Leap Dance Festival unveils 2024 programme

Leap Dance Festival returns this spring for the first time since the Covid pandemic.

The festival runs from April 26 to May 10, and performances are set to take place in public spaces, theatres and cultural venues across the city including The Black-E, Capstone Theatre and Liverpool Arts Bar.

It opens at the Black-E on Friday, April 26 when the Ooh! La La Cabaret presents an evening of circus, cabaret and burlesque complete with death-defying stunts from worldclass performers.

The festival continues on April 27 with free pop-up performances at National Museums Liverpool sites, while on April 29, Archbishop Blanch hosts a Schools Dance Platform where schools and colleges from across the Liverpool City Region are being invited to mark International Dance Day by sharing performances based on countries and cultures from around the world.

The action moves to the Capstone Theatre on Hope University’s creative campus in Everton on May 2 for the Liverpool Dance Prize., supported by Liverpool Hope and Dance Consortia North West. Emerging artists and choreographers will share new work to compete for a £1,000 development fund.

The Capstone is also the venue for a Youth Dance Showcase on May 4, while the festival returns to the Black-E on the afternoon of May 5 for Dockside Breakers: Boss Breaking, a celebration of hip hop and breakdance culture.

Above: House of Suarez. Top: Higher Education Showcase.

There will be Dancing in the Streets in Liverpool City Centre on Bank Holiday Monday, May 6, a community Celidh at Liverpool Arts Bar in Hope Street on May 7, organised by Soul Rebel CIC, and a triple bill of dance, featuring Rowena Gander, Taciturn and TMV Collective, comes to the Unity Theatre on May 8.

A Higher Education Showcase will be staged at the Capstone Theatre on May 9, and the festival comes to a close on May 10 with House of Suarez vs Leap at the Black-E, where performers from across the festival take to the runway with a range of dances, all hosted by Ricky Beadle Blair.

Leap artistic director Paul Doyle said: “We’re so excited to bring dance to audiences across Liverpool. From Breakdance to Vogue, contemporary to tap, there’s something for everyone.”

Leap Dance Festival takes place from April 26 to May 10 at various venues. More HERE