About the 2010 Festival

Stories, wonder and magic were the order of the day in the 8th Spark Festival. Stories told with dance, music, painting and sculpture, and of course with puppetry of all kinds and theatre.

Stories of real people- like Little Leap Forward, the boy from Beijing - and of fantastical beings - like Olga Volt - The Electric Fairy; minature stories like those in Small Worlds at Knighton Fields Centre, or great adventures with the brilliant and rollicking Treasure Island at Loughborough Town Hall.

There was plenty to join in with this year, for children who like to get up and do - make musical instruments, sing in a choir, join the traditional dance of the Afro-Ceilidh, create new dance in Igniting Hip Hop or try their hand at sculpture or performance poetry.

We were delighted to welcome Horse + Bamboo, Oily Cart, Wee Stories, Mimika Theatre, Travelling Light & Sixth Sense, Banyan Theatre and Long Nose Puppets, and many other companies and performers.

The 20201 festival presented 144 events over 14 days, by 24 companies. We presented in 7 professional venues, 15 community venues and took 38 performances and 8 workshops to 20 schools in Leicester and Leicestershire. Our total attendance for the festival was 14,545.

The programme had a special focus on work for Early Years and included 3 companies from Europe who specialise in dance or theatre for under 4s [La Baracca, Teatro all'improviso and Nat Gras]. We were also able to run a complementary CPD course for local arts practitioners and nursery educators to explore working with Early Years performance technciques, which we hope to expand on in 2011.

Boka Halat present:

Afro Ceilidh

World Music for 8+ years

The Spark Festival:

Aylestone Meadows Naming Ceremony

Participate - Creative Play for All ages

De Montfort Hall and The Spark present:

Babyfest 2010

Participate - Creative Play for Strictly 0-4 years

Travelling Light Theatre Company and Sixth Sense Theatre for Young People present:

Bob, the Man on the Moon

Theatre for 3-7 years

Phoenix Square in association with The Spark Festival present:

Body Paint

Participate - Visual Arts for 5+

The Spark Festival:

Braunstone Park Naming Ceremony

Participate - Creative Play for All ages

The City Gallery present:

Catch the Breeze

Participate - Visual Arts for 5+ years

Oily Cart present:

Drum

Multi Sensory Theatre for 6 months to 2 years

Blunderbus Theatre Company present:

Elmer the Elephant

Theatre for 4 - 7 years

Phoenix Square in association with The Spark Festival present:

Free All Monsters

Participate - Visual Arts for 5+

The City Gallery present:

Fruity Fun

Participate - Visual Arts for 5+ years

DanceXchange and two's company Dance Management present:

Funny Bones

Dance for 5+ (KS1 & 2)

2Funky Arts in association with The Spark and Dance4 present:

Igniting Hip Hop

Dance for 6+ years

The Spark Festival present:

In Conversation

Adult event for Adults only

Victor Scott presents:

Junk 4 Funk [1]

Participate - Music for 5 - 10 years

Victor Scott presents:

Junk 4 Funk [2]

Participate - Music for 10+ years

Spoon Tree Productions, Australia, present:

LaLaLuna

Physical Theatre for 5+ years

Horse + Bamboo Theatre present:

Little Leap Forward

Theatre for 8+ years

Leicester Cathedral present:

Lost in Song - Performance

Music for 7+ years

Leicester Cathedral present:

Lost in Song - Rehearsal

Participate - Music for 7+ years

Windswept and Interesting present:

Modern Cautionary Tales for Children II

Spoken Word for 4+ years

Boka Halat:

Musical Melting Pot

Music for 7+ and families

De Montfort Hall present:

New Walk Genie Trail

Participate for 7+ years

Shona Reppe Puppets present:

Olga Volt - The Electric Fairy

Puppetry for 7+ years

Calvin Kaminsky:

Once Upon a Park

Storytelling for 5+ years

Long Nose Puppets present:

Penguin

Puppetry for 3 - 5 years

The Spark Festival present:

Playtime Picnics [1]

Participate - Creative Play for 5+ years

The Spark Festival presents:

Playtime Picnics [2]

Participate - Creative Play for Pre-school

Phoenix Square in association with The Spark Festival present:

Portable Pixel Playground

Participate - Visual Arts for 5+

Banyan Theatre Company present:

Princess and the Pea

Puppetry for 2-5 years

The Spark Festival:

Puppet Making Workshops

Participate - Visual Arts for All ages

The Spark Festival:

Puppetry Aplenty - Brochure Launch Day

Puppetry for All ages and families

Curve present:

Puppetry Theatre Day

Participate - Visual Arts for 7+ years

The Spark and Cross Corners Community Arts Centre present:

Say it with Sculpture

Participate - Visual Arts for 5+ years

Nat Gras, Belgium, present:

Sheeptight!

Dance for 2-4 years

Mimika Theatre present:

Small Worlds

Puppetry for 5 - 11 (KS1 & KS2)

Leicester University presents:

Spark Soundbite

Music for 4 - 7 years

Apples & Snakes present:

Spin [1]

Spoken Word for 4 - 7 years

Apples & Snakes present:

Spin [2]

Spoken Word for 8+ years

Blunderbus Theatre Company present:

The Dragon's Daughter

Theatre for 4 - 7 years

Kenny Wax Ltd & Nick Brooke Ltd present a Tall Stories production of:

The Gruffalo

Theatre for 4+ years

The Fairyland Trust present:

The Queen of the Fairies

Storytelling for 3 - 7 years

Teatro all'improvviso, Italy, present:

The Seasons of Pallina

Visual Theatre for 2-8 years

Treasure Trove Puppet Company:

The Story of the Willow Pattern Plate

Puppetry for 4+ years

Midlands University Drama [MUD] present:

The Strange and Fantastical Journey of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Promenade Theatre for 5+ years

Multi Story present:

The Twelve Wild Ducks

Theatre for KS 1 & 2

Wee Stories:

Treasure Island

Theatre for 8+ years

Curve presents:

Turned on its Head

Participate for 18 months - 4 years

Metro-Boulot-Dodo present:

Whispers from a Rickshaw

Theatre for 7+ years