Birmingham to hold first international dance festival

May 2 2008 By Diane Parkes

BIRMINGHAM is dancing in the streets – as it celebrates the beginning of its first international dance festival.

Shoppers across the city have been stopped in their tracks by performances in shop windows which have seen dancers pretending to be mannequins, cleaning windows and jumping in and out of bathtubs.

Created by Italian choreographer Luca Silvestrini, the specially commissioned pieces are aiming to bring the dance festival to everyone, not just theatre-goers.

Taking place in venues in New Street, Navigation Street and Chamberlain Square, On Display sees performances daily until Sunday.

The cast of the Cuban dance company Ballet Rakatan took to the streets with their blend of hot Latin salsa, rumba, mambo, cah-cha-cha and son.

The company is performing its sizzling show Havana Rakatan at Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre until Saturday night.

International Dance Festival Birmingham features 35 performances over the next four weeks with companies from across the globe. For full details of all events see the www.idfb.co.uk website or pick up a brochure from local venues.