Arts & Culture
Two free opportunities to see great dance in Oxford this July

Dancin’ Oxford’s annual summer dance festival kicks off with a Global Dance Stage at the Cowley Road Carnival on 1 July.

Located at Manzil Gardens, it showcases the huge variety of great dance Oxford has to offer from Street Dance to Bollywood, African to Tribal Belly Dance and is perfect for all ages.

With 20 dance groups performing , from 12.30pm – 4.45pm, there’s a whole lotta dance going on.

Dancin’ on the Green, the main summer event, is held on the large dance stage in Gloucester Green on Saturday 14 July. This free dance afternoon is seated, though not ticketed, so people can pop along whenever they like and stay for as long as they want.  In addition to the performances the square will be bordered with stalls featuring food from around the globe and plenty of picnic seating.  There will be three professional companies plus two Zumba sessions with George Martini and several youth street dance companies from Oxford.

James Wilton Dance, the headline company from 2017, which left audiences breathless with its daring blend of dance styles.

This year, in The Storm, audiences can expect Wilton’s trademark high energy physicality, drawing influence from martial arts, break dance, capoeira, acrobatics and even circus to create contemporary dance that is boundary pushing, as well as accessible, inspiring and engaging for audiences.

Sole Rebel Tap’s  Blues and Shoes is a duet between a musician/singer and dancer combining their love for the blues, song, and tap dance. It creates stories though music, dance and theatre creating an uplifting show for all ages and audiences.

Exception Elle’s powerful break dance performance, Back to the Old Skool! will take audiences back to the roots of hip hop with music from the eighties, and choreography that includes old skool social dance mixed with breakdance moves.

Claire Thompson. Founder of Dancin’ Oxford said, “These two outdoor events always create  great atmospheres and often get audiences on their feet joining in. I am so pleased we have James Wilton returning to Gloucester Green, as his show last year was one of the highlights of the dance year.  It’s important to us that we also feature local dance companies and this year we have best youth dance crews Oxford has to offer, including The M Word, Messy Jam Dance Company, Step2Dance and Mini Professionals Dance Academy appearing in Dancin’ on the Green.”

ODF Presents…

Old Fire Station on Saturday 14 July at 7.30pm

This eclectic, exciting and mesmerising evening of new works (in-progress) features 5 dance makers from Oxfordshire- Ajos Dance Company, Scarlett Tuner and Segolene Tarte.

Dance, movement, music, storytelling and the spoken word will feature in the work supported by Oxford Dance Forum.

Tickets: £10, discounts £8 from www.oldfirestation.org.uk & 01865 263 990

  • Two free opportunities to see great dance in Oxford this July
  • Two free opportunities to see great dance in Oxford this July