Find out what’s on in South Wales this week
Have you ever sat and thought ‘I wish Wales had its own, day long hula hoop convention’? No, me neither, but someone has and it looks like fun anyway. The first ever Welsh Hoop Convention (Jacobs Market, Cardiff, Mon 6 April. Tickets: £45 Full day (includes lunch provided by Penylan Pantry, workshops, skill share and hoop jam / £5-£8 selected drop in workshops, subject to availability) will be a daylong celebration of all things hoop related. There will be workshops from both local and international renowned hula hoop artists, Hoop Jams and Electro–swing hoop sessions with quirky dance collective Kitsch N Sync.
If you’d rather leave the hoop at home, sit back and watch some circus/dance, then there’s plenty of choice this week. International contemporary circus troupe Cirque Éloize return to Wales Millennium Centre with their latest show, Cirkoplis (Cardiff Bay, Wed 8 + Fri 10 Apr. Tickets: £18 – £25). The Metropolis inspired production will use the company’s lengthy list of circus skills to show workers rebelling against monotony and championing individuality.
For some dance this week the award-winning company Gwyn Emberton Dance will be bringing Caradoc Evans’ controversial short-story collection, My People (Taliesin, Swansea, Fri 10 Apr; Borough Theatre, Abergavenny, Wed 29 April; The Riverfront, Newport, Thurs 30 Apr. Tickets: £10-£12 / £6-£10 conc), to the stage. This is a show that will tackle sex, violence, gender politics, social hierarchy and religion.
On the lighter side of dance is the return of Michael Flatley’s Lord Of The Dance: Dangerous Games (St David’s Hall, Cardiff, Tue 7- Sun 12 Apr. Tickets: £33-£43.50). Back in 1998 the original Lord Of The Dance, which depicted the ultimate dance off between good and evil, broke records with its run of 21 consecutive shows at London’s legendary Wembley Arena. This new show promises to keep all the lovable parts of the original show, but jazzed up with new staging, costumes and choreography.
Dance companies aren’t just about looking pretty and making impressive movements, however, some can help you understand your own body better. This week, as part of their Performing Medicine project, Clod Ensemble will be hosting Written In The Body: Peggy Shaw (Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Sat 11 April. Tickets: £5). In the workshop renowned performer Peggy Shaw will use creative writing exercises to encourage participants to find the weird and wonderful stories hidden in their own bodies
You can also learn more about your body by challenging it, and the Chepstow Annual Walking Festival (Thurs 9-Sun 12 Apr. Tickets: £5 single-walk ticket / £10 multi-walk ticket / under 16s free / some events free) is the perfect opportunity to do so with 22 trails for people of all abilities and interests.
It’s not all about the body this week, however, as you can also expand your mind with all the poetry/culture/music/art/comedy at the Laugharne Weekend (Carmarthenshire, Fri 10-Sun 12 Apr. Tickets: £75 weekend / some individual events priced separately). There will be comedy from the likes of Harry Hill and Alexei Sayle, music from Meic Steven and former Sonic Youth singer/ guitarist Thurston Moore, and storytelling from The ‘Bard Of Salford’ Dr John Cooper Clarke.
Storytelling continues as literature lovers put on Pyramid Scheme III (Ivor House, Bridge Street, Cardiff, Fri 10 April. Admissions: free). The line-up of tale tellers includes Half Plus Seven author Dan Tyte, Richard Owain Roberts – writer of All The Places We Lived – and winner of the 2014 The Journey prize for the best Canadian short story from an emerging writer (try putting that on a business card) Tyler Keevil. There will also be music from Sex Disco DJs and craft beer from The Gravity Station.
The mini version of the popular Swn Festival takes places this week as the one-day DimSwn Festival (Various venues, Cardiff, Sat 11 Apr. Tickets: £25 / £12 ages 14-17) sets up. Highlights in the line-up are Mercury Music Prize nominees East India Youth, singer-songwriter Laura Doggett and Welsh rock group Pretty Vicious.
Art lovers can enjoy Michelle Dawson’s new exhibition, Praxis (Elysium Gallery, Swansea, Fri 10 Apr-Sat 2 May. Admission: free). Taken literally, Praxis means ‘‘the process by which a theory, lesson or skill is enacted, embodied or realised’’, and the works on display promise to be the physical embodiment of Dawson’s personal concepts of ritual objects and sacred places.
words RACHEL NURSE