With performances from the Squirm Dance Company, Irish in Birmingham, Cordao de Ouro, One Step Beyond, Godiva Awakes, Birmingham Youth Dance Company and many more; Dancing for the Games and DanceXchange presented a fantastic variety of styles, showcasing the best in dance across the West Midlands.

The marquee was consistently full to the brim, with some very keen volunteers in our participatory workshops. A selection of photos from the performances and workshops have been put up on our Flickr, in the set ‘Artsfest 2012‘. You can see a few of our favourites below.

View the rest of the set on our Flickr.

Photography Kerry Leslie, for Dancing for the Games.

Watch the film below to relive highlights from the programme or catch up on just a small portion of the amazing activity linked to London 2012.

There will be chances to join in with workshops, watch short performances, and find out about anything and everything about dance in the West Midlands in the marquee. It’s located in Victoria Square, Birmingham and events will be happening throughout the day from around 10am both days. Come along and join in – there’ll be a whole range of dance styles on offer, from StreetDance to cheerleading, bhangra and Bollywood to folk dancing from across the world and you don’t need to bring anything special along or book in advance. The Dancing for the Games team will be there to answer any questions you may have, so we look forward to seeing you on what promises to be a gloriously sunny weekend.

Find out more on the Artsfest website.

Dance Connected have released a video called How We Got Staffordshire Moving – A Get Dancing Documentary. It showcases their Get Dancing project.

Get Dancing was an exciting project that saw thousands of people get involved in dance across Staffordshire in 2012 part of the London 2012 Olympic celebrations. Part of Dancing for the Games which was part of the Cultural Olympiad in the West Midlands, the project aimed to get people moving and having fun taking part in, or watching dance.

Seven professional dance artists, under the artistic direction of Filip Van Huffel (Retina Dance) delivered 35 community dance projects in the various districts and boroughs of Staffordshire. Creating Olympic inspired choreographic works that where showcased to the county in a first ever county showcase dance event at Staffordshire Castle on 1st of July 2012.

The Get Dancing project was part of Dancing for the Games which was inspired by London 2012 and part of the Cultural Olympiad in the West Midlands. Organised and managed by Dance Connected the project got thousands of people across Staffordshire involved in taking part in dance, or watching dance.

Mandala is a free, outdoor spectacular set to illuminate Birmingham Town Hall, marking the final weekend of the London 2012 Festival, 7-9 September.

British Asian dance and music and spectacular 3D light projections will liven up Birmingham’s Chamberlain Square on Friday 7 September. It will provide a dramatic climax to the London 2012 Festival, the momentous 12-week nationwide celebration of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Mandala, produced by Sampad, is just one way that people can get involved in the final weekend of the London 2012 Festival.

Sacrilege – the life-size replica of Stonehenge made as a fully operational bouncy castle – will appear for one day only on Friday 7 September at Hanley Park, Stoke on Trent. Created by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller, Sacrilege visits Stoke as part of a tour of 25 locations across the country.

On Saturday 8 September, Dancing for the Games performances and workshops will take over Birmingham’s Victoria Square as part of ArtsFest.

The London 2012 Festival will officially close with Bandstand Marathon, a nationwide live music performance in bandstands and outdoor performance spaces. At 2pm on Sunday 9 September, community music groups will perform their own version of Coldplay’s Viva la Vida, ahead of the band’s headline performance at the London 2012 Paralympic Games closing ceremony. Bandstand Marathonperformances will take place in Birmingham’s Victoria Square and Walsall Arboretum, and also atLeek, Stourbridge, Burton Upon Trent, Newcastle Under Lyme and Gospel End.

“Combining quirky, dynamic dance with high energy street gymnastics, the dancers blaze a colourful trail across the structures and landscapes of the playground.

Using children’s playground equipment as the set, a story unfolds, touching on themes of trickery, love, conflict and friendship. Highly playful and physical, and at times teasingly comical – this is a cheeky dance celebration of the child within.”

You can watch the individual films from the series here.

You can visit DanceXchange’s website to find out more about Spill here.

Here is a great video of Freefall Dance Company performing before their appearance at We Dance – a festival of dance. The We Dance Festival was run by Mencap to involve people with a learning disability in the Cultural Olympiad.

This film is part of the Dance for Camera films, produced by a group of young filmmakers with a learning disability. These films will be screened throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games on the BBC Big Screen.

Freefall Dance Company, led by former Birmingham Royal Ballet dancers and staff from Fox Hollies Performing Arts College, was established in 2002 evolving from a long-term partnership and ongoing relationship between the two organisations.

Having engaged well over 24,000 people directly in dance discovery workshops, the Lawk Naach project has enabled people from all backgrounds to access Punjabi culture through Bhangra and Giddha dance workshops.

Participants and spectators at the Mela were entertained by performances from the ever growing Sansaar family. Nachda Sansaar started the show with a performance of traditional Bhangra. Giddha Sansaar then showed their unique flavour of Giddha dance. Sansaar Juniors entertained the audience with a performance of Bhangra. Dhol Sansaar then wowed the audience with their rhythmic routine using Dhol drums.

For more information about the project, visit the Dance Sansaar website.

Dancefest, the dance development organisation for Herefordshire and Worcestershire, has been chosen to host a performance by Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company as part of the London 2012 Festival.

The performance forms part of the London 2012 Festival, a spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration running from 21 June until 9 September 2012. The London 2012 Festival is bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK in celebration of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

See reviews in The Independent and The Guardian, and watch the trailer.

TooMortal at St Swithun’s Church
Church Street, Worcester WR1 2RH
Thu 19 – Sat 21 July, various times

Thurs 19 July at 12.30pm, 1.30pm, 6pm & 7pm
Fri 20 July at 6pm & 7pm
Sat 21 July at 12pm, 1pm, 3pm & 4pm

To reserve your place email tickets@danceumbrella.co.uk.

Mandala will be at Birmingham Town Hall on Friday 7 September and at Nottingham Council House on Sunday 9 September.

The buildings will be brought to life and transformed from their classical facades into breathtaking new forms using projections that jump out towards you and stunning visual effects triggered by live dance and music.

Mandala will take you on a journey of discovery and leave you feeling uplifted and inspired. With live music performed by Talvin Singh and live contemporary and classical dance, including performances by ​Devika Rao and Aakash Odedra, featuring pre-recorded tracks by world-class musicians Anoushka Shankar and ​Zakir Hussain, Mandala will be THE free outdoor multimedia spectacle not to miss!
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Mandala is a collaboration between sampad and leading arts & technology company, seeper.