As Forró Tempo got things going with the rhythm, beats, and melodies of Brazil, it was the Wan Sheung cultural dance group, from the city’s Chinese Community Centre, who stepped up to the fore as the Birmingham Festival 23 geared up for its long weekend crescendo. Performing their own interpretation of traditional Tibetan Mountain dance, plus dragon dance, Southeast Asia was the destination during what would be a rain-interrupted – yet still fulfilling – day for all.
Whilst B.Fest 23 (Birmingham Festival 23) continued to shine its bright light on yet another of the great beacons of Brum, the colourful, controlled choreographed ‘mayhem’ juxtapositioned with the serenity, yet excitement, of onlookers – from near and far as the free non-stop entertainment went on. The fun and inspiration of the Sonia Sabri Company’s exquisite dance routine, followed by that of the Czech & Slovak Club UK, whose traditional folk songs and dance got everybody involved – despite the rain delays!
The crowd was growing fast as late afternoon turned into early evening and the ‘African Takeover’ saw the Masquerade Zinba Lion Performance, by Yaram Arts, where their lion masquerade dance kept all on their toes as the big beats went on in Centenary Square. So, it was then early evening, and, as part of the University of Birmingham’s Culture Forward initiative, Soul City Arts performed their ‘NOMAD’ at the indoor installation, followed by the Azad Kashmiri Folk Group’s presentation of ‘Sher Kawani was again a great mixed flavour of the arts in the city.
With Drum + Bounce, plus special guests, leading into an evening with the Arabic-led Amerah Saleh: Languages Between Strangers, where Urdu, Ndebele, English and Arabic languages intertwine, B.Fest 23 is, well… you must have caught some of it by now.
Well, if you haven’t yet, then the question is “what’s keeping you?”
