Member Article

LEAP festival will make Liverpool dance this Valentine’s

Dance students performing in the upcoming LEAP dance festival, March 1-12, will be romancing the

streets of Liverpool this Valentine’s Day with pop-up street performances in prominent destinations

across the city centre.

A new intern dance company, created in partnership with Merseyside Dance Initiative (MDI) and

Liverpool John Moores University, will perform a special routine on the most romantic day of the year,

simultaneously at different outdoor tourist spots within Liverpool city centre to give passers by a

mesmerising flash-mob style preview of the company’s performance that will feature at the LEAP in

March.

The project, sponsored by the Liverpool BID company, has been created as part of the World of Work

programme offered at LJMU, that provides students with opportunities to gain work experience and

further enhance their employability. MDI are supporting the programme by creating a temporary dance

company that will give students from both the BA and MA degree dance courses the opportunity to

work alongside a professional choreographer and experience working as part of a company.

Karen Gallagher MBE, artistic director of MDI, commented:

“MDI have always been on a mission to inspire people to express themselves through movement and

the intern company is the perfect opportunity to reach out to the community and take to the streets this

Valentine’s Day, while giving something back to the city’s aspiring dancers. We are a big supporter of

the World of Work programme that LJMU offers and regularly work with students to develop both their

dance portfolio and business skills.

“With LEAP celebrating its 25th anniversary, we are not afraid to shout about how much we love

Liverpool and how much talent is right here. So many people love to dance and we love to make people

leap!“

2 of 3

From February 14 and leading up to International Day of Dance on April 29, the student dance

company will be entertaining shoppers and residents alike by animating Liverpool’s high street with

pop-up dance performances in high-street shop windows and among the crowds.

Bill Addy, chief executive of the Liverpool BID Company, commented:

“We see dance as an essential part of our animation programme and Liverpool BID is delighted to

continue its support for MDI. We look forward to this year’s exciting programme bringing life into the city

centre“.

LEAP festival will celebrate its silver anniversary with a challenging programme of dance exploring this

year’s theme of Camouflage, with the majority of the programme taking place at the pop-up dance

house at MAKE Liverpool, in Liverpool’s North Docks. The festival’s confirmed line-up of national and

internationally renowned dance companies such as Gary Clarke, Barrowland Ballet, Stopgap Dance

Company and experimental dance company Project O, will examine the role of identity, discrimination

and discuss how misconceptions affect us all, while the festival’s community-focused day and artist

takeover day aim to showcase the multitude of talent from across the region.

Tickets for the festival are available via The Unity Theatre box office and for more information about the

festival please visit http://www.leap2017.co.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Molly Stirling .