Let's dance again

My adopted home area is staging a week of events organised by the county's dance development agency, Northants Dance. Launch of the event is scheduled for this upcoming Monday (June 16) as a prelude to a major, major event at the Royal and Derngate in Northampton (just down the M1 or the line to Euston).

Peter Schaufuss is the Danish dance star (former artistic director of English National Ballet) who in the past ten years has scored huge hits world wide as a choreographer and director of his own acclaimed company, notably in London last year with Satisfaction, a work based round the music of The Rolling Stones.

His new show, the latest of 18, which opens in Northampton on Monday, a Hollywood-themed piece called Divas, again uses songs to spark a look at the work and life of three iconic performers - Edith Piaf (left), Judy Garland and Marlene Dietrich (above). There will be one other performance at Nottingham later in the week before the production heads to London's Apollo Theatre for a season.

My spies tell me I need to brush up on words like dazzling, sensational and poignant for the review I intend to write. I feel like adding that I might need pink as well, but I suspect the PC police would be after me if I did.

The company of 26 includes Peter Schaufuss's son Luke, who is 14, and his wife Zara Deakin takes on the part of Dietrich, while Irina Kolesnikova, a star of the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre gets the Over the Rainbow character.

Royal and Derngate is only one of a wide range of venues which will be staging events throughout the following week. The comprehensive programme features a wide range of dance styles in performance and includes workshops for all ages and abilities. Investigate the full programme at the web address below.

And do yourself a favour by going to the myspace site of 4toMotion dance. They are one of three local companies who'll be performing during the week (website below). On their myspace site (where they pose as a 100-year-old spinster) you'll find your cursor turns into a little ballerina. Brilliant - and hypnotic. The kind of totally pointless and wonderful thing the internet was invented for. I love them already.

www.royalandderngate.co.uk
Box office 01604 624811
www.northantsdanceweek.googlepages.com
or call 01604 233122
www.4tomotion.co.uk