City of London Festival

Posted on March 29, 2011

The City of London Festival has announced its programme of music, dance, talks, poetry and other events, taking place throughout the square mile of the City.

This year’s festival focuses on arts from Australasia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. There are two dance events. At 10pm on June 27, the Guildhall Yard hosts Dusk Chorus. This is a natural soundscape of Australian birdsong and wildlife by David Lumsdaine and Craig Vear, with choreography by Rachel Lopez de la Nieta.

From July 14–16, the Royal New Zealand Ballet will dance From Here to There at the Barbican Theatre. This is a triple bill of Banderillero by Javier De Frutos, A Song in the Dark by Andrew Simmons and Plan to A by Jorma Elo.

There are also many free outdoor events, including the world premiere of Liminal’s Organ of Corti, a four-metre tall installation of transparent sonic crystals that absorbs traffic noise and turns it into music. In Waka on the Thames, an ornate Maori war canoe is crewed by 16 Maoris from New Zealand’s Toi Maori and London’s Ngati Ranana communities, while Luke Jerram’s Play Me I’m Yours street pianos will be popping up around the City.

The City of London Festival runs from June 26–July 16. See www.colf.org for more information, or call the box office on 0845 120 7502.

Zoe Anderson

Zoë was born in Edinburgh, and saw her first dance performances at the Festival there. She is the dance critic of The Independent, and has also written for The Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman and Dancing Times. In 2002, she received her doctorate from the University of York for a thesis on “Nationhood and epic romance: Ariosto, Sidney, Spenser”. She is the author of The Royal Ballet: 75 Years and The Ballet Lover’s Companion.