SUMMERTIME AT SOUTHBANK CENTRE: FROM NORDIC BANQUETS AND BALLET TO CIRCUS AND SEA SHANTIES PROGRAMME ANNOUNCEMENT JUNE–AUGUST 2017 Summertime comes to Southbank Centre this June, with the unveiling of a new three month ​ programme across its site- featuring over 40 lively events and spectacles for all ages, from contemporary circus, street performances and world-renowned dance and theatre to pop-up ​ ​ gigs, summer banquets and markets and a Finnish screaming men’s choir. Pop-up: Swedish Folk Song with Akervinda, Circus Cirkor (Photographer: Mattias Edwall), Jeppe Hein's ​ ​ fountain Appearing Rooms (Photographer: Belinda Lawley), Snog Bus (Image Credit: Victor Frankowski), ​ ​ Urban Beach (Image Credit: Victor Frankowski) ​ Southbank Centre’s Summertime programme will showcase free outdoor gigs - with a brand ​ new outdoor festival stage, immersive installations such as the Gnome King, a large-scale ​ ​ ​ wooden sculpture (2.5m x 8.45m x 4.5m), and a feast of food stalls at its riverside marketplace, as well as stellar performances from world-renowned dance and theatre ​ companies. English National Ballet return after nine years with the 40th anniversary of ​ Nureyev’s award-winning production of Romeo and Juliet and English National Opera ​ ​ present a concert staging of Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius in the Royal Festival Hall with ​ ​ concept, design and staging by Lucy Carter and conducted by Simone Young. Summertime explores Nordic arts and culture - as part of Southbank Centre’s continuation of its year-long Nordic Matters programme throughout 2017, with events ranging from a ​ ​ traditional summer Swedish Crayfish Feast long-table banquet on Southbank Centre’s ​ ​ ​ riverside to a new performance by Iceland Dance Company. Sacrifice is the UK premiere of ​ ​ ​ ​ Iceland Dance Company's collection of four brand new creations exploring the relationship between art, religion and rituals by artists Matthew Barney, Erna Ómarsdóttir, Ragnar Kjartansson, Gabríela Friðriksdóttir and Valdimar Johannsson. Circus Cirkör, Scandinavia's ​ ​ leading circus company, will be performing their UK premiere of Limits showcasing colourful ​ Nordic contemporary circus performance. Swedish Folk Group Åkervinda brings a ​ ​ summery pop-up and the Huutajat Finnish screaming men’s choir host a unique workshop ​ as part of Southbank Centre’s Chorus Festival. ​ ​ ​ Southbank Centre will also be incorporating some of its more quirky events in Summertime ​ including Prurience, Christopher Green’s immersive theatre fictional self-help group, ​ ​ researched using interviews from neuroscientists at the Wellcome Collection, Ceilidh Till’ ​ Sundown, and Reggaeoke where the public can take the mic and sing with a live band. ​ ​ ​ ​ Audiences will once again be transported to more exotic climes with Southbank Centre's urban beach and Jeppe Hein's fountain Appearing Rooms, outside the Royal Festival ​ ​ ​ ​ Hall. To celebrate Southbank Centre’s heritage this Summertime, the sculpture The Sunbathers, ​ ​ ​ ​ made for the opening of the Festival of Britain in 1951, will be re-installed and unveiled at Southbank Centre on 5 July 2017. The piece was made by Peter Laszlo Peri, the ​ ​ Hungarian artist who fled Nazi Germany for Britain, becoming a British citizen in 1939. The ​ Sunbathers had been lost for over 50 years but was recently found as a result of a call out by Historic England. ​ ​ There are six themed weekends of Summertime fun from 22 July - 28 August: Tomorrow’s ​ ​ ​ Warriors, British Summertime, Jazz Re:Fest & Live Music Acts, Social Dancing, ​ ​ Nordic Feast - Crayfish Party and Urban, combining the new outdoor music stage and art ​ ​ installations alongside the much-loved Southbank Centre riverside. The marketplace opens ​ from 15 May - 24 September and brings together pop-ups such as The BBQ Club on the ​ ​ Queen’s Walk next to Waterloo Bridge, created by former City worker turned chef Jimmy ​ ​ ​ Garcia, known as the ‘pop-up king’. This will be alongside The Hop Locker (voted Best ​ ​ ​ ​ Bar/Pub for Waterloo and Southwark in the Time Out Love London Awards) which will be ​ selling craft beers and specially imported Nordic beers, as well as Oh My Dog, Bleecker ​ ​ ​ Burgers and the Snog Bus. ​ ​ ​ In events to mark Refugee Week (19-25 June) Southbank Centre partners with ​ Counterpoints Arts across a theme of ‘Different Pasts, Shared Futures’, inviting ​ ​ organisations such as London-based charity Women for Refugee Women and Guardian ​ ​ ​ Award Winners Music Action International, working with refugees and asylum seekers to ​ ​ run workshops for all ages. Highlights of Summertime: ● Cirkus Cirkӧr: Limits - sees Scandinavia's leading contemporary circus company ​ ​ ​ push performance boundaries with their voice as an advocate for crossing boundaries growing stronger in light of the world’s ever-tightening borders, and the consequences that closed borders bring in their wake. ● Iceland Dance Company present the UK premiere of Sacrifice, a collection of four ​ ​ ​ new commanding creations exploring the relationship between art and religion. Inspired by the idea of the ritual as an essential part of life, Sacrifice takes over the ​ ​ Royal Festival Hall space in a celebration of dance, art and music where audiences move from one space to the next, experiencing a different ritual in each place. No ​ Tomorrow, one of four new creations, by performance and visual artist Ragnar ​ ​ Kjartansson and choreographer Margrét Bjarnadóttir, focuses on the idea of youth ​ ​ ​ with a group of dancers with acoustic guitars and music by The National's Bryce ​ Dessner. ​ ● English National Ballet performs the world’s greatest love story, Romeo and Juliet, ​ ​ on the Royal Festival Hall stage, choreographed by Rudolf Nureyev, with ​ ​ Prokofiev’s exhilarating score performed by English National Ballet Philharmonic. ​ This run marks the 40th anniversary of Nureyev’s award-winning production created ​ ​ especially for English National Ballet in 1977 to celebrate the Queen’s Silver Jubilee (1 – 5 August) ● Swedish Crayfish Feasting - Every August, Swedes take to the outdoors for a traditional crayfish party, enjoying the best of their seasonal seafood. This summer, London audiences will be able to join in and enjoy a big banquet feast on Southbank Centre’s riverside, learn Swedish songs and be able to get involved with free crafting to make their own crayfish bib. ● Chorus: Choirs from every Nordic Country including: Huutajat, the Finnish ​ ​ ​ screaming men’s choir will perform as part of Nordic choir pop-ups and will be also hosting a workshop, and Surrounded by Strangers by South Iceland Chamber ​ ​ Choir addresses themes of loneliness and alienation in our increasingly busy, hyper-connected world, through an installation. Audience members are invited to wander through the performance space. ● English National Opera presents a concert-staging of Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius ​ ​ conducted by Simone Young with concept, designs and staging by Lucy Carter - part ​ of their summer season of work at other venues around London ● Prurience by Christopher Green takes us on a witty immersive theatre experience, a fictional self-help group, taking a wry look at how we consume sex and pornography. ● The BBQ Club - London’s pop-up king, Jimmy Garcia, brings his largest and most ​ ambitious residency to date to Southbank Centre. The split-level, riverside Summer eatery promises a walk-up BBQ Club, showcasing gourmet dishes straight from the grill and the more intimate BBQ Club rooftop dining experience, set against the stunning backdrop of London’s River Thames. Bookings via: https://the-bbq-club.designmynight.com/ ​ ● KlangHaus: 800 Breaths - Klanghaus return with their much anticipated new ​ multi-sensory encounter of shifting sound, colour and light, created by art rock band The Neutrinos and visual artist Sal Pittman in Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. Refugee Week (18-25 June 2017) ​ For the third year running, Southbank Centre and Counterpoints Arts come together to celebrate Refugee Week 2017 around the theme of 'Our Shared Future'. ● For the last day of M.I.A’s Meltdown Festival, enjoy bands with stories from ​ ​ around the world in an outdoor afternoon of music. Including Everyday People, an amazing new ensemble for young people brought together by Music Action ​ International partnering up with Brighter Sound and Farhood who fled from Iran in ​ 2011 due to his political activities. His lyrics have a strong foundation in traditional Persian and modern street languages, and Farhood has been working with grime music producers for his live performance set. ● Mobile installation Refugees Welcome, by artist Alketa Xhafa Mripa, explores how ​ ​ a Luton tail lift van is a potent symbol of border crossings braved by refugees. The interior of the van has been revamped with soft furnishings and visuals evoking the ‘British Welcome’, including vintage armchairs, a rug and a coffee table that holds the offer of ‘Tea with a Refugee’. ● Gift Giving: printmaking sessions with young refugees - Artists Afshin Dehkordi and Saeed Taji Farouky collaborate with a group of young refugees and asylum-seekers to give voice to social meaning and demonstrate its loss through basic printmaking techniques. ● Hear Her Sing offers audiences the chance to learn songs inspired by a Hayward Gallery project by artist Charwei Tse, created in collaboration with participants from Women for Refugee Women and women at Yarl's Wood Detention Centre. ● Borderline: A comedy about tragedy Evokes a satire