Royal Albert Hall event   Due to overwhelming demand the hugely popular TOTEM returns to the Hall in 2012. Tens of thousands were blown away by the record breaking run of shows in 2011 in which the mesmerising Cirque du Soleil displayed a fascinating journey into the evolution of mankind. Inspired by founding myths, this spectacular production traces the journey of the human species from its original amphibian state to its ultimate desire to fly.

A marvelous idea began to take shape in the early 1980’s in Baie-Saint-Paul, a charming village nestled on the north shore of the St-Lawrence River, east of Quebec City. Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul (‘The Stiltwalkers of Baie-Saint-Paul’), a theatre troupe founded by Gilles Ste-Croix, walked on stilts, juggled, danced, breathed fire and played music. These young entertainers, among whom was Cirque du Soleil-founder Guy Laliberté, constantly impressed and intrigued Baie-Saint-Paul’s residents

In 1984, during Quebec’s 450th anniversary celebrations of Jacques Cartier’s discovery of Canada, the province sought an event which would bring the festivities to all Quebecers. Guy Laliberté convinced organisers the answer was a provincial tour of Cirque du Soleil performers and it hasn’t stopped since!
From then on, Cirque du Soleil tale is that of a remarkable bond between artists and spectators from around the world. And it is the latter who feed the sacred fire of Cirque du Soleil.

Cirque du Soleil is a Quebec based company recognized the world over for high-quality, artistic entertainment. Since its dawn in 1984, Cirque du Soleil has constantly sought to evoke the imagination, invoke the senses and provoke the emotions of people around the world.
In 1984, 73 people worked for Cirque du Soleil. Today, the business has  5,000 employees worldwide, including more than 1,300 artists.At the Montreal International Headquarters alone, there are close to 2,000 employees.More than 100 types of occupations can be found at Cirque.The company’s employees and artists represent more than 50 nationalities and speak 25 different languages.More than 100 million spectators have seen a Cirque du Soleil show since 1984.Close to 15 million people will see a Cirque du Soleil show in 2012. Cirque du Soleil hasn’t received any grants from the public or private sectors since 1992

Ever since Cirque du Soleil had the resources to pursue its dreams and perform around the world, it chose to become involved in communities, particularly troubled youths. Concerned with the future, Cirque du Soleil turned its attention and resources to global issues, such as the fight against poverty. Working together with valued partners, Cirque du Soleil is making a difference in nearly 80 communities, in over 20 countries on five continents

Cirque du Soleil wants above all to take its place in society as a good citizen, with all the duties and responsibilities that go with citizenship. Beyond philanthropic gestures, good citizenship consists of an attitude of social responsibility at the very heart of all our business strategies and management.

Show schedules:

15.00 shows        15.30 shows         19.30 shows         20.00 shows
Doors: 14.15          Doors: 14.45          Doors: 18.45          Doors: 19.15
Show: 15.00           Show: 15.30           Show: 19.30          Show: 20.00
Ends: 17.30            Ends: 18.00            Ends: 22.00           Ends: 22.30

Royal Albert Hall –The Imperial Ice Stars, the international ice dance sensation, make a triumphant return to the Royal Albert Hall with a dynamic new staging of their award-winning masterpiece, Swan Lake on Ice, following their acclaimed performance of Cinderella on Ice in 2010. The 26 World, European and National Championship skaters, who between them hold more than 250 competition medals, take contemporary ice dance to a new level with their awe-inspiring and agile feats, some of which are so complex they haven’t yet been named.

Leading ice choreographer Tony Mercer combines daring high-speed leaps, throws and lifts with the most graceful and sublime ice dancing, performed on a specially-created frozen stage. With Tchaikovsky’s glorious and memorable music performed by a live orchestra, this innovative portrayal of the classic love story and the triumph of good over evil will take your breath away.

This never-seen-before performance, specially adapted for the magnificent setting of the Royal Albert Hall, will feature sumptuous costumes, stunning projection, and magical special effects.

Over the last eight years, The Imperial Ice Stars have built up a worldwide following and established an unrivalled reputation for their sophisticated interpretations of classic works, receiving nightly standing ovations and outstanding reviews from Sydney to Singapore and Cape Town to Tokyo. This adrenaline-rich Swan Lake on Ice will bring you to the very edge of your seat…

 London-Hammersmith. NICOLA, New International Company for Live Arts, is a not-for-profit organisation designed to help young artists to improve their skills and help them being recognised in the artistic sphere. In 2009, NICOLA created the Talent Factory, which has a system similar to the X Factor program except that it provides a long term training and marketing/business advices to the selected artists. After organising a really successful showcase last february, NICOLA decided to organise more of those. During one week, the winners of the Talent Factory were gathered with other artists from five other countries: Bulgaria (through Different Vision), France (through French Touch), Holland (through Studio West), Italy (through E Cammurrist) and Poland (through European Meeting Centre – Nowy Staw Foundation).

The Talent Factory Project, Music Connection, funded by the European Commission and the British Council and supported by two celebrities, Sadie Flower and Emmanuel Ray, aimed at bringing people from different countries and background to all come together, learn about the origins and evolution of music and share their passion.

The outcome of the international gathering was shown to us last night at a showcase where all the participants had to perform their own creations which would reflect their own identities and cultural influences.

At the beginning they were still doing the soundcheck, and the atmosphere was exciting standing together with the talent of all the performers. Minutes later there were dancers from the Rio Carnival along with drummers at the door to welcome the spectators and within the room you had a painter painting live. The show started by the “guest” countries performing their creations one after the other.

The music was ranging from RAP to Rock passing by beatbox and A Capella music. After it was the turn of the Nicola Talent Factory artists to perform, and let me tell you something, you can be sure that sooner or later, we are going to buy the CDs and concert tickets of some of those artists.

The last part of the show was all the youngsters coming on stage and singing what they have written during the past week. It was three hours of music, art in a background that was really friendly and welcoming. Despite some sound troubles all the artists were really professional and high-skilled, especially if we think that some of them were only 13 years old.

• http://nicolaforyouth.org/
• http://www.facebook.com/NICOLA.Arts

 The winner of the BP Portrait Award 2011 was announced at the National Portrait Gallery. In a record-breaking year for entries, the prestigious first prize was won by 57-year-old artist Wim Heldens, who has been exhibited twice before in the competition but shortlisted for the first time this year. His winning portrait, Distracted, is a picture of a 25-year-old student the artist has painted 17 times at different stages of his life. 

Wim Heldens wins £25,000 and a commission, at the National Portrait Gallery Trustees’ discretion, worth £4,000. The portrait can be seen at the National Portrait Gallery from Thursday 16 June when the BP Portrait Award 2011 exhibition opens to the public.

The second prize of £8,000 went to Louis Smith for Holly and the third prize of £6,000 to Ian Cumberland for Just to Feel Normal.       

 

There was, also for the fifth time, the BP Young Artist Award of £5,000 for the work of an entrant aged between 18 and 30. This has been won by Sertan Saltan for Mrs Cerna. 

First Prize: Wim Heldens (29.03.54) for Distracted (oil on canvas, 750mm x 550mm)

Wim Heldens is a self-taught, professional artist who lives in Amsterdam and whose work has been seen in numerous group and solo exhibitions in Europe and the United States. He was a BP Portrait Award exhibitor in 2008 and 2010. His sitter is Jeroen, a 25-year-old philosophy student to whom the artist has been a father-figure since he was four. He has sat for him over 20 times, and is pictured here leaning on a section of wall with a pencil in his hand wearing the black and grey of which Heldens says, ‘he only seems to be wearing these days’. The simple white studio walls are used as a framework for his composition, focusing on his sitter in the light from the window. ‘I have been fascinated with painting Jeroen in all stages of life through growing up. Now, he is an intelligent and sensitive young man’.

While he has painted Jeroen many times in group portraits, Heldens says once in a while he has the desire to paint a simple portrait of just him. His 2008 BP Portrait Award-exhibited work La Bohème showed Jeroen with his best friend Jelle, while his other previously exhibited work in the competition, in 2010, was Stationed in Utah a portrait of his partner Eric.

Wim Heldens says: ‘I paint from intuition, always trying to paint that what touches me deepest, but being a painter who is more of a doer than a thinker, it is very hard for me to explain what I try to capture. As Edward Hopper says: “If you could say it in words, there would be no more reason to paint”…..I paint what I “feel” with my eyes and maybe it is for other people then to tell what I have captured’.

Second Prize: Louis Smith (14.08.69) for Holly (oil on canvas, 3640mm x 2430mm)

Louis Smith, from Manchester, studied painting at Sheffield Hallam University and scene painting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He has exhibited in Britain and Italy and at the 2009 BP Portrait Award. His eight-foot portrait shows a naked model called Holly hand-cuffed to a rock in a wild cave-like landscape. The Allegory of Prometheus is re-imagined in female form. Prometheus stole fire from Zeus and give it to mortals; as punishment he was bound to a rock while an eagle ate his liver daily only for it to grow back to be eaten the next day. Holly looks into the eagle’s face with calm resilience, accepting her fate. ‘It’s a message of composure in the face of adversity, something we can all draw strength from in our struggle to make a daily living.’ The portrait has a huge gilt frame with a marble plaque at the base, inscribed with the name ‘Holly’. ‘It’s an extravagant attempt to illuminate the Baroque style,’ says Smith, who was helped with set, frame and background painting by Carmel Said.

Third Prize: Ian Cumberland (16.03.83) for Just to Feel Normal (oil on linen, 1500mm x 1000mm)

Ian Cumberland lives and works in County Down, Northern Ireland. Since graduating in Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Ulster in 2006 he has had a solo exhibition at the Albermarle Gallery in London and has won several awards. Ian’s work is represented in public collections in Ireland. He was a BP Portrait Award exhibitor in 2009. His shortlisted portrait is an enigmatic half-smiling head-and-shoulders study of a friend, who has a tuft of short blond hair and slightly-closed left eye lids perhaps indicating a more melancholy demeanour. ‘This is a painting of a friend whose story is like many others from my generation that have fallen victim to themselves and their preferred habits’, says Cumberland. ‘The title Just to feel Normal refers to his answer when asked why he continues along his chosen path’.

BP Young Artist Award: Sertan Saltan (17.09.82) for Mrs. Cerna (oil on canvas, 410mm x 510mm)  

Born in 1982 in Eskisehir, Turkey, Sertan Saltan now lives and works in Avon, Connecticut (USA), where he is developing a studio. He studied painting at a famous atelier in Istanbul before moving to the United States in 2006 to continue his studies at New York State University where he gained a BFA in Product Design. His sitter Mrs Cerna is the younger sister of a friend in New York City, who is caught glancing at the artist, almost menacingly, in her hair rollers and latex gloves sharpening a large knife. ‘The contrast of knife, gloves and rollers brought both humour and horror to mind’, he says. ‘The animated sharpening of the knives and thoughtful facial expressions were burned into my mind’s eye. I wanted to capture on canvas that moment which allows the viewer to meet this extraordinary woman and experience the richness and complexity of her preparation for Thanksgiving dinner’.

BP TRAVEL AWARD 2011 AND 2010

In addition, The BP Travel Award 2011 winner was also announced last night. The BP Travel Award is an annual award of £5,000, to allow artists to experience working in a different environment on a project related to portraiture.

This year’s award was won by Jo Fraser for her proposal to travel to the Cuzco region of Peru where she will observe the labour-intensive production of textiles in small indigenous communities. She has always been fascinated by the symbolism within the weavings, the methods of creating them, and the historical traditions of the process. Her final piece in oils will be developed from sketches and photographs taken during her visit. Jo receives a bursary of £5,000 to travel to Peru and her final work will be displayed in the BP Portrait Award 2012 exhibition.

The work of the BP Travel Award 2010 winner Paul Beel records the journey he undertook to Corfu to paint a large-scale polyptych of a nudist beach, which portrays the wide range of locals and tourists the artist encountered during a month-long stay on the island. The resulting painting Epic Mirtiotissa, and a video portrait of Paul’s month on Corfu, will be shown in this year’s exhibition.

BP PORTRAIT AWARD 2011 AND BP TRAVEL AWARD 2010

From 16 June until 18 September 2011

Wolfson Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, London

Admission free

Supported by BP

Exhibition Press View: Wednesday 15 June 10am-12pm.

After a record number of entries, four artists were short-listed for the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery, one of the world’s most prestigious art prizes. This year the prize received 2,372 entries, an increase of 196 on last year. For the fifth year, the competition has been open to all aged 18 or over. 55 portraits are selected for the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery.

The Portrait Award, now in its 32nd year at the National Portrait Gallery and 22nd year of sponsorship by BP, is a highly successful annual event aimed at encouraging artists to focus upon, and develop, the theme of painted portraiture within their work.

The competition was judged anonymously from original paintings by this year’s panel:

• Sandy Nairne, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London (Chair)
• Paul Emsley, Artist, BP Portrait Award First Prize Winner 2007
• Jonathan Jones, Art Critic, The Guardian
• Iwona Blazwick OBE, Director, Whitechapel Gallery, London
• Rosie Broadley, Associate Contemporary Curator, National Portrait Gallery, London
• Des Violaris, Director, UK Arts and Culture, BP

Sandy Nairne, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London, says: ‘Wim Heldens has offered a quiet but evocative study as the winning BP portrait. It is an outstanding work in the midst of a truly diverse field of new portraits.’

Des Violaris, Director, UK Arts and Culture, BP, says: ‘This is the 22^nd year that BP has supported this inspiring competition and the creativity and quality of this year’s entries have yet again surprised and delighted us.’

The BP Travel Award was judged by Liz Rideal, Art Resource Developer, National Portrait Gallery, Des Violaris, Director, UK Arts and Culture, BP, and Rosie Broadley, Associate Contemporary Curator, National Portrait Gallery.

EXHIBITION TOUR

After the London run, the exhibition will tour Wolverhampton Art Gallery (from 24 September until 1 November 2011) and Aberdeen Art Gallery (from 12 November 2011 until 21 January 2012).

CATALOGUE

A fully-illustrated catalogue accompanies the exhibition and features an introductory essay by Alison Weir, the author of The Six Wives of Henry VIII and the recent bestseller The Captive Queen. Her new book Mary Boleyn: ‘The Great and Infamous Whore’ is published by Jonathan Cape in October 2011. The BP Portrait Award 2011 book will be published on 16 June 2011, and will include over 55 colour illustrations, price £8.99 (pbk).

BOOK 500 PORTRAITS: THE BP PORTRAIT AWARD

500 Portraits presents a unique selection of some of the most exciting contemporary portraits selected for the National Portrait Gallery’s annual competition from 1990 to 2010. It also features the winners’ commissioned portraits for the National Portrait Gallery including those of Dame Helen Mirren, J K Rowling, Sir Michael Caine, Fiona Shaw, Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Paul Smith and Dame Cicely Saunders.  During the 20 years of the BP Portrait Award covered by the book, over 20,000 artists have entered the prize, which has attracted over three million visitors. This new book brings together some of these portraits in a celebration of our enduring fascination with different human faces. With an introduction by the National Portrait Gallery’s Director Sandy Nairne, 500 Portraits is published in July, price £25 hardback.

FAMILY TRAIL

The National Portrait Gallery has appointed children’s picture book illustrator Jason Chapman to produce drawings for a free family trail and special exhibition labels that will offer a range of creative activities throughout the duration of the BP Portrait Award 2011. Jason’s book Stan and Mabel is out in paperback (Templar Publishing) and there’s a second Stan and Mabel adventure to look forward to in the future. His new book One Kiss, One Hug (Random House) is out in February 2012 www.jasonchapman.co.uk

BP PORTRAIT AWARD: NEXT GENERATION

Inspired by the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, BP Portrait Award: Next Generation is an exciting three-year project opening up free opportunities for 14-19 year-olds to creatively engage with portraiture through the BP Portrait Award. Shelly Woods, one of the UK’s top wheelchair racers and one of BP’s London 2012 athlete ambassadors, will be the star attraction at two Summer Schools where past BP Portrait Award-winning artists will draw and paint with young people from London, including some who have never drawn a portrait or stepped inside a gallery. A series of free Taster Sessions over London 2012 Open Weekend and the new websitewww.npg.org.uk/bpnextgeneration will provide other ways for young people from the five London 2012 Host Boroughs and beyond to get involved.

BP PORTRAIT AWARD 2011 – OVERALL FIGURES

• Total number of entrants                          2,372
• UK Entries                                                1,644    
• International Entries                                 728 

BP PORTRAIT AWARD 2011 – EXHIBITION FIGURES (55 SELECTED FROM TOTAL ENTRY) 

  

• Exhibition entrants 41 or over                  21  
• Exhibition entrants 30 and under             10  
• Exhibition entrants 31 – 40 years             24  
• International artists                                   17  
• Countries represented by artists in Exhibition (other than UK): 

England (33); Wales (1); Scotland (3); Northern Ireland (1); Ireland (1); USA (4); Netherlands (2); Spain (5); Israel (1); Czech Republic (1); Latvia (1); Italy (1); Canada (1);

 

Ascot is commemorating 300 years of racing at the world famous Berkshire venue throughout 2011. Founded by Queen Anne in 1711, Ascot Racecourse has been uniquely synonymous in the sporting and social world with fashion and style coupled with the greatest racing over three centuries.

One of the most visually compelling additions to the Royal Meeting in June, always the centrepiece of the racecourse’s year and the focal point of the tercentenary celebrations, will be the appearance of the ‘Queen Anne’ Rose, honouring the racecourse’s founder.Royal Ascot will have an eighteenth Group race this year as the Hampton Court Stakes has been promoted to Group Three status and that race has now been renamed the Tercentenary Stakes in perpetuity. The first race meeting ever held at Ascot took place on Saturday 11th August 1711.

The inaugural event was Her Majesty’s Plate, worth 100 guineas and open to any horse over the age of six. This race was almost unrecognisable as the fast flat racing we see at modern Ascot. Each of the seven runners had to carry a weight of 12st and all were English Hunters, very different to the sleek thoroughbreds that race today.

Although a Royal Stand dates back to the 1790s, the Royal Enclosure as we know it today was born in 1822 when King George IV commissioned a two storey stand to be built with a surrounding lawn. Access was by Royal invitation only. Three years later in 1825, King George IV also began the annual tradition of the Royal Procession. The King, leading four other coaches with members of the Royal party, drove up the centre of the racecourse in front of the delighted crowds and this has continued to the present day, remaining one of the defining and iconic images of Royal Ascot and of the summer season. The first Royal Procession was instituted by King George IV in 1825 and now takes place on every day of Royal Ascot.

[photo zimbio.com]

The opportunity for everyone to see The Queen and other members of The Royal Family arrive in state in their open carriages and then relaxing with their guests in The Royal Box is part of the unique atmosphere that makes this meeting so special and memorable. Ascot has always played host to famous international figures. But whereas in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries they were most likely to be foreign royalty and international statesmen, in modern times you are equally likely to see some of the biggest names in Hollywood, dressed and styled by some of the leading names in couture fashion.

In 1922 the Times correspondent wrote that “Ascot is notoriously the best place in England to see beautiful women in beautiful clothes,” and as a stunning Sophia Loren so elegantly demonstrated in this exquisite and classic white ensemble, things have remained unchanged ever since.

Today a day at Ascot Racecourse is a chance to watch first class racing whilst also enjoying the unique surroundings and atmosphere of the world’s most famous racecourse – but visitors here have also seen some colourful and surprising sights over the past 300 years. This year, Royal Ascot will host races in the inaugural British Champions Series, a new initiative of 35 flat races held at 10 racecourses across the U.K., culminating in October with British Champions Day, held at Ascot.

hush in Association with Rockfeedback Present The Wave Pictures, Unknown Mortal Orchestra & Special Guest (TBC)

hush returns in 2011 to the Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room on Saturday 9 July. Following a successful run of shows in the room over the past year and a half including the Late Night Jazz gigs, Classical Coffee Mornings and Elgar Comedy series, the Royal Albert Hall has combined with music promoters, webzine and TV/online channel Rockfeedback who have helped curate a fantastic line up that brings together the electric rock of The Wave Pictures, the psychedelic Unknown Mortal Orchestra and a still to be announced act for the next instalment of this popular series.

Continuing the Hall’s commitment to supporting up and coming and breakthrough UK talent, hush in association with RockFeedback offers new artists the opportunity to play the recently renovated 300 capacity Elgar Room whilst also introducing a wider and more diverse audience to the venue.
 

After a sell out show at Scala, The Wave Pictures will top the bill on Saturday 9 July. The Wave Pictures have defiantly trodden their own path, mining the lost essence of British indie. Their 2008 critically lauded debut album, Instant Coffee Baby, was shortlisted for the Guardian New Album Award and featured in many an end of year poll. Consisting of Dave Tattersall, Franic Rozycki and Jonny ‘Huddersfield’ Helm they are fixtures on the live circuit, crisscrossing the UK and Europe on a regular basis and are renowned for their electric performances featuring Tattersall’s blistering guitar solos. Their record label Moshi Moshi have called them ‘the best live band we’ve ever worked with’ and The Guardian have described them as ‘currently conjuring the most gleeful, magnificent pop in town’

Also performing on the night will be the rising talent of Unknown Mortal Orchestra. About to release their debut album on June 26th via Fat Possum Records, their music is playful but accomplished; familiar but ambitiously heading in its own identifiable direction. NME have recently featured the band in their Radar section.  Originating from the USA, Unknown Mortal Orchestra is the brainchild of Oregon resident Ruban Nielson (a former Mint Chicks guitarist) and has subsequently created a sound that mixes glamour, punk and soul.

The hush series preserves the Royal Albert Hall’s status as both an inclusive and accessible venue and one with the versatility to transcend the cultural generations. Having launched in February 2008, hush has seen a succession of emerging artists perform on its stage including Little Boots, Johnny Flynn, Cocknbullkid, Factory Floor, Slow Club, Pete and the Pirates, Peggy Sue, Anna Calvi and O.Children, all to great success.

RockFeedback started in 2000 as Rockfeedback.com – one of the first independent online music magazines in the UK. It has since expanded into live promotion, running gigs around the country but predominately in London, and associating with festivals worldwide as well as broadcasting regular series of its “Rockfeedback Presents….” TV show for Channel 4. Rockfeedback TV also features on various online and video on demand platforms, displaying the same irreverent yet clued-up style that has made its gigs and website such a respected presence on the UK music scene.

Mark Pearse, Programming Executive at the Royal Albert Hall, said ‘As we continue to develop and expand our new programming initiatives in The Elgar Room, we are thrilled to welcome hush back to the Hall in 2011. Since hush launched in 2008 we have provided a platform for numerous emerging young artists such as Johnny Flynn, Anna Calvi & Little Boots and seen them firmly establish their places in the music industry. For this show we have teamed up with Rockfeedback and have lined up a great night of live music’

Tickets are now on sale and are priced at £7.50 – available from www.royalalberthall.com /020 7589 8212.

Doors- 7.30pm. Start time- 8.15pm (one support act still TBC)