Headline DJs announced for Birmingham Weekender Square Dance.
Headline DJs Craig Charles (6 Music), David Rodigan (1Xtra) and Don Letts (6 Music) invite members of the public to join them on the dance floor as part of Birmingham Weekender’s Square Dance produced in association with the Moseley Folk team from 22nd–24th September in Victoria Square.
Over three days music and dance will take over in the heart of the city on a giant wooden dance floor in front of Birmingham Council House. Hour by hour audiences can experience disco to folk, bhangra to Northern Soul as well as striking Kathakali dancers visiting especially for Weekender from Kerala (India) followed by live music and heavyweight DJs each evening.
Don Letts headlines the Square Dance stage on Friday 22nd September from 7.30pm, the perfect way to start the Birmingham Weekender experience. Don’s reputation has been firmly established in both the film and music world by a substantial body of work from the late 70’s through the 80’s, 90’s and well into the millennium. Don Letts came to notoriety in the late 70’s as the DJ that single handedly turned a whole generation of punks onto Reggae.
1Xtra’s David Rodigan takes the helm on Saturday 23rd September at 8pm. For over 35 years David has been the top dog in the bass heavy-atmosphere of Britain’s reggae dance-halls. He developed an obsession with the music of Jamaica that generated an encyclopaedic knowledge of the island’s every artist, every song and every rhythm track. In February 2013 he joined the BBC to present a new weekly reggae show on Radio 1Xtra.
Sunday 24th September sees Square Dance brought to a close with the legendary actor, host and broadcaster Craig Charles, one of UK’s most beloved funk and soul DJs. From Robot Wars to Red Dwarf, Craig has now grounded himself as a funk and soul icon after 10 years of broadcasting on BBC 6 Music with their primetime Saturday night show.
Gerv Havill of the Moseley Folk Festival said: “Confirmation of such heavyweight headline DJs is fantastic news for Square Dance and Birmingham Weekender. What better way to spend your weekend than dancing on our huge dance floor and enjoying these live DJ sets – and it’s all free!”
If headline DJs aren’t enough, throughout the weekend Square Dance will host live performances from The Electric Swing Circus, Barbara Nice’s Alternative Office Party, Motown in Dub and Cut a Shine.
Free dance classes will take place on the giant wooden dance floor during the whole weekend including Northern Soul Dance classes from the Night Owl, breakdancing with The Break Mission Crew, Barn Dance hoedown with Cut A Shine, Appalachian Flatfoot Dancing, Iyengar Yoga with the Iyengar Institute, Drum ‘n’ Bounce, Capoeira from The Brazilain Cultural Centre, charleston and jazz steps with DanceXchange, Bollytone with Hina Chavda and Rapper Sword Dancing from Stone Monkey.
Refreshments over the weekend will include gourmet street food for all tastes, Purity Real Ales and fine imported lagers, wine, fizz and cocktails by the jug.
Festival Directors Graham Callister (Birmingham Hippodrome) and Piali Ray (Sampad) added: “We are excited that Square Dance will be a hub for the whole Weekender, a place where there is always something to see, listen to and move to and somewhere to re-fuel whilst enjoying live performances before heading back out across the city to find more Weekender fun!”
