Dance themselves daft

The Urban Moves International Dance Festival is back this month, taking over Castlefield, Exchange Square, St Ann’s Square, Piccadilly Gardens and Piccadilly Station in Manchester and Market Square, Kay Gardens and the Rock in Bury.The festival takes place over three days with professional, contemporary dance performed outdoors against the architectural backdrop of the city and Bury.

During this bicycles will dance in a performance reminiscent of Busby Berkeley’s synchronized film choreography, illustrating the highs and lows of city cycling.

Highlights include Beau Geste from France which features a duet between a dancer and a giant mechanical digger and Etant Donne from France where Aspecto’s shop window in The Triangle comes to life with naughty antics, as dancers send up the word of fashion and the hard sell.

Meanwhile Dancing in the air, from Circo Delicio, perform daring aerial feats in walls and in the air. There’s a journey back in time with local company Resonance Dance performing Forgotten Ghosts, an Urban Moves new commission which includes a taste of romance on the platforms and escalators of Piccadilly Station.

The Bicycle Ballet is a 30 minute dance performance, celebrating the dance of cycling and will take place on Sunday 25 in Castlefield. During this, bicycles will dance in a performance reminiscent of Busby Berkeley’s synchronized film choreography, illustrating the highs and lows of city cycling: the sheer joy of swerving downhill on a bike, the wind behind you and the sun on your face, tempered by the gritty reality of urban cycling.

Urban Moves takes place from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 July. For performance times and a full programme visit www.urbanmovesfestival.co.uk