Project Profile: All of Birmingham is a Stage

TITLE: All of Birmingham is a Stage Launch
LOCATION: Millennium Point, Birmingham
COLLABORATORS: DanceXchange, IDFB, Birmingham Ormiston Academy
PROJECT TYPE: Design, Event, Fabrication

Students from the Birmingham School of Architecture have been working with DanceXchange on All Of Birmingham Is A Stage as part of the International Dance Festival Birmingham biennial 2014. The project is a place-making initiative that will result in the creation of a performance space in each of the 10 Birmingham districts in time for the next biennial in 2016; taking dance and performance to the heart of each community.

To launch the initiative, DanceXchange hosted a fundraising event at Millennium Point and asked Co.LAB to design a temporary and flexible performance space. The students initiated their design with a number of choreographic workshops, developing their understanding of performing arts as a creative form and the working methods of choreographers and performers alike. This, in turn, informed the student’s own proposals, encapsulating the movement and dynamism of the art.

The proposed design consists of a series of 6 triangulated structures, each with a slightly different geometric assembly expressing the change and rotating position of dancers as they sequence their choreographic piece. The coloured string is added to soften the strong angles and further enhance the sense of movment and fluidity. The structures created a distinctive performance space, with students from the Birmingham Orminston Academy producing a unique performance using the work as their stage. The sculptures are due to travel across a number of the city’s districts to exhibit the collaborative process between architecture and performance; introducing the long-term project to community groups as an important cultural and social asset to the city.