International Dance Festival Birmingham Grand Finale

International Dance Festival Birmingham 19 April to 15 May 2010

The second International Dance Festival Birmingham (IDFB) comes to an end on Saturday, 15 May 2010.

Hundreds of people are expected to take part in the grand finale public event Put Your Foot Down, a large-scale hip-hop dance in St Martin's Square.

Performances and dance demonstrations take place from 12-6.30pm, with the final dance beginning at 6pm.

The closing stage performance of the festival also takes place on Saturday evening - Deborah Colker's Cruel.

Hip-hop star moves

Hundreds of people have already been taught the Put Your Foot Down routine choreographed by French hip-hop star Salah.

The routine is in two parts; one half with simple dance moves and the other half a little more complicated.

Hip-hop star Salah choreographed Put Your Foot Down

One of the moves for the Put Your Foot Down routine is based on washing your clothes and pegging them up.

Choreographer Salah says he wanted to express the energy it takes to wash clothes and incorporate it into a visionary dance move.

Dance tutors have been teaching the routine to people over the past four weeks in the Bullring.

One tutor, Mikael Marso Riviere, also from France, has been living in Birmingham for the past nine years.

"People have been having fun with the dance routine and they are really looking forward to it," he said.

Get the feeling

Marso is also doing a dance routine with disabled students from schools in Birmingham. He has choreographed the dance himself as part of the high achievers project.

Thousands have watched, taken part in, or experience dance with the IDFB

"This event is bringing something positive to the city," he said.

"Dance is about getting a feeling, if you feel good inside, then you're on the right track."

Marso performed at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in 2002.

Since then he has been leading hip-hop classes in Birmingham. He feels the community has really come together through dance.

Into the night

The closing performance of the festival will also take place on Saturday at the Hippodrome - Deborah Colker's Cruel.

Colker's athletic yet graceful dancers perform around an enormous revolving table, throw knives and get entangled in giant revolving mirrors - exploring the different forms that cruelty can take in a relationship.

International dance success

The four week festival began on 19 April, and since then tens of thousands of people have watched, taken part in, or experienced dance in Birmingham and across the West Midlands.

Over 20 countries from six continents were represented at the festival

Performances have happened in theatres, foyers, on the streets, in shops and even on a canal barge.

World-class dancers and companies from across the globe have taken part in the Festival, from Shaolin monks and Ballet Nacional de Cuba, to Mark Morris Dance Group, Strictly Come Dancing - The Professionals and Akram Khan.

The International Dance Festival Birmingham 2010 was produced by DanceXchange and Birmingham Hippodrome.

Over 20 countries from six continents were represented in the festival, funded by Advantage West Midlands, Arts Council England West Midlands and Birmingham City Council.

The International Dance Festival Birmingham is also working in partnership with the West Midlands Culture Programme for London 2012.