Saturday April 29th will see celebrations for International Dance Day take place across the world – with Liverpool putting its best feet forward!
This year MDI (Merseyside Dance Initiative) will bring the streets of Liverpool alive in a celebration of the life and music of Lord Woodbine, Trinidadian calypsonian and early mentor to The Beatles.
Lord Woodbine, who came to the UK in 1948 on the MV Empire Windrush, brought calypso culture with him as a performer and musician, before meeting The Beatles in the late 1950s while they were still known as the Silver Beetles.
He was one of their earliest promoters, with Alan Williams of the Jacaranda club, and was key in arranging their defining first trip to Hamburg in 1960, performing alongside them.
This year MDI will celebrate his life and music through the influence that Trinidadian dance and culture and the music of calypso has had on our own culture here in the UK.
With its rich mix of cultures, dancing in Trinidad and other Caribbean Islands is the added spice to their music. Soca, Bele, Merengue and African Dance are just a few of the styles that can be seen today across the Caribbean Islands.
Pop up performances and flash mobs will liven up the city all day on Saturday 29th April – look out for our performances in shop windows and other places of interest in Liverpool.
We will kick off the day with an open workshop in St John’s Market from 12.00pm to 1.00pm. The workshop will be led by choreographer and dance artist Andrea Queens, and will create a performance routine that will be performed publicly later in the day.
Dance performances will spring up in Williamson Square from 1.00pm to 3.00pm
Groups and artists performing on the day include:
FELIX OLOGBOSERE, CHINA PEARL, 50 MOVES, JADA DANCE, LEAP INTERN DANCE Co, MERSEYSIDE YOUTH DANCE Co. (MYDC), KAOS KIDS, ADRIANNA CZACHOROWSKA and RIDDIM N ROOTS.