At the end of July, we kicked off the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. We rocked Victoria Square Live Site with our participatory event ‘Street Games in The Square’ .
Thousands attended our inclusive and accessible afternoon of street games from around the world hosted by Gemma, Hank & Sean. The event included dance music sets from EIF and BSL interpretation. Our special guest, Eko the Sea Giant from ‘Out of the Deep Blue’ even made a few appearances!
We are so very proud of our home city, its creatives and talented people and of ALL of its beautiful communities and residents. Thank you BirminghamCG22 and Outdoor Places Unusual Spaces for trusting us to produce a remarkable and engaging moment!
Special Thanks to the whole team!
About our amazing ‘Street Games’ hosts:
Sean (Sign name – Afternoon) is a British Sign Language user, former professional wrestler. He is a youth worker for Dudley Council and a qualified referee for the Football Association.
Gemma is a professional dancer, dance teacher and choreographer from Birmingham. Her main style includes Contemporary Dance, Traditional African Dance, Soca Dance (representing her Barbadian heritage) and Commercial/Hip Hop. Gemma is passionate about teaching children and passing on her knowledge to the future generations of performers.
Hank is a conceptual artist, experimental choreographer and movement educator from the US. He is pursuing his PhD in choreographic practice research at the Centre for Dance Research (C-DaRE) with Coventry University.
Music provided by eclectic, electronic music producers EIF who have been working out of Birmingham UK for the last decade. In recent years they have had huge successes, as their sought after producing style has captured the hearts and ears of some of the city’s most renowned musicians.
From soundtracks to remixes, art installations to festivals, and their never the same live sets across Europe. Their works include electronica, neo-classical, ambient, electro-acoustic, world music, and often their clean-cut beats and unlikely instrumentation cannot fit into any known genre, yet it is exceptional in its ability to engage and intrigue the listener. Focusing on compositional structures and full frequency productions, EIF’s specialist sound design creates a unique experience.
Thanks to the whole team working behind the scenes: Johnny Autin, Annalise Cowan, Kirsten Tranter, Paulina Ozynska, Jim Clarke, Lucy Mulford & our BSL interpreters: Rachel Tipping & Emma Dunleavy-Dale.
Thanks to all our lovely volunteers: Darren Sharp, Melanie Harris, Abiola Nazarete, Sharda & Vernon Lavingia, Gursheena Nandra, Katie Kelsey, Ashley Wriglesworth, Emma Clifford, Bethan Laura Siddaway, Jasmyne Khara, Lorine Livermore & Brenda Wangari.
Our team, colleagues and volunteers also had the pleasure of appearing on BBC Breakfast.
A huge thank you to our supporters and volunteers for taking part; Angela Lowry, Matthew Peters, Lorien Peters, Owen Fear, Dharmesh Rajput, Shital Rajput, Aum Rajput, Sai Rajput, Sharda Lavingia, Viren Lavingia, George Perez, Gemma Farr, Surbhi Dokania, Ankit Didwania, Antariksh Tiwari, Tristan Aplin, Melanie Harris, Benjamin Morgan, Ann Jones, Isabella Adderley, Adeline Muzinga, Amaris Ntalaja, Manuela Ntalaja, Ronie Muzinga Willet, Jeremie Ntalaja, Nathan Muzinga, Bene Ntalaja.
