Leading Jewish Festival Seeks Performers
Submitted to: Events
Posted: January 22 2007
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22 January 2007 (Jewswire.com) - The hunt is on for top-class performers to take part in next year’s Leeds Jewish International Performing Arts Festival.
The five-day event, due to take place between September 2 and 6, is regarded by performers and critics alike as an Edinburgh fringe style celebration of some of the world’s most up and coming acts.
Critically-acclaimed actors Jeremy Irons, Sir Anthony Sher and Claire Bloom all endorse the festival which is the only one of its kind to take place in Western Europe.
The festival is about celebrating Jewish culture and tradition through music, drama, comedy and dance. Artistes need not be Jewish, but their act must embrace Judaism in some way.
Ellie Ruhan, Festival Director, said: “The festival has grown in popularity each year attracting audiences of thousands and is regarded as a fantastic event within the performing arts world.
“In the past acts have not only been home-grown, such as Los Desterrados and the musical Sophie Tuckers One Night Stand, London, but also come from the USA, Canada, Israel and Latvia. The level of talent has been amazing!
“Next year, we would very much like to showcase more drama as this always proves extremely popular.”
The festival, which is organised by Makor, is held at Leeds’ prestigious Carriageworks Theatre in the city centre and last year attracted an audience of up to 4,000 people.
Whilst Makor is unable to pay performers, it does offer free accommodation and can help with travel expenses.
Ellie added:”The festival has for some acts been a great stepping stone for them and we always encourage artistes to sell their CDs and DVDs, using our stage as a platform to promote themselves.”
Further information about the festival can be obtained from Ellie Ruhan, Festival Director, either by email or telephone. Her email address is ellie@makor.co.uk and her telephone number is 0113 2680899. The festival’s website address is www.leedsjewishfestival.co.uk.
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