7:00pm: A discussion panel with speakers from Pavilion Dance South West, LinkAge and Lea Anderson, talking about dance for older people.

7:30pm: Interval

8:00pm: Come and see a dazzling performance showcasing the tireless work of Gerry’s Attic Dance company, including a new piece by renowned choreographer, Lea Anderson with guest performances from Yama ad Striking Attitudes.

Prices and Admission: Tickets for the evening performance are £7. This evening's performances are part of the Full Bloom Festival which includes daytime workshops.

For more info on the workshops and activities during the daytime please click here.

7.30pm
Performance showcasing the work of Gerry’s Attic dance including a new piece by renowned choreographer Charlotte Vincent with a guest performance from Striking Attitudes.

This performance will be preceeded by a free panel discussion in the theatre from 6.30pm, the panel will be free to attend but please book your place here to confirm.

Why not join us on Saturday and Sunday for public workshops, available for over-55s of any ability. Availability will be limited so please book your place here. Tickets are £3 per person.

Tickets for Sunday's performances can be found here

Flamenco Express returns with another cargo of heart-wrenching flamenco – with ‘sizzling soloist’ La Joaquina, guitar virtuoso Chris Clavo, the massive vocal presence of Antonio El Pola, and tonight, another Flamenco Express Star returns in the shape of crowd-pulling pocket dynamo Titi Flores.

About Titi Flores
A furiously effervescent dancer of unique power, imagination and grace.
A gypsy from Arcos de la Frontera, he shared the stage with artists such as Camaron de la Isla, Paco Toronjo, Aurora Vargas, Chiquetete, Turronero and Chano Lobato from the age of 15. After relocating to Madrid he worked with La Tati, Rafael Amargo, Cristobal Reyes and Juan Andres Maya and has recently founded his own dance company Companaa Titi Flores.

About El Pola
Known for over twenty years as a formidably talented singer dedicated to the purest flamenco, Antonio El Pola has grown to fill the greatest stages, performing with many legends of the art, such as La Chana, Paco de Lucia, Juan El Camas, Concha Vargas, Antonio Moya and Juan Castor. A true custodian of the flamenco history.
A regular partner of Titi.

About Flamenco Express
Flamenco Express is a touring dance company presenting established and emerging flamenco artists to UK audiences in elemental performances true to the spirit and conviction of flamenco. Flamenco is as universal, powerful and versatile as the blues, as epic as opera, and as delicate and pin-sharp as ballet.

For over thirty years, Flamenco Express has existed to do justice to this unique art form by choosing the best artists and allowing them total freedom of expression. The result is a new emotional and artistic experience every night, delivered by an astonishing range of talent.

This show includes BSL interpretation and is an outdoor performance.

On Fireside
“It was a fantastic, atmospheric, both tense and funny performance. The acrobatics was awesome” Audience member in Derby

“Fantastic entertainment, very funny, extremely talented guys! Well done!” in Derby

Emergenc(i)es

Control and Calculation : Inheriting Liberation : Improvised Publics

The exhibition will explore how the emergence of alternative social possibilities has become an emergency in our current historical moment.

Performance, education activities, visual art, screenings, installations, workshops and a library-cum-pharmacy will examine how we approach and diagnose the problems we collectively face.

Emergenc(i)es will exhibit creative practices and educational sessions that can help resist and transform challenging conditions within and between our communities.

Between 12-2 every week day there will be a hosted lunchtime 'Gathering' that will provide an opportunity to practice improvisation with others.

Performances, art and facilitation from: Anushiye Yarnell, Shannon Woodcock, Madhu Krishnan, Martin Crowley, Bela Emerson, Lidia Pereira / the Immaterial Labour Union Zine, Alex Wardrop, Maggie Nicols, Ben Owen + friends, Corey Mwamba, Charlotte Cooper, Ann Heilmann, Alix Hyde, Katia Barrett, Hannah Schling, Dusan Mihajlovic, Rosie Lewis and more tbc!

Exhibition and events run from Monday 6th June - Friday 17th June.

All events free thanks to funding from Awards for All, no booking required, just turn up.

Trinity Centre welcome IGNiTE associate artist: Ella Mesma Company for a week long residency from 15 - 20 Apr.

As part of their residency the company invite you to join them each morning for an open dance and movement workshop (Mon - Fri,10am - 11.30am).

EMC have a unique movement language using a range of techniques such as contemporary dance, contact work from partner dances (such as salsa, tango, kizomba), breaking, Afro-Latin and Latin folkloric dances, capoeira and aerial dance. In these workshops you will use elements from the series of seven workshops for dance artists and dance lovers called the “HOME Series”, inspired by the chakra system and created on the dance company.

Ella Mesma is the 2018/19 IGNiTE Associate Artist to find out more about IGNiTE and our supported artists click here

About EMC

EMC are a British based dance theatre company who use folk dances in a contemporary context to allow transformation: telling personal and global and stories and connecting to our truest selves. The company strive to undo limiting beliefs, explore healing and celebrate cultural and social identity using dance and theatre. With a mix of dance forms, circus and theatre, the work is bold, political and personal.
Cost: £4 + booking fee per class or £15 + booking fee for the week.

To book tickets click below on the date you would like to book.

Monday 15th April 10am - 11.30am

Tuesday 16th April - 10am - 11.30am

Wednesday 17th April - 10am - 11.30am

Thursday 18th April - 10am - 11.30am

Friday 19th April - 10am - 11.30am

To book a week ticket including all the workshop and save £5 click here

Old Market is set to undergo a vibrant take-over this Autumn as the city-centre location becomes host to, Destination Old Market, a programme of public events showcasing the area's cultural and creative scene.

Taking place throughout October to November 2024 we have created a programme that will feature pop-up gigs and performances in secret locations in the area - shining a spotlight on the many artisans, makers and independent businesses based in the area.

"Living in Old Market for nearly a decade has made it feel like a part of me. I love the blend of its buildings, the unique characters, and the deep historical significance it holds for Bristol. My goal is to share with audiences a side of the city that’s often overlooked or taken for granted." - Tom Marshman, Artist

Businesses and shops will transform into DIY venues and will host pop-up performances from some of Bristol's finest live music, experimental sonics sounds & DJs. Line up so far includes Bristol's t l k, Copper Sounds + Sarahsson, Josephine Gyasi and James Storm. Pop up venues so far include pubs, hairdressers and retail shops.

Audiences can delve deep into Old Market's rich contemporary history through a new theatrical promenade performance devised by writer and artist, Edson Burton, in collaboration with artist Tom Marshman. Taking place in locations throughout Old Market, the audiences will uncover the captivating lives and stories that have shaped Bristol's Old Market into one of the city’s most memorable streets.

People can book Destination Old Market events through our website. A £5 deposit is required when booking. This deposit can either be refunded or exchanged for a voucher that can be spent in Old Market business taking part in the Destination Old Market.

Destination Old Market will take place on the following dates:

A Sound Odyssey:

Saturday 12 Oct

Saturday 02 Nov

A Theatrical Promenade

Sunday 13 Oct

Sunday 20 Oct

Sunday 27 Oct

Sunday 03 Nov

About Destination Old Market

Destination Old Market is produced by Trinity Community Arts and is part of the City Centre and High Streets Culture and Events Programme, funded by Bristol City Council and the West of England Combined Authority. The initiative aims to attract more visitors to the City Centre, boosting local businesses and the economy.

bluemouth inc. create immersive site-specific performances that marry choreography, text, original live music, and film.

In Dance Marathon, there’s only one rule: keep moving your feet.

Award-winning Canadian theatre collective bluemouth inc bring their worldwide smash hit Dance Marathon to Mayfest. It’s theatre, it’s a party, it’s a dance contest and it’s completely exhilarating and exhausting.

Based on the 1930s Depression-era American dance marathons, you are invited to dance the night away under the watchful eye of the referee on roller-skates, the ticking clock and accompanied by live music from our very own Dance Marathon house band.

In a three-hour endurance contest, compete with your fellow dancers to be crowned Dance Marathon champion. Those with two left feet can simply sit back and enjoy the fancy footwork.

Show runs 3hrs plus intervals

14 + This is an immersive show for all ages and for anyone between the ages of 14-90 who likes to dance.

To say that DANCE MARATHON breaks down the fourth wall – The imaginary wall that separates the audience from the performance in a traditional theatre – Is an understatement. IT ELIMINATES IT.

Kevin Griffin, Vancouver Sun

“bluemouth inc.'s Dance Marathon is perhaps the richest, fullest theatre experience I've ever had. This extraordinary event, which mashes up the dance marathon concept from the '20s and '30s with contemporary dance/physical theatre and a sort of live version of reality TV, is joyous, exhilarating, remarkably moving, and wondrously fun. Do it—it isn't a thing to merely be seen—and you will find the barriers and boundaries of conventional performance pushed wide open; you'll understand anew what theatre can be.”

Martin Denton, nytheatre.com1

Mayfest is seeking volunteer Dancers to be part of DANCE MARATHON

Dancers do not need to be professional and can be amateur, as long as they have some movement skills.

Volunteers will have an opportunity to work closely with this international collective, gain valuable experience and be part of a truly invigorating piece of theatre as part of the 2015 Mayfest

Dancers need to be available for all:
4 Rehearsals 13-16 May
Technical rehearsal Mon 18 May
3 Evening performances Tue 19-Thu 21 May

For more information or to submit your interest in this opportunity please contact:

Stephen O’Connell
bluemouth inc.
E: stephen@bluemouthinc.com

Dear Dance Marathon,

Thank you. I know we only spent a few hours together but I wanted to let you know how wonderful you are. Despite my aching calves and mysterious bruise, I miss you. You were a joy to be with. The friends I made through you might not last a lifetime but, for that one, lovely night, they meant so much. You made a team of two from strangers; we laughed, we tried and held on to each other.

At first I thought you were too good to be true and in a way I was right. Your trickery at first was subtle but once I realised the kindness in your lies I knew I had to forgive you. For some you made them feel inadequate; for others you gave them the courage to shine. And even though we floundered and fell, after knowing you for such a short time we all became champions. Even when our number was up we spurred each other on. Even when you stripped me of my purpose; an indignity which led me to the regrettable act of betraying my sister, still then, I fought on.

I saw so much through you. I witnessed amateurs evolve into experts. I saw kindness morph into competitiveness. I sensed strangers becoming friends and family turn into temporary enemies. You made me race to the finish line, flail in an attempt to regain my status, squish my sweaty body against an unknown other. And even though you may have turned me into a loser, well, I forgive you. You showed me humility; the sigh of relief in letting go of hopes of a trophy and cheering for our new, winning, friends.

So thank you Dance Marathon. Thank you for the fun, thank you for the music. Thank you for the artistry, thank you for the effort; I'm sure you must be tired so please go a take long and well deserved rest.

But know that - If we meet again - I'm on to you. And as I have already proved, I'm not above doing whatever it takes to leave our next night together as your dancing queen.

Love and very, very sweaty hugs,
Your not-so-bitter Loser.

Rise Youth Dance take part in a workshop with Uchenna Dance at Trinity as part of IGNiTE. Photo @ KoLAB Studios.

Arts Council England have awarded a grant to Bristol Dance Futures - a consortia of South West arts organisations and practitioners - to develop the city’s dance offer. The group is working together to grow investment in dance, and includes Mel Scaffold (Theatre Bristol), Rhiannon Jones (Trinity Community Arts), Kieran Swann (Arnolfini), Nic Young (Circomedia), Helen Cole (In Between Time) and independents Laïla Diallo, Katy Noakes and Lauren Scholey.

The partnership is pleased to announce Deborah Baddoo has joined the project as Producer to lead this development and develop Bristol’s regional and national profile as home for dance. Deborah is a performer and choreographer, also artistic director of State of Emergency productions - a performance and production company supporting the development of Black dance, choreography and performing arts nationally and internationally. In 2010 she was awarded an MBE for services to British dance. Talking of her appointment as project lead, Deborah said:

“I am delighted to take up the position of Producer with Bristol Dance Futures and to help to develop the impact of dance in the exciting city of Bristol. As an experienced producer in dance working nationally, but based in the South West, I have been aware of the breadth and quality of dance in Bristol for many years and of all the hard work that has gone before in order to reach the point we are at now. Dance in Bristol is now at a pivotal point and I embrace the challenge of working with Bristol Dance Futures Steering Committee to raise the profile of dance in Bristol and to deliver the exciting Moving Bristol dance programme” Deborah Baddoo

Mel Scaffold, CEO of Theatre Bristol who helped to launch the project said, “It is a joy to announce that we are working with Deborah Baddoo to deliver this exciting project. The city is home to a huge community of talented dancers, along with thousands of people who watch and take part in dance every year. Moving Bristol will build on the passion and commitment of these communities, and the organisations who nurture them, with the aim of creating a city where every body can move and be moved by dance.”

Through a two-year funded project, the partners will work together to develop a wide range of dance activity across Bristol. This will include the announcement of three focused Dance Hubs to support Dance & Health, Young People and Audience. There will also be opportunities for dancers to take on residencies in a range of cross-sector settings in 2020-2022.

Watch this space or get in touch with Deborah Baddoo on: dancefutures@theatrebristol.net for more information

Uchenna Dance deliver a dance workshop at Trinity in 2018. Photo @Khali Ackford

Trinity is pleased to announce that, as part of the Bristol Dance Futures ‘Dance Connect’ programme, five Bristol-based dance practitioners will be funded to undertake year-long residencies in organisations across the city.

The residencies are an opportunity for practitioners, organisations and communities to collaboratively develop a programme of dance activity. Artists will explore and develop ways that dance can be enjoyed and experienced by new and existing audiences and participants across the city.

'It was great to see such high-quality applications and be part of the selection process with a different perspective from the health sector'

Karen Lloyd, Active Ageing Bristol

To ensure a wide range of voices and perspectives helped select the Dance Connect Residencies, the project's Producer Deborah Baddoo invited Karen Lloyd from Active Ageing Bristol and Zannah Chisolm, Artistic Director and CEO Pavilion Dance South West to sit on the selection panels, alongside members of the Dance Futures steering group including independent artist Deepraj Singh.

With the COVID-19 pandemic likely to exacerbate impacts of pre-existing health conditions, two projects will look at the importance of using dance to improve and support good emotional wellbeing and health:

Lerato Dunn will work will work with Southmead Development Trust and Sirona Care to explore how dance can contribute to the physical and emotional health, with the aim to develop a ‘Dance on Prescription’ model that can support vulnerable people.

Rachel James, who leads Dance For Parkinson's at Trinity, will be working with Fresh Arts to create a high-quality dance programme supporting the recovery of elderly and frail patients, designed to help them to get home quicker.

Trinity will be working with both Lerato and Rachel to programme activity in our role as the Arts & Health Dance Hub for the project.

The following collaborations will see artists connecting with new communities strengthening dance participation beyond the city centre:

Penny Caffrey and Helen Wilson will be collaborating with Filwood Community Centre to create a number of different ‘dance happenings’ to promote a positive sense of place within communities.

Katy Noakes will be working with Knowle West Media Centre explore ways to bridge the gap between street and contemporary dance in Bristol.

Dance Connect is an initiative by Bristol Dance Futures - a consortia of Bristol arts organisations and independent artists, that aims to create a vibrant dance ecology across the city, so people of all ages can engage with high-quality dance.

Dance Connect is supported by funding from Arts Council England

Lady Like by Ella Mesma, programmed as part of IGNiTE at Trinity.  Photo @Jessica Bartolini

Bristol Dance Futures are offering £8,000 for four Dance Connect Artist residencies. The residencies will see artists work in collaboration with Bristol based organisations, with the aim to see how dance practise could enrich a working environment and to exchange learning.

Dance Connect is an initiative by Bristol Dance Futures and aims to nurture talent, provide continuing professional development opportunities for dancers, and create a vibrant dance ecology so people of all ages can engage with high quality dance.

The Dance Connect initiative will embed four dance artists in Bristol’s arts, cultural and community organisations for 40 days, over a period of up to 11 months from November 2020

To apply now* please complete the Full Partnership Application form addressing the aims and the assessment criteria below.

(*Please note applications will only be accepted from those who have completed an Expression of Interest form. You can also download the Full Partnership Application form as a PDF here and the Guidelines and Assessment criteria here)

For more info please contact Deborah Baddoo - dancefutures@theatrebristol.net

Dance Connect Aims:

• Raise the profile of dance within individual organisations and more broadly within the cultural sector
• Embed the value of dance and the contribution dance artists can make within and across organisations - strengthen Bristol’s dance ecology and lever more support for dance
• Better equip organisations to work with dance artists
• Create opportunities for critical dialogue between organisations, dance artists and audiences
• Provide opportunities to test, grow and change the practice of individual dance artists, people working within organisations and the wider sector
• Create models of working which can be sustained beyond the period of this initiative

Criteria for Assessment:

• Experience in working within their chosen field of activity
• Imaginative and ambitious nature of the application
• Specificity of ideas
• Potential for impact of the residency
• What difference the residency will make to the artists' and organisations' practice
• Potential for legacy after the residency has ended
• Ideas on how they might share the impact of the Dance Connect residency

Full Partnership Application deadline 5pm 13th November 2020

-Written by Toshiki Okada

Adapted by the company

Having presented FellSwoop Theatre’s fantastic Belleville Rendez-vous and Ablutions in the last few years, we’re delighted to present their brilliantly successful Current Location at Trinity, Bristol this season.

Three women stand on a cliff-edge overlooking their village; a village which is soon to disappear.  “Sometimes we need to do things like this; we need to step away from our daily lives, and look at them from a distance.”

Current Location was originally written by Japanese playwright Toshiki Okada in the direct aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Set in the intimacy of a choir rehearsal room, an all-female cast presents this immersive piece of theatre with live music by Ben Osborn, which explores how rumour and the fears associated with climate change disrupts families, friends and communities.

Returning from its UK tour and sell-out run at Edinburgh Festival 2014, the award-winning FellSwoop Theatre (Ablutions, Belleville Rendez-vous) present Current Location; an allegorical response to the ongoing and ever-increasing number of ecological disasters. A site specific production, developed specifically for Trinity Centre, Current Location will immerse and enlighten audiences in the significant issues and questions surrounding climate change.

“Quietly gripping and thoroughly unsettling, this piece climbs inside you, like the best examples of sci-fi”.  Wildfire / Exeunt

“Will haunt you long after you leave the theatre” A Younger Theatre

“Current Location is that rarest of things: a bold and experimental play that manages to tell a complex and emotional story. It’s a must-see and one of the best plays of the festival” Fringe Madrid

Performance dates: 4th, 5th, 6th & 7th June / 11th, 12th 13th & 14th June

Doors 6pm

Show start 6.30pm:  Running time 1hr

Age Recommendation 14+

Cooking the books of genocide in Australia: food, feminism and colonisation - Shannon Woodcock

In this interactive history workshop, we time travel to meet colonial Australia’s first cook book writer - Mina Rawson. We will watch Mina arrive on the beautiful shores of Butchulla country, with her gun, her Pacific Islander slaves, her husband, and her dreams of making money in global capitalist networks through conquering the land and together analyse what our reactions to her actions can tell us about how we eat and live today. Are the margins of time, violence and the colonies at the dinner table with us still? What might it mean to kick colonisation out of the kitchen? A gentle and provocative engagement with how history can affect and inform us today.

Part of  Emergenc(i)es  Exhibition, 6th - 17th June: Control and Calculation : Inheriting Liberation : Improvised Publics

Intensive Contact Improvisation workshop with Nita Little

The informed Bodymind: Beyond dance/The invisible CI skills

This dance form invites us to have a self-sense that extends spatially to include our partners and our environment. Its skills ask for physical/mental states beyond our normative modes and modalities. And, it stretches our understanding of physicality and perception. The aim of this class is to increase our ability to act responsively through developing new physical and perceptual skills that enhance our peripheral intelligence. By discovering new forms of awareness we will learn to dance safely in a state that gives us an ability to read each ecological moment spatially and energetically. With the dance as our teacher, we will come to able to trust ourselves to meet each moment successfully whether we are falling or flying.