Film maker Daniel Alexander, rapper Lady Sanity and choreographer Rosie Kay are the first artists to be announced taking part in Birmingham’s handover ceremony performed live at the Carrara Stadium, Gold Coast, Australia.
With a global televised audience of one billion people, Birmingham rapper Lady Sanity will be heading out to Australia to perform, Rosie Kay will be choreographing a mass participation dance in Birmingham televised live and Daniel Alexander will be making a film showcasing Birmingham to the rest of the world.
Birmingham 2022 Games Partners Culture Central are calling for 2,022 young people aged 16-25 years to be part of the mass participation dance. Birmingham 2022 Games Partners have appointed Culture Central, the development organisation for culture in the Birmingham city region, to produce the city’s element of the Flag Handover Ceremony. Culture Central, working with Birmingham Hippodrome, will work with young artists from across the city to celebrate Birmingham’s status as one of the youngest and most diverse cities in the UK.
Describing it as every project she has ever done rolled into one, Rosie Kay said: “We are definitely looking for people who want to move but you don’t have to be a dancer, just a willingness to get involved and able to move and enjoy it. We want people from all different backgrounds and abilities.”
Lady Sanity from Erdington has been a rising star in Birmingham with her rap career. “I am more than excited about going over to perform in Australia,” she said. “I’ve never been that far out before and it is so crazy. I don’t think it has quite hit me yet. Maybe when I am on the plane I’ll realise that I am going out to do it. It will be a great platform for, of course, myself but mainly for Birmingham and Birmingham creatives.”
Film-maker Daniel Alexander, from Oldbury is going to be capturing the heart of the city in his short film that will feature in the handover ceremony. “I am making a film that is going to showcase what Birmingham is about so the main focus of the film is to give people an insight into exactly who we are outside the obvious like the Bullring, the bull, city centre and the hustle and bustle,” he said.
“I really want to focus on the real people of Birmingham and what makes the city so diverse, the youth culture and the energy that is here. It is a little bit scary but I am going to focus on the most truthful thing about the city which is the people. It is going to be energetic, very young, very fast moving and very new. I just want it to just have a new lens and feel different to anything people have seen in the past.”
The Birmingham 2022 handover ceremony at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony will take place on the 15 April 2018 and televised live across the world.
Backing #Birmingham2022
How you can support Birmingham 2022:
Follow them on Twitter (@birminghamcg22)
Like them on Facebook (Birmingham2022)
Join in the conversation (#Birmingham2022)
For further information visit their website (www.birmingham2022.com)
