Greenwich+Docklands International Festival

The Greenwich+Docklands International Festival (GDIF) is a free annual outdoor performing arts festival, which takes place across East (Tower Hamlets) and South East London (Greenwich) every June. GDIF was founded by its Artistic Director Bradley Hemmings as an independent festival in 1996 and is produced by the charitable organisation Greenwich+Docklands Festivals (GDF). The festival organises over 200 performances[1] during 10 days, which are attended by over 80,000 people each year.

Greenwich+Docklands International Festival (GDIF)
LocationRoyal Greenwich Tower Hamlets
Founded1996
Founded byBradley Hemmings MBE
Artistic directorBradley Hemmings MBE
Type of play(s)Multidisciplinary (theatre, dance, music)
Festival dateJune-July
Websitehttp://www.festival.org

Founding
GDIF's Artistic Director Bradley Hemmings and Graeae's Artistic Director Jenny Sealey appointed leading artistic directors for London 2012 Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony (24 June 2011)

The Greenwich+Docklands International Festival was founded by its Artistic Director Bradley Hemmings as an independent festival in 1996. The Festival developed out of the former Greenwich Festival into a cross-river festival.

Hemmings also performed as Co-Artistic Director of the Paralympic Opening Ceremony 2012 in London together with Jenny Sealey from Graeae Theatre Company.[2]

Festival programme

The festival produces site-specific outdoor theatre in public urban spaces in Greenwich and Tower Hamlets. Performances include small to large-scale theatrical and acrobatic shows by national and international artists.[3] GDIF has a tradition of presenting spectacular shows[4] such as Graeae's and La Fura dels Baus' Prometheus Awakes (2012; Spain/UK), Compagnie Off's Les Girafes (2011; France), Free Art's Voala (2010; Spain), Close Act's Pi-Leau (2009; Netherlands), Periplum's and The World Famous's The Bell (2008; UK), Strange Fruit's Absolute Pearl (2007; Australia).

GDIF also features Dancing City, an annual celebration of contemporary dance in the urban environment of Canary Wharf.[5] Dancing City is part of the international Dancing Cities network.

With its productions and commissions the festival highlights the relation between people and places and draws attention to themes such as regeneration, climate change, and social integration.[6][7] GDIF is one of the frontrunners in making outdoor theatre accessible to as many people as possible, including performers and spectators.[8][9] The festival also sets out to re-animate abandoned or neglected urban spaces.[10] An example is the presentation of Frauke Requardt's and David Rosenberg's Motor Show[11] on Greenwich Peninsula in 2012 or Wired Aerial's As The World Tipped in Mile End Park in 2011.

Two of the shows produced for GDIF2012, Prometheus Awakes [12][13] and Crow[14][15][16]) and GDF's production of Close Act's Pi-Leau in Hastings (23 June 2012) were part of the London 2012 Festival, the Cultural Olympiad accompanying the Olympic Games in London.[17] GDIF takes place in Greenwich and Tower Hamlets, both Olympic host boroughs.

Collaborations

The Festival is part of The Greenwich Festivals and Without Walls, and regularly collaborates with various Catalan artistic groups (i.e. La Fura dels Baus (2012), Fet a Ma (2011), Free Art (2010)).

Showcasing outdoor performing arts

Since 2011 the festival also hosts London's annual showcase of outdoor theatre with over 150 national and international delegates attending and up to 40 companies presenting. The list of companies showcasing at GDIF 2012 included:

  • GDIF2012
  • Prometheus Awakes
  • Motor Show
  • Carrousel des Moutons
  • Prometheus Awakes
  • GDIF2011
  • Waiting Game
  • As The World Tipped
  • Les Girafes

Perception (national press)
  • National press describes GDIF as a key arts event in London’s cultural agenda[18] which is widely perceived as an invaluable contribution to the general “happiness" of the people of London.[19]
  • The Sunday Times said that GDIF is the "high-octane 21st-century vengeance" of the Dickensian Greenwich Fair, featuring "heart-stopping circus" and a "whirling, tumbling riot of physical theatre."[20]
  • The Guardian said: "The Greenwich+Docklands International Festival brings so much spectacle to the streets with its nine days of free events you could be forgiven for thinking you're hallucinating."[21]
  • The Telegraph said "reliably engaging and innovative, the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival fuses theatre, dance, art and music to create a ten-day-long cultural spectacular."
  • Time Out said about GDIF2012: “One of London’s greatest free cultural events."[22]
  • A Younger Theatre said about GDIF "this is street theatre at its best: epic, emotive and full of surprises."[23]

Funding

GDF is core funded by The Royal Borough of Greenwich, Tower Hamlets Council and Arts Council England.

Partnerships

Without Walls consortium

Catalan culture

See also

References
  1. "London Events Calendar 2011-2012". The Daily Telegraph. 3 August 2011.
  2. The Wharf, 30 June 2011, "It's up to politicians to make legacy a reality" by Rob Virtue.
  3. The Telegraph, 18 June 2011, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/8581929/Greenwich-Fair-Where-Dickens-let-his-hair-down.html
  4. This is London Magazine, 22 June 2012, "Greenwich+Docklands International Festival", p6.
  5. The City Magazine, 1 June 2012, "The great outdoors".
  6. Cavendish, Dominic (18 June 2011). "Greenwich Fair: Where Dickens let his hair down". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  7. The Independent, 5 July 1997, https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/ringing-the-changes-in-docklands-1248999.html
  8. The Stage, Accessible Theatre is the Bee's Knees, by Sophie Woolley, 14 June 2012
  9. "Review: Greenwich + Docklands International Festival 2012 - disability arts online". www.disabilityartsonline.org.uk.
  10. Spencer, Liese (5 July 1997). "Ringing the Changes in Docklands". GDIF. London: The Independent.
  11. http://vimeo.com/48924662
  12. http://www.festival.org/whatson/1/prometheus-awakes/
  13. BBC Ouch!, 22 June 2012, http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ouch/2012/06/disability_arts_this_weekend_p.html
  14. http://www.festival.org/whatson/2/crow/
  15. The Telegraph, 17 June 2012, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/9334585/War-Horse-puppeteers-breathe-life-into-Ted-Hughes-Crow.html#
  16. London Evening Standard, 21 June 2012, https://www.standard.co.uk/olympics/cultural-olympiad/london-2012-festival--theatres-and-museums-7872414.html
  17. London 2012 Festival Official Guide, May 2012, "Pi-Leau", p79, "Crow", p89, "Prometheus Awakes", p92.
  18. Time Out, 2 June 2011, "Around Town - Greenwich and Docklands International Festival", p43.
  19. Gardener, Lyn (24 June 2008). "Full Circle". GDIF. London: The Guardian. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  20. "British Summer", GDIF, The Sunday Times
  21. The Guardian, The Guide, p36, 25 June 2011.
  22. "Time Out", Explore by DLR 2011, Time Out, 2011
  23. A Younger Theatre, 24 June 2012, http://www.ayoungertheatre.com/review-prometheus-awakes-greenwich-and-docklands-international-festival-graeae-la-fura-dels-baus/

GDIF videos

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