And The Award Goes To . . .

By Fiona Ferguson on May 26, 08 11:28 AM in Culture

The first International Dance Festival Birmingham is finished - and what a four-week feast it's been! Beginning with tai-chi on water at the Hippodrome and ending last night with the general public salsa-ing at sunset in the Mailbox, the IDFB triumphantly lived up to its own slogan - 'Bringing the city alive with dance'.

Now it's all over, I wish to honour the efforts and achievements of those involved with my very own awards ceremony (you'll be relieved to read that no phoney phone-ins nor he's-a-mate nepotism have in any way affected the resuts):

The Big Lebowski Award for Laid-Back Cool to the Floozie in the Jacuzzi for kickin' back and chillin' out amidst the frenetic street dance of Watch This Space!

RoSPA Award for Safety First Set Design to Saburo Teshigawara & KARAS in Glass - Fragments of Time for a dance floor covered with 1.5 tonnes of broken glass

Salvador Dali Award for Surreal Headwear to Robyn Orlin & City Theater And Dance Group in We Must Eat Our Lollipops With The Wrappers On for over-inflated condoms with smiley faces

Royal Orthopaedic Hospital Award for Bone-Crunching Sound Effects to Bare Bones in Action for nausea-inducing cracks and crunches on the 'Magnification' soundtrack

Dolmio Award for Best Pasta Impression to Alina Somova of the Kirov Ballet in Jewels for legs as lithe as cooked spaghetti

I'm grateful to the IDFB for two things. Not only have I seen extraordinary dance from all over the world, but I've been introduced to extraordinary dance right here under my nose in the Midlands.

Whenever I next notice ACE Dance & Music or Bare Bones on the bill, I'll be there like a shot - and if 2FaCeD DaNcE Company so much as cross the road I want to be there to see it (they get a special mention in 'The World Is My Dance Floor' category; who'd have thought a paving slab could be such a thrilling performance space?).

Please, IDFB, we want some more. Roll on 2010!

Claire Boot