The Stage

Street arts consortium wins £400,000 ACE grant

Published Thursday 14 May 2009 at 12:41 by Lalayn Baluch

Without Walls, a consortium of the country’s eight main street arts festivals, has been awarded with an Arts Council England grant of almost £400,000 to commission and present new work.

The cash, awarded by ACE for the third consecutive year, will be used to support new productions by the Mancunian Steam & Pressure Navigation Company, Balletboyz II, Marc Brew Company, StopGAP, NoFit State Circus, Metro Boulot Dodo and Punchdrunk.

Without Walls - which was set up in 2006 to help develop the landscape for outdoor performance in the UK - will also back tours of shows by Bootworks and Fittings Multi Media.

The first commission to be presented will be Galvonium by Mancunian Steam & Pressure Navigation Company, which will open at the Castles in the Air festival in Penrith, Cumbria on May 25.

Manchester’s X.TRAX festival is set to host the premieres of the Balletboyz II’s The Laws of Motion, performed by a quartet of the company’s new dancers, a dance theatre piece by Punchdrunk called The House That Jack Built, and Metro Boulot Dodo’s Hansel and Gretel.

StopGAP’s Tracking and Marc Brew Company’s work Nocturne will be staged at the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival, while NoFit State Circus will present latest work Park Life at Stockton International Riverside Festival.

Mark Mulqueen, ACE, North East head of performing arts and literature, said that Without Walls had made a significant impact on outdoor arts in England.

He added: “The quality and diversity of the productions has engaged and enthralled audiences from across the country. The commitment and integrity of the Without Walls consortium in developing accessible high quality outdoor events is highly commendable.”