Carnival Bashment at Handsworth Park Hot

TEST The march towards the Olympic Games in Birmingham continues on 16th July with a dance procession called Carnival Bashment in Handsworth Park.

Carnival Bashment will feature a specially created performance developed by Sticky Toffee in schools across Birmingham. It will be presented at Simmerdown Festival as part of a daylong feast of Caribbean culture that includes food, workshops, crafts stalls and performance. The dance will be based on a mash up of carnival dance and dancehall styles from Jamaica.

The park will be full of colour and movement as a dance procession winds around the festival ending up at the main stage where a steel band will be playing. More than one hundred young people from schools in Great Barr, Perry Beeches and Harborne have been rehearsing the performance since April. And for those at the event, there will be plenty of opportunities to join in the procession with carnival mask and dance workshops in what will be a great family day out.

Carnival Bashment is the second stage of Dance Routes - a yearlong series of cutting edge underground dance events produced by Punch to celebrate the Cultural Olympiad.
Punch is running five projects over the next year with each representing one of the five Olympic rings. Carnival Bashment will be the community’s chance to get involved in the build up to the 2012 Olympics, get active and dance.

Carnival Bashment is part of Dancing for the Games which is inspired by London 2012 and part of the Cultural Olympiad in the West Midlands. It has been funded by Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to help build a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as Arts Council England and Advantage West Midlands.

Ammo Talwar, founder and chief executive of Punch, says: “This event is a must for those people interested in dance, music and Caribbean culture. Getting people dancing in the streets is a fantastic way to celebrate Caribbean culture right here in Birmingham and to get the word out that the Olympic Games are coming.”

Naomi Temple, Programme Manager for Dancing for the Games says: “Carnival Bashment is set to be an exciting celebration of Jamaican culture. It’s fantastic that local people and schools are having the opportunity to work with and perform alongside professional artists and through Dancing for the Games connect with London 2012 in their own community.”