Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Students to showcase their creative talents at Lift Off Festival
The festival, which celebrates and showcases the creative talent of students in the University’s School of Film, Music and Performing Arts, will take place in and around both the city and Headingley campuses.
Alexander Kelly, Senior Lecturer in the School of Film, Music & Performing Arts, commented: “The work that our students show at the Lift Off Festival builds on all of their practice and experiences here at Leeds Beckett. The modules that the work comes out of are constructed to allow the students to play to their strengths, but also to encourage them to take risks: to draw on their learning to date, whilst continuing to explore new ground.
“For me Lift Off is so exciting because the point of the Festival is to allow the students to make the work they want to make. So it acts, partly, as an opportunity to take the temperature of our times. These young performance makers are stepping out from their time in the academy and into the world. The work they choose to make at this stage in their lives and careers is a snapshot of their interests and concerns.
“I am looking forward to seeing these pieces reach fruition at the Lift Off Festival, and to seeing where these students go from here.”
Highlights of the festival include:
Music Open Studios, where the University’s 10 professional music studios will be open to the public on Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 May from 10am to 7pm, offering the chance to meet students and see the work they have produces;
A free evening of live music and entertainment at the University’s City Campus Students’ Union on Wednesday 13 May from 7pm, featuring students, staff and recent graduates of the University, including Goodbye Chanel, Treason Kings and Ceiling Demons;
Student film screenings at the Hyde Park Cinema on Wednesday 13 May from 2pm – 6pm;
Performance and dance events taking place at both the City and Headingley campuses as well as Northern Ballet and Yorkshire Dance in the city centre, from Tuesday 12 to Friday 15 May. Performance events include theatre pieces, durational performances, and one-to-one performance encounters and conversations.
Beth Cassani, Senior Lecturer in Dance, added: “Lift Off is the culmination of an intensive period of really creative practice. Students really tussle with taking an idea, a creative curiosity that is personal to them, through a studio-based process. They have the experience of giving creative and compositional shape to their ideas and seeing them come to fruition in performance. This is really exciting for me to watch as I see the choices made demonstrating that they are becoming culturally ‘switched on’ practitioners. They are ready to emerge into the contemporary field as a match for real world expectations and actually give the industry something new to watch out for.”
Events are free however some have limited seating. For more information and to book onto events.