‘Wondrous Stories’ is a dance-circus event that is running for free and unticketed from the 17th March to 20th March 2022 at 6:30pm and 8:30pm daily. The open-air performance is part of the launch of the Birmingham 2022 Festival which is a celebration of creativity in Birmingham and one of the largest ever Commonwealth Games cultural programmes.

Based in Centenary Square outside the Library of Birmingham, this show allows access to anyone to come walk by and watch the show – it is a celebration of Arts in Birmingham and the lead-up to the Commonwealth Games is the perfect time to display Arts and Culture events. 

‘Wondrous Stories’ was created by Motionhouse and features their professional dance-circus artists alongside other dance groups, including an inclusive wheelchair dance group. Before attending, the advert promises a ‘large-scale immersive action and plenty of thrills as stories, a giant book and characters tumble out of the night sky.’ After watching the show, it evidently did not disappoint.

When I arrived, there were a lot of people, but not any more than I expected. Nevertheless, I was able to secure a spot where I could see enough of what was happening on the stage area and the ever-changing performance in the sky. The show began with spoken word poetry then people with ‘post-it note’ signs moving around on stage, with background music to the words that gave the effect of captivating everyone; it was so different to anything I’ve seen before. I was wonderfully shocked at the moving of the ‘Wondrous Stories’ book hanging by a crane with acrobatic people hanging from the pages – it was breath-taking to watch. 

There were dancers on the grounds area by the stage moving around in different groups that provided dramatic tension with the music in the background – it made me wonder what unusual thing would happen next. The red-dress dancers with glowing books on their head were fascinating to see move. 

There was more spoken word poetry throughout the 50 minutes, with a piece that used the word ‘Listen’ in a powerful way to present the need of listening to others stories. Alongside this, there was a light show on the stage, acrobats moving around on-stage forming words from different languages and even more acts from the sky crane, such as angels, cyclists throwing pieces of paper notes and at the end, a giant ball with people moving around on the outside. Alongside music and the lights, this show certainly celebrated the diversity of dance, music, art and literature. Each part of the show told a story that made you feel immersive with everyone there. 

Birmingham 2022 Festival proves to have an exciting array of events for everyone which you can check out here.

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