Friday 20 May – Saturday 4 June 2011
Salisbury International Arts Festival returns in 2011 with a packed programme of theatre, dance, circus, film, music and spoken word in locations around the historic city.
On the Festival’s opening night the sky becomes a stage in a performance by world famous Argentine company Voalà. This year’s programme includes several new commissions and exclusive performances, with a feast of poetry, story and song in the new music commission, Where Two Worlds Touch, andthe UK première of a new piece by Beijing Modern Dance Company. Spoken word events will feature high profile names such as Steve Redgrave, Helen Dunmore and Wendy Cope. This year’s programme will reflect a focus on the themes of China, Dance and Air, and events will take place across the region in locations as diverse as Salisbury Cathedral, Wardour Castle and Stonehenge.
New commissions and exclusive performances at Salisbury International Arts Festival 2011 include:
- A celebration of East and West through poetry, story and song, with the world première of Festival commission WhereTwo Worlds Touch, with original music composed by Howard Moody and Helen Chadwick for over 200 voices
- UK première of Aware by Beijing Modern Dance Company, performed by acclaimed traditional Chinese dancer Luo Lili and her daughter Gao Yanjinzi, Creative Director of the Company
- An evening of music and words created by pianist Iain Burnside, inspired by the paintings of Constable, to be performed by Iain, soprano Lisa Milne and tenor Andrew Kennedy
- Triple bill with Nederlands Dance Theater and English National Balletperforming pieces by choreographer Hans van Manen
- A residency with the Medici String Quartet, performing Sir John Tavener’s Towards Silence, Alan Bennett’s and George Fenton’s Hymn and leading an open masterclass programme
- Street theatre premiere of Time for Tea by Wet Picnic, for which an eccentric ensemble will sweep through the streets of Salisbury to supply an explosive and surreal teatime for all
- World première of the new restoration of the film The Monkey King (Uproar in Heaven), in the year of its 50thanniversary
- Shadow puppetry, calligraphy and kites from Chinese artists
- Award–wining Chinese poet Yan Lian and artist Kate Daudy discuss poetry, art and China against the artistic backdrop of Roche Court
Argentine company Voalàopen the festival with a breathtaking airborne show high above the crowds, while the festival will close with a family friendly spectacle with music, dance and fireworks, Party in the Close. Other highlights of the festival programme in 2011 include:
- A fast-paced evening of adventurous and sexy circus from Australian company Circa
- Atmospheric outdoor performances of two of Shakespeare’s best-loved plays, Hamlet directed by Dominic Dromgoole, and As You Like It, by the Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
- Performance of the acclaimed Yesterday by Jasmin Vardimon Company
- In Salisbury Cathedral, a programme of work inspired by the themes of air and dance, performed by The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, including Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, Tchaikovsky’s Francesca da Rimini and Ravel’s Bolero
- Appearances by authors, poets and speakers including Babette Cole, Helen Dunmore, Wendy Cope and Steve Redgrave
- The Mechanics by Brocante Sonore, a family show in which nine men shake, tap, rattle, strum and roll the junk around them to create a virtual orchestral symphony
Maria Bota, Festival Director, says:
“In 2011 Salisbury once again offers the opportunity to see world-class artists from the diverse fields of theatre, dance, film and music. Our wonderful landscape offers magical settings for the Festival to entertain, inspire and transform our lives.”
The full festival programme will be announced on Monday 21 February 2011. Tickets are available to Festival Friends from 14 February 2011 and to the general public from 8 March 2011. Buy tickets by phone Monday – Friday 10am–2pm on 0845 241 9651, or online at www.salisburyfestival.co.uk
Travel to Salisbury with our travel partner South West Trains - who run direct trains to Salisbury from LondonWaterloo, Southampton and Exeter.You can save money with our GroupSave discount - 3 or 4 people travel for the price of 2 when you travel together at off-peak times. For more information and to book your tickets, visit www.southwesttrains.co.uk or simply call 0845 6000 650.
Ends
Notes to Editors:
For more information or images please contact Rosa Corbishley, Salisbury International Arts Festival - rosa@salisburyfestival.co.uk or 01722 330 914 or 07912 109 132
SalisburyInternational Arts Festival
§ The 39th Salisbury International Arts Festival runs from Friday 20 May – Saturday 4 June 2011
§ The 2010 Festival featured 11 premieres and exclusives of which 9 were commissions by Salisbury International Arts Festival
§ The annual 16 day Salisbury International Arts Festival blazed into life in 1974 with a performance by Paco Pena and is a leading commissioning and producing Festival which attracts over 60,000 attendances each year and contributes £3m to the regional economy
§ Salisbury International Arts Festival won silver in ‘Tourism Event of the Year Award’ run by Enjoy England Tourist Board at the South West Tourism’s ‘Tourism Excellence Awards’
§ Salisbury International Arts Festival is supported by Principal Sponsor Friends Provident, Sir Christopher and Lady Benson, Wiltshire Council and Arts Council England – South West. National Media Partner is The Telegraph Media Group and travel partner is South West Trains