October 28, 2016
Heart Drivetime presenter Steve Denyer, reflects on his first experiences with dance at the mid-season point of DanceXchange’s current programme.

Earlier this year I discovered dance. Don’t worry, you won’t see me busting any moves, what I mean is that through wonderful performances I saw as part of the International Dance Festival Birmingham (IDFB) 2016 in the Spring, I have realised that dance is for everyone. And that even if, like me, you don’t know much about the subject, you can still be amazed, moved and captivated.

With my new found passion I have embraced DanceXchange’s autumn season. DanceXchange is the producer of IDFB and their performances are based in The Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome. Half way through I thought it was a good moment to share what I have experienced so far – and to-date I have been awestruck, amused and amazed.

The season opened with National Dance Company Wales FOLK which included three equally thrilling pieces. Not only was this a fantastic start to the season, but my new found dance knowledge was cemented when I realised that the reason I recognised elements of one of the pieces, Tuplet, was that the choreographer featured as part of NDT2 which I saw at the International Dance Festival 2016. A fantastic moment for my emerging dance credentials!

The second show was however like nothing I had seen before, and whilst it completely held my attention throughout, the sight of a naked performer undertaking incredibly physical moves had me, at points, literally on the edge of my seat. It was funny and moving and was a new style of dance for me, almost acrobatic at times.

Like the season opener 2Faced Dance’s RUN featured a triple bill, each piece definitely got the blood pumping with the third piece, Fallen Angels culminating with a ‘demon’ complete with broken wings laid across the stage.  All three performances took the audience on a darker journey in a way I had not expected with dance but was incredible to experience.

We are half way through what has been an amazing season so far, I have laughed, gasped and been a little bit scared! I am also realising that dance is about continual discovery and with that in mind I look forward to what the second part of the season will bring.

Steve Denyer

Tune into Heart Drivetime with Steve Denyer from 4-7pm here

Check out DanceXchange’s programme here