WE Wonder Festival Rotherham returns to Wentworth Woodhouse on 28th August, it will be a feast of surprise and delight, inspired by Grayson Perry’s The Vanity of Small Differences exhibition, using art and music to celebrate local voices, stories and heritage.
WE Wonder Summer will be a feast of colour, surprise and delight that celebrates Rotherham’s richly diverse communities. Taking over the grounds of Wentworth Woodhouse on Monday 28th August, 11-5pm spend all day exploring, listening, creating, dancing, and sharing food together.
Amazing outdoor performances will be on show, including ‘Mughal Miniatures’ from Sonia Sabri company – a vibrant outdoor performance event for all the family, which celebrates and takes inspiration from the exquisite traditional art of Indian and Persian miniature painting. You’ll be invited to step back in time and dance as if no one is watching in the monsoon; to tame a cheeky peacock; to hunt in the forest; and to join in the procession of noble elephants.
Theatre Temoin’s ‘FLOOD’, an interactive outdoor spectacle using circus, music and acrobatics, takes you on an epic adventure to understand how our coastline and communities have become ‘seasick’. Standing under your own personalised ‘sound umbrella’, FLOOD will take you far beyond your front door and into the eye of the storm. Flood is watery acrobatic adventure that makes a splash (literally).
Showcasing the extraordinary talents of 3 majestic birds of prey guided by their expert handler Kevin Tickle, prepare to belly laugh through the raucous ride that is ‘Falconry Dismay’ by Dizzy O Dare. Anarchic, wild and….educational? Experience the breath-taking flying displays of these majestic Birds, showcasing their unique behaviours, personalities and flying techniques.
Rajasthani Brass Band bring a mix of Rajasthani folk songs, Bollywood hits, spiritual qawwali, Bhangra beats. sci-fi and intergalactic funk and even some well-loved pop songs! Hot Dinners will be roaming the festival cooking up a tasty selection of ska, calypso, reggae, and rock ‘n’ roll tunes. You’ll be up and dancing alongside local dhol drummer Heera Singh and Sunrit Culture will be showcasing Indian classical dances.
Be amazed as six striking dancers collide in an uplifting dance riot accompanied by especially composed original music by Hannah Miller and Oli Austin of Moulettes. In this quirky dance piece, FROCK by Stopgap Dance you’ll watch playful observations of the yesteryears explode into a ‘punkish’ celebration of individuality and difference.
Take time out in the festival to pause, reflect and connect to the beautiful surroundings of Wentworth’s gardens, with Balbir Singh Dance Company in Raastay.
There are heaps of workshops and making opportunities for all the family, from calligraphy, to Pakistani Truck Art to nature inspired Kashmiri flower egg painting.
The festival will offer lots of opportunities to play games as a family- with giant chess, hula hooping and a cricket pitch perfect for dibbly dobbly bowlers, googlies and ducks!
The festival is a collaboration between artists and global majority-led and disability-led community groups making textile pieces with artists from WILD Rumpus that will adorn huge fabric obelisks to reference the original stone ones that once stood on the lawns of Wentworth Woodhouse and decorations to fill the site: a joyous backdrop to a mass picnic.
‘As well as being a wonderful day out for the family with the very best of street theatre and dance that the UK has to offer, this event is very much about empowering global majority communities and D/deaf and disabled people to have a voice in local arts provision. We want people to challenge perceptions of where they think they belong and break down barriers, feeling as much at home in an English stately home as in their local bazaar or community hall. We hope that visitors will enjoy their communal spaces as one community enriched by difference and inclusive to all.’
Sophie Akhbar, creative producer for We Wonder Festival 2023
Find out more here: https://wentworthwoodhouse.org.uk/whats-on/we-wonder-colour/
