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Birmingham International Dance Festival (BIDF) is an award-winning biennial festival presenting a vibrant programme of international dance in venues and public spaces across Birmingham; creating distinctive new work; building audiences, and engaging communities in stimulating participatory activity.
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Adjust your preferencesBIDF is unique in its variety of programming areas, from the bold and exciting outdoor and theatre programme to stimulating debates for arts professionals. Our aim is to grow its reputation and significance, nationally and internationally, as a place where the best of international and national dance is presented, and change and development happen.
Since its beginnings in 2008, BIDF has played a vital role in putting dance centre stage in Birmingham and has become a powerful cultural asset for the city.
BIDF provides a platform for engagement with a wide range of audiences and participants, inspiring local people, connecting with less engaged audience segments, and attracting new audiences to the city.
Our ambition is to strengthen the impact of the festival for the dance sector, the city, and for our young and diverse communities – connecting people with great dance, creating vital space for artistic dialogue and exchange, and promoting Birmingham as a global dance city.
The 2020 edition of BIDF was postponed due to the Covid19 pandemic. In 2021, the festival returned in a unique format with summer and autumn editions, presenting an incredible opportunity to connect people across borders and cultures in a joyful, inspiring, celebration of dance and togetherness. The summer edition presented a brand new digital platformBIDFTV which hosted livestream performances, film commissions, workshops and classes for public and professional dancers, plus an international showcase. The Autumn edition of BIDF 21 presented a live – socially distant – outdoor programme including local touring, youth engagement and co-productions.
BIDF 2022 17 June – 3 July
We will be back presenting the very best of international dance and inspiring choreography. The city centre will be transformed into a dynamic performance hub, and there will be a full programme in theatres and galleries plus an exciting lineup of shows and workshops taking dance to the heart of local communities.
Featuring international collaborations and performances by artists and companies in the forefront of contemporary practice from Commonwealth nations, BIDF will cement Birmingham’s reputation as a global dance destination.
Locations will include: City Centre – Centenary Square, Victoria Square, Chamberlain Square and Brindley Place. Midlands Arts Centre, Handsworth Park, Birmingham Hippodrome, The Patrick Studio … and more to be announced
BIDF is produced byDanceXchange
DanceXchange is merging with Dance4
From mid-April 2022, DanceXchange and Dance4 will be coming together in a formal merger, building on the strengths of our two successful organisations. We are combining our complementary knowledge, skills and expertise to form a new, single, strategic organisation, FABRIC.
FABRIC will strive to inspire, increase and diversify engagement, co-create with the extraordinary people of the region, encourage creative leadership, develop talent, and celebrate the impact of dance and its place in public life. Jointly, we believe we can be more ambitious for dance made, produced and nurtured in the Midlands.
The work, people and resources of both DanceXchange and Dance4 will continue into the forming of FABRIC, and we will continue to operate and grow from our existing sites in Nottingham and Birmingham.
We look forward to this next exciting chapter, working with and for artists, audiences and communities, to create new opportunities and growth for dance in the Midlands and beyond.
You can find further details and FAQs atwww.fabric.dance.
