Shock at omission of dance stage from Harbour Festival

Bristol’s dance community has been dealt a major blow after the shock decision not to include any dedicated areas for dance at this year’s Harbour Festival.

It represents a huge loss for the sector that is still reeling from the closure of Bristol Dance Centre on Jacob’s Wells Road but sees thousands of people take part in dance classes across the city every week.

Harbour Festival bosses said that public feedback was behind their decision to remove the dance stage this year and that “dance continues to hold an important place as part of the programming”.

Known as the godmother of the artform in the city, Katy Noakes was integral to the development of a hugely popular dance village at the Harbour Festival, that grew year on year, despite funding difficulties, to encompass multiple performance areas, a stage, participation and dance battle areas, engagement projects, seed and young producer commissions, and artist mentoring.

Noakes said that the lack of a dedicated dance area for the 2023 event is “such a missed opportunity for the city’s dance talent to come together and show everyone exactly why so many professional dance artists started their careers in Bristol”.

Ballet Black at Bristol Harbour Festival – photo: Mark Simmons

Natasha Benjamin is head of Hype Dance Company Bristol, a dance fusion group for performers aged five to 25, many of whom are from low income or disadvantaged backgrounds.

Over the years, the Harbour Festival has afforded Hype dancers a safe place to showcase their talent alongside many professional and international artists and performers, whom they have been able to meet and gain valuable advice and inspiration from.

It has been a life-changing experience for many – and lots of dancers have gone on to become professionals themselves.

“It gives them the reassurance and confidence that if you work hard at your passion, then anything is possible,” Benjamin says.

Corey Baker at Bristol Harbour Festival – photo courtesy of Katy Noakes/WeStaged

RISE Youth Dance, Fence in Millennium Square – photo: Mark Simmons

Director of RISE Youth Dance, Helen Wilson, is in agreement about the instrumental part that the Harbour Festival has played in celebrating and showcasing the dance community over the years.

“It is a wonderful opportunity for the young people to perform to a big audience, and a public audience that may not see dance very much,” she explains.

“It’s so important for them to have these experiences and also makes them feel included and special.”

Stopgap Dance, Billy & Bobby – photo: courtesy of Katy Noakes/WeStaged

This year, in the absence of a dance stage at the Harbour Festival, RISE have been invited to perform on the Circus Playground, alongside Cirque Bijou – and joined by dance students from Hannover, one of Bristol’s twin cities.

But Wilson remains resolute that in order to inspire the next generation of youth dancers in Bristol, bringing the artform back to the festival is hugely important.

“I hope that we can come back to a home stage to dance another year in some way,” she stresses.

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A spokesperson for Bristol Harbour Festival said: “Bristol Harbour Festival is a celebration of Bristol’s culture in all its forms and, like any event, is under cost pressure in 2023.

“We have reduced the number of stages based on the most popular content from last year’s event, in response to public feedback from thousands responding to our public survey.

“Dance continues to hold an important place as part of the programming and we have incorporated some of our most popular dance artists into the new areas of the festival this year.

“We will be reassessing the results after this year’s festival and, of course, we will consider reintroducing a dedicated dance area in some format in the future.”

Main photo: Mark Simmons

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