'WALTZ TO THE MAMBO', LOOPS AND BREAKS and WAITING Set for BEST OF BE FESTIVAL Tour This Autumn

For the fourth year, the highlights of Birmingham's European festival will be coming to London's Barbican Centre ahead of touring the UK and Madrid, introducing three of Europe's most exciting emerging theatre companies to London audiences. BE festival places a strong emphasis on collaboration, participation and exchange, and each of the pieces presented has been selected for their capacity to transcend cultural and linguistic boundaries. All performances throughout the tour will conclude with post-show discussions and each show will feature an extended dinner interval where the audience can talk with the performers.

From Hungary, Radioballet's From the Waltz to the Mambo won the award for Best Individual Performer (Milaìn Uìjvaìri) at BE FESTIVAL, a 1960's Hungarian ballroom dance manual becomes a tool to explore dogmas surrounding beauty and education. From Austria, Julia Schwarzbach's Loops and Breaks puts the audience in the spotlight as she instructs them with phrases and language specific to each venue, inspired by overheard conversations in each area. Finally, winner of the ACT Arriaga International Touring Prize Waiting by Mokhallad Rasem from Belgium/Iraq is a meditation through film, movement, art and sound on the human experience of waiting.

BE FESTIVAL Co-Director Miguel Oyarzun said: "These three shows were all huge hits with this year's BE FESTIVAL crowd in Birmingham, and were recognized by the jury. We are delighted that once again the Barbican will launch our tour, and that audiences across the UK and in Spain will have the chance to sample some of the best new theatre being made on the continent. The tour offers a chance to experience the unique flavour of BE in an entertaining evening which showcases daring and unforgettable international theatre in a passionate atmosphere of debate and exchange. We are especially pleased to have four new partners as part of this year's tour: Circomedia in Bristol, HOME in Manchester, the Atkinson in Southport and the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh."

At a time when conflict and discrimination in Europe is so often in the news, BE FESTIVAL aims to build meaningful connections between artists and audiences from a diverse range of backgrounds, bringing people together in unique and imaginative ways. Acknowledging racial and cultural tensions, the festival hopes to recognize the shared values and experiences that unite people from across Europe, while providing space to debate the existing problems and the potential future of the continent.

This year's Best of BE FESTIVAL tour programme in full:

Radioballet (Hungary) | From the Waltz to the Mambo

*Winner* Best Individual Performer

A single performer uses a 1960's Hungarian ballroom dance manual as a tool for questioning today's dogmas surrounding beauty and education

A disarmingly personal and direct performance by Milaìn Uìjvaìri combining humour, a vintage text and awe-inspiring physical feats in a virtuoso dance solo. Radioballet is a Hungarian dance company made up of artists Bea Eyued and Milaìn Uìjvaìri.

Julia Schwarzbach (Austria) | Loops and Breaks

The audience becomes the performers by responding to a series of shifting instructions

The stage expands to become a blur of watching and performing, interpretation, cooperation and play, where everyone can join the game of finding common ground together, and where every contribution is precious. Since studying at Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance and Roehampton University, London, Julia Schwarzbach has worked with choreographers including Sasha Waltz, Rosalind Crisp, Ted Stoffer and Mia Lawrence. She is a member of tanz_house, a Salzburg-based platform for choreography.

Mokhallad Rasem (Belgium) | Waiting

*Winner* ACT Arriaga International Touring Prize

Film, performance and sound in a meditation on the human experience of waiting

A haunting meditation on the human experience of waiting; for a bus, for a kiss from a loved one, for a visa, for a future not yet begun. A visually powerful collage of film, performance and sound. Mokhallad Rasem worked at the National Theatre of Iraq before the war changed the course of his life. Now resident director at Toneelhuis in Antwerp, Belgium, he won the 2013 Young Director's award at the Saltzburger Festspiele for Romeo & Juliet.

For more information, visit www.befestival.org, or follow on Twitter: @befestival #BEfest14. Running Time** 2hrs 30 mins (incl. extended dinner interval). Suitable for ages 14+.

*N.B: The Barbican press night (and all performances) includes a meal: on booking please confirm if a vegetarian option is preferable

**N.B: The Barbican only, for running times at other venues please see venue websites

TOUR LISTINGS:

8 - 11 Oct The Pit, Barbican Centre, London

Silk St, London EC2Y 8DS

7.45pm | £23 (incl. dinner) £16 (show only)

www.barbican.org.uk | 020 7638 8891

13 - 14 Oct The DOOR at Birmingham Repertory Theatre

Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2EP

7pm | £20-£17 (incl. dinner)

www.birmingham-rep.co.uk | 0121 236 4455

15 Oct Bath Spa Live

Bath Spa University, Newton Park, Newton St Loe, Bath, BA2 9BN

7.30pm | £10 (£8 concs) Bath Spa University Students £5

www.universitytheatre.org | 01225 463362

16 Oct Circomedia, Bristol

St Paul's Church, Portland Square, Bristol BS2 8SJ

7.30pm | £13 (£9 concs)

www.circomedia.com | 0117 924 7615

17 - 18 Oct HOME, Manchester

Number 1 First Street, Manchester, M1 5DE

7.30pm | £15 (£13 concs)

homemcr.org | 0161 200 1500

19 Oct Slung Low's HUB, Leeds

Holbeck Underground Ballroom, 67-71 Bath Road, Holbeck, Leeds LS119UA

5.00pm | Pay What You Can
Ticket reservations at box-office@slunglow.org
www.slunglow.org

21 - 22 Oct Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury

University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NB

7.30pm | £12 (£10-£7 concs)

www.thegulbenkian.co.uk | 01227 769075

24 - 25 Oct Corral de Comedias de Alcala, Spain

Plaza de Cervantes 15, 28801, Alcala de Henares, Madrid

Times and prices TBC

www.corraldealcala.com | +34 91 877 19 50 (Ext. 202)

26 Oct Teatro Auditorio Adolfo Marsillach, Spain

Av de Baunatal, 18, 28701 San Sebastiean de los Reyes, Madrid, Spain

Times and prices TBC

www.ssreyes.org | +34 91 659 71 00

29 Oct - 2 Nov Matadero Madrid, Spain

Calle Príncipe, 25, 28012 Madrid, Spain

Times and prices TBC

www.mataderomadrid.org | +34 913 60 14 80

4 Nov The Atkinson, Southport

Lord Street, Southport PR8 1DB

7.30pm | £12
www.theatkinson.co.uk | 01704 533333

5 Nov Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Wales

Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 3DE

7.30pm £12 (£10 concs)
www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk | 01970 62 32 32

7 Nov Caedmon Hall, Gateshead (part of GIFT festival)

Caedmon Hall, Prince Consort Road, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, NE8 4LN

7.30pm | £12 (£10 concs)
www.brownpapertickets.com

8 Nov Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

10 Cambridge Street, Edinburgh, Scotland EH1 2ED

7.30pm | £20 (including dinner) £12 show only
www.traverse.co.uk | 0131 228 1404