Kendal’s Mintfest 2010 prepares for lift off

The countdown to Kendal’s Mintfest International Streets Arts Festival from September 2nd to 5th has officially begun with the release of the full line up of this year’s extraordinary performers.

A collection of the world’s most inventive street artists will descend on the town for four days of acrobatics, comedy, dance and mesmerising performances.

Mintfest marks the climax of Lakes Alive’s 2010 programme which brings the world’s best contemporary outdoor performers to Cumbria for a series of incredible and largely free shows.

This year’s headline acts include leading French pyrotechnicians Commandos Percu who will get the festival off to an explosive start in Westmorland County Showground at 8.30pm on Thursday 2nd with an electrifying display of music and fireworks.

Their show Bombs Per Minute starts in darkness to the sound of a ticking clock and bell before the stage erupts in a riot of noise, lights and fireworks. For an hour the skies above Kendal will be filled by a tapestry of scarlet, sapphire and gold flames while drummers pound a thundering beat below.

This beautifully choreographed show questions the relationship between violence and creation and asks us where we can look to find peace in an increasingly violent world.  It starts at 8.30pm and admission will cost £2 with under 11’s free.

Mintfest will also see the UK premiere of Page Blanche (Blank Page) – an exhilarating mix of live music, performance and art that is unlike anything seen in this country before.

Presented by Compagnie Luc Amoros from France, the show will take place in Abbott Hall Courtyard on a giant scaffolded canvas made up of individual squares around which six young singers and artists plus a musician playing double bass and electric guitar come together to create a remarkable visual event.

As they sing along to live music, the artists use almost 300 kilos of paint to fill the canvases with works of art that represent “the mood of the day”.

The result is a celebration of creativity which leaves the audience astonished, elated and with images that continue to resonate long after the scaffold has been dismantled and the paint washed away.

Page Blanche can be seen at 9.30-10.30pm on Friday 3rd, Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th.

Tuig who performed at the opening event of Mintfest 2008 will return with Schraapzucht – a captivating new spectacle that takes audiences to a house deep into the woods for a show full of life and drama.

The focus of the performance is a giant flywheel set in motion by manpower. This generates activity in the house as it goes through the circle of life from stillness to frantic activity and round again.

Fletcher Park is the location for this free performance which will take place on Friday 3rd and Sunday 5th at 9.30pm and on Saturday 4th at 8.30pm.

There’s a mouthwatering new show from Ponten Pie which combines art, food and cabaret in one glorious recipe.

Copacabana invites guests to take their seats at a new restaurant in K Village complete with three cooks. Despite not having enough food to go round, the resourceful chefs try to keep their guests happy in sparkling fashion.

This thoroughly entertaining and imaginative show can be enjoyed on Friday 3rd, Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th at various times. Tickets cost £6 (£4 concessions).

Catalan group Circ Atempo will amaze audiences with their exciting and edgy mix of music, dance and contemporary circus.

In the beautiful setting of Abbott Hall Park, these poetic circus performers will spin, swing and soar through the night using German Wheel, Chinese Pole and Cloud Swing technique to create a graceful and dramatic vision.

Atempo will take place on Friday 3rd September at 8.30pm and Saturday 4th September at 9.30pm. Admission is free.

Truly mesmerising is the only way to describe Akademi’s latest offering. One of Lakes Alive’s 2010 commissions, Sufi: Zen explores two contrasting spiritual philosophies using traditional dance forms.

Dressed all in white, the graceful dancers merge kathak, bharata natyam, contemporary and ballet to create a beautiful and evocative show. The show premiered at Furness Abbey in April and has already toured a number of other leading festivals around the UK.

Sufi: Zen can be seen at Fletcher Park on Friday 3rd and Sunday 5th at 9.30pm and on Saturday 4th at 8.30pm. Admission is free.

This year Mintfest will also take over the whole Kendal throughout the weekend, rather than just the Saturday, with an array of street artists from across the world.

Big crowd pleasers at last year’s Mintfest, Big Rory and Gorgeous Morag are back – and this time they’re planning to tie the knot!

Audiences can join the loved up pair on their stag and hen nights in Kendal’s pubs, watch them doing some last minute shopping on the high street and at K Village and even attend their wedding and reception.

There will be a host of other colourful performances to lift the spirits including the Bread and Theatre Company, who will be presenting their hilarious homage to ballet classics from The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. The dynamic duo will also be performing a show that recreates a 1980’s Sports Day.

Talented contemporary dance company Motionhouse will be performing Cascade, an incredible display of dance, aerial skills and water effects.

Visitors will have a chance to meet the ancient flower woman puppet ‘Busy Lizzy’, carrying her colourful cargo of flowers & foliage.

The Oddlings will perform Mannekino, a comical and surprising tale of Marvin a window-dresser who is having trouble with a new manikin, in which acrobatic tricks are interwoven as part of the story.

Stuff and Things perform will perform two shows including The Keystone Cops.  On the run from law Slippery Jack outwits the Kops with his nimble guile and cunning disguises.  Could those Crazy Kops really be even more stupid than they look?

Mundo Jazz will perform beautifully subtle satires on the likes of Bono and Bob Geldof as well as creating on-the-spot songs and veering off into spontaneous chaos.

On Sunday One Voice Music’s Edun Ara – Bloco de Carnival will see one hundred samba drummers, dancers and flag carriers including local people marching through the streets before arriving at the Brewery Arts Centre for a rousing choir-backed finale.

To find out more information about these events and the many more performances that will make up Mintfest 2010 go to: lakesalive.org