The Southbank Centre’s third Alchemy Festival lands next month with its wide-ranging pan-Asian blend of entertainment including the chance to appear in a Bollywood-style movie. Using the Centre’s scenic location as a backdrop, festivalgoers can enrol as dancing and singing extras with the finished film screened as a festival finale.
Before getting ready for your close-up, there are opportunities to get into character (and maybe shape) with the free classes in Bollywood dance and folk dance, free yoga sessions in the Clore Ballroom plus gratis tuition in calligraphy and poetry.
Those of a more sedate nature may want to book their place in the underground labyrinth that is the Centre’s boiler room for one-woman play Looking For Kool, explore Soumik Dutta’s multimedia exploration Sounds Of Bengal, explore the Taste Of Indian food market or see a lively debate between Nobel Prize-winning economist Professor Amartya Sen and climate change evangelist Baron Nicholas Stern.
There’s also plenty of chances to get your groove on. Asian Dub Foundation will be rocking the Royal Festival Hall, percussionist Pete Lockett will be jamming with traditional Rajasthani artists, there’s more modern fare at DJ Nihal’s Burban Mela as well as the world premiere of YouTube sensations Sachal Jazz Orchestra.
The Alchemy Festival runs from 12-22 April. More information on the festival can be found here.
