The season includes two Premieres and a welcome return of some of the best UK and international choreographic talent, plus the opportunity to see some of the best youth talent in the West Midlands.

Lucie Mirkova, Head of Artistic Programmes at DanceXchange said: “It is wonderful to start 2022 by inviting audiences to The Patrick Studio for our new performance season which includes both a UK and a World Premiere. Our programme celebrates the resilience of the dance sector over the last two years as we move forward with creativity and optimism, featuring work from both established and up and coming choreographers. After such a difficult time for so many we are delighted to continue to welcome both artists and our audiences to the theatre.”

The performance season launches on 10th February with the UK premiere of Léa Tirabasso’s Starving Dingoes as five dancers race to explore the vital necessity to stay together to survive. Tirabasso plunges the audience into the dreamworld of childhood – that of regained freedom, poetry, brutality and violence. Observing both the smallness and the depth of humanity without pretence, forgetting time and simply quenching the hunger for life.

Returning to The Patrick Studio, Alexander Whitley Company presents Overflow on 2nd March. Overflow considers how our desires, fantasies and vulnerabilities are powerfully influenced by social media platforms, exploring what lurks beneath our compulsions to check, share and like.

Choreographer Alexander Whitley has developed a reputation for his bold, interdisciplinary approach, producing innovative and thought-provoking productions, and is known for his ground-breaking use of digital technology. With intricate choreography this atmospheric work features a dazzling kinetic light sculpture created by Children of the Light and programmed by creative technologists Luca Biada. The costumes and 3D printed masks are inspired by facial recognition technology and music producer Rival Consoles has created an exhilarating score incorporating samples from digital platforms.

On 22 March DanceXchange, in partnership with Artists 4 Artists and The Place, present a World Premiere double bill from O’Driscoll Collective & Yami Löfvenberg. One to watch in the Hip Hop dance theatre scene, choreographer Jamaal O’Driscoll uses his signature Breakin’ style to explore themes of toxic masculinity in Crabs in a Barrel. The piece brings together male dancers from a range of movement specialisms, alongside spoken word inspired by research and interviews with black creatives in the Midlands.

Hip Hop dance theatre maker Yami Löfvenberg presents Happyendingfication, an autobiographical solo uncovering the marginalised conversation around the impacts of being an adult adoptee. The piece explores trauma, stigmatization, identity, and the media’s damaging portrayal of adoption. Löfvenberg’s work often tackles hard-hitting subjects with a thought-provoking darkly comedic lens, using multidisciplinary artforms.

The season concludes with U.Dance WM, presented by DanceXchange in association with One Dance UK on 27th March. Expect an evening full of vibrant and exciting dance genres and themes performed by some of the best young talent from across the West Midlands. Selected dancers and companies will be offered the opportunity to perform in the national U.Dance festival later in the year.

Following on from this programme, DanceXchange will be producing Birmingham International Dance Festival which begins on 17th June and runs until 3rd July. The festival will this year be part of Birmingham Festival 2022, the cultural programme designed to harness the moment of the Commonwealth Games to shine a spotlight on the region’s cultural sector.