Welcome

I'm delighted to welcome you to my first nottdance as Director of Dance4. Since joining last December, I've been busy finding interesting and exciting work to present in this year's festival. The performances, both from this country and abroad, will also showcase some of the work Dance4 has been involved in developing, supporting or commissioning over the last 18 months.

You will see that some performances have broken out of the usual locations, and you might stumble across one on your way to work, while out shopping or maybe, as you nip out to buy a paper... and for some people there will also be the opportunity to make their own work for the festival as nottdance presents a new perspective on a familiar locality through Lone Twin's show Street Dance.

Our international focus this year centres on explorations of identity - individual, cultural, political. With the rapid progress of communications technology, we have never been better informed about our global neighbours. Dance offers a thrilling and sometimes intriguing way to engage with international stories, as the work of Rachid Ouramdane and Miguel Pereira demonstrates.

Notions of identity have been prominent in my own mind during these last few months at Dance4: Nottingham was the city where I lived and studied in the nineties, and I took no convincing to return. It's thrilling to be back, and in such an exciting role. I plan to build on the success of nottdance as an international festival that celebrates and interrogates the art form, engages and entertains audiences, and continues to bring extraordinary work to this vibrant city and region.

I hope you enjoy the wonderful array of artists and companies that make up nottdance09.

Paul Russ - nottdance09 Artistic Director / Chief Executive, Dance4