giant is Coming will be performed in the Assembly Rooms, Waring Street Belfast, on Saturday 10, Sunday 11, Monday 12 and Wednesday 14 March 2012. Tickets for Belfast Children’s Festival events are available by Phone 028 90243042 from; Box Office 30 -42 Waring Street, Belfast, BT1 2ED, and from www.belfastchildrensfestival.com   
 

Lakes Alive will blaze a trail of spectacular arts events throughout the Lake District and Cumbria in 2012.

From a ground-breaking new commission for the London 2012 Festival on the shores of Lake Windermere to a fiery night-time performance that will illuminate the whole of Derwentwater, this year’s programme of events promises to be the most amazing yet.

The acclaimed Les Commandos Percu will get the proceedings off to an explosive start on June 21 when they unveil the world premiere of On the Night Shift.

One of just four official opening events of the London 2012 Festival, this incredible open-air production combines music, pyrotechnics and drama to dazzling effect.

Streams of colour and light will soar through the skies above Lake Windermere soon after the Olympic Torch has passed through the town. The sights will be accompanied by a troupe of drummers and dancers, some of whom are UK performers who have auditioned to be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime event.

Previous performances by the group have been described as “powerful, dazzling, shocking” and this new show is being tipped as one of the must-see highlights of the festival.

The event – like much of the Lakes Alive programme – is free.

Julie Tait, the director of Kendal Arts International which creates Lakes Alive, says: “We’re really excited by the sheer scale and quality of the performances lined up for 2012. It promises to be an inspirational season filled with  beauty, drama, thrills and surprises.

“Les Commandos Percu will set the standard with an unforgettable show that will be a truly jaw-dropping experience.”

On August 10 and 11 Ilotopie will make a big splash with Water Fools (Fous de Bassin) – a wild and wonderful show that will transform Derwentwater into a fantasy water wonderland.

Using lights, music and pyrotechnics, the French wizards set out to show how environmental disasters have impacted on Utopias throughout time. The thrilling 60-minute spectacle sees cars drive on water, heads burst into flames and a 12-foot lady riding by on a penny farthing.

Iltopie are one of the world’s leading street theatre groups and have performed worldwide at major landmarks including the Thames in London and the River Seine in Paris, as well as at international festivals across the globe.

Lyn Gardner, the Guardian’s theatre critic, said of the show: “It sets fire to the imagination.”

A further feast of entertainment will be served up with the August Banquets, which were born out of Lakes Alive’s desire to take its programme to smaller and more isolated locations.

The Banquets will take place at Talkin Tarn on August 15 and Appleby on August 16, as well as at other locations in Allerdale and Copeland.

This popular street party will bring food, drink and fun to all corners of Cumbria.  During the events, tables and chairs will be laid out and the audience is encouraged to bring or buy food and drink and join in a huge community spirited picnic, whilst being entertained by a troupe of world-class street entertainers.

An exciting new festival of street arts will be launched in the pretty Lakeland village of Cartmel on August 17–19.

Masquepony is the first UK street arts festival that will include the opportunity to camp on site. During the course of the three-day event, visitors will be able to pitch their tent at Cartmel Racecourse with views of the stunning fells surrounding them.

As well as a line-up of world-class outdoor performances, there’ll be a Big Top circus, world and folk music, fireworks and workshops that the whole family can enjoy. One of the highlights of the festival promises to be Compagnie des Quidams – a French theatrical company whose magical shows have mesmerised audiences around the globe. Chapeau Magique will produce a spellbinding performance that will enchant children and adults alike from just one roll of brown paper. And expect knife throwing, lassoes and lots of laughs from Frenetic Engineering’s dynamic circus and street theatre performance.

Argentinean aerial acrobats and dancers, Voala will use the sky as their stage, performing a breathtaking and beautiful show 100 feet above the audiences’ heads in Whitehaven on bank holiday Monday,  August 27.

Through visual poetry and magic – and to the sounds of powerful and original live music, Voala tells the tale of a group of characters who are taken up into the air, away from their monotonous lives.

The finale of the 2012 Lakes Alive programme is  Mintfest on August 31-September 2. The event, which has established itself as the one of the UK’s leading street arts festivals, will boast a line-up of the world’s brightest street stars.

The programme will feature international performances, new outdoor shows from leading UK artists and new British commissions in association with Without Walls.
Confirmed acts include the Bash Street Theatre, Inextremiste from France and the Torann Drums from Ireland. Further details will be announced later in the year.
Lakes Alive is the county’s unique contribution to the Legacy Trust UK programme, which was set up to help build a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

Lakes Alive is one of three Annual Legacy Programmes which are part of WE PLAY, funded by Legacy Trust UK, creating a lasting impact from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by funding ideas and local talent to inspire creativity across the UK, and the Northwest cultural legacy programme for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.  It is has also received funding from Arts Council England.

For more information go to www.lakesalive.org
 

Big Dance and Channel 4 in association with BAFTA announced today Big Dance Shorts, five commissions for short films to choreographers and filmmakers to be broadcast on Channel 4 this summer and screened to live audiences across the country during Big Dance Week 2012, which will run from 7-15 July 2012 as part of the London 2012 Festival.
Among the five Big Dance Shorts commissions, Kate Prince, founder of ZooNation and creator of the West End hit Some Like it Hip Hop, will be making her film directorial debut in a short film co-directed with hotly tipped London Film School graduate Felix Harrison.

All five short films go into production this Spring, with the full support of experienced industry experts, providing an exciting new platform for choreographic and directorial talent on screen.

The selection was made by an expert jury including Tabitha Jackson, Arts Commissioning Editor Channel 4, choreographer Akram Khan, director Kevin Macdonald, , producer, BAFTA Chair, Nik Powell and Jacqueline Rose, Director Big Dance. 

The selected Big Dance film projects are:
DOUBLE TAKE (Director: Sam Hodges, Choreographer: Ben Duke)
ON THE OTHERSIDE (Directors: Felix Harrison and Kate Prince, Choreographer: Kate Prince)
SWIM (Director: The Brothers McLeod, Choreographer Struan Leslie)
THE CLICK (Director Heather Eddington, Choreographers: Pete Shenton and Tom Roden of New Art Club)
VIDA LONGA (Director: Bertie, Choreographer: Ponciano Almeida)

The completed films will be broadcast on Channel 4 during Big Dance Week as part of the Random Acts strand and will also be screened as part of the Big Dance Pop-Up Cinema programme in summer 2012 before going on to numerous screenings as part of BAFTA’s nation-wide programme of events

Jacqueline Rose, Director, Big Dance, said “We were delighted with the scale and quality of the proposals we received for Big Dance Shorts. Within our partnership with Channel 4, we wanted to create a touchstone for new ideas that we hope will lead to more opportunities for choreographers to step into the broadcast medium. We are immensely grateful to the amazing array of senior figures in film and dance who have agreed to help these artists to achieve their work and get it shown nationally.”
Tabitha Jackson, Arts Commissioning Editor, Channel 4, said: “As partners of Big Dance, we are delighted to be able to continue Channel 4’s longstanding commitment to finding extraordinary talent and new ways of bringing dance to the screen”

BAFTA’s Film Programme Manager, Tricia Tuttle said, ‘BAFTA’s Learning programme is centred around supporting new talent in the creative industries through projects, mentorships and live events. BAFTA has been thrilled to partner on Big Dance Shorts to help the scheme reach out to the film community and to give great new filmmaking talent access to established industry through BAFTA’s network of experienced film professionals”.

Big Dance is one of the world’s biggest and most influential dance festival, and this year it is one of the highlights of London 2012 Festival, the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad. In 2012, there will be events across the whole country, building up to Big Dance Week from 7 – 15 July.

Big Dance in London has been funded by Legacy Trust UK, creating a lasting impact from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by funding ideas and local talent to inspire creativity across the UK. The programme is delivered by the Mayor of London, Arts Council England and Foundation for Community Dance with a network of Big Dance Hubs, leading dance organisations around the UK.