Latitude 17th - 20th July 2008

The Cabaret Arena - On the Lake and In the Woods

The ancient trees, the lush green fields, the winding lake and of course the Latitude’s own art arenas lend themselves perfectly for inspiring and displaying individual pieces of art. Some of Latitude’s most iconic images are of these displays; the 200 multi-coloured sheep that graze lazily by the lake, the over-sized opened book that entices you into the Literary Arena and of course the tree-hung paintings deep in the woodland. Lavish artists will be up to their old tricks again for this year’s event, making sure there are constant little surprises and treats waiting at every turn.

Vauxhallville

Latitude’s quirky little cabaret house is life-changing and mind-altering. You’ll be enticed in and changed for life. Well, once you've experienced the highs of a Burlesque striptease there's no turning back! Pure outrageous fun is the emphasis here. Free yourself from inhibitions and satisfy all those urges and fantasies you've been harboring. This surreal bordello of surprises and spectacular stage shows is visually rich, beautiful and bizarre, the shows titillate, torment and amuse in equal measures.

Confirmed so far are:
Nathaniel-de-Ville’s VauxhallVille Cabaret - a great weekly spit 'n' sawdust cabaret show from South London. With assistance from Timberlina and the resident burlesque bears, Bearlesque this fast, friendly and hedonistically slapstick cabaret show sticks two fingers up at pretentious performance and wallows happily in no-frills fizzy pop. With themes like: Drag Show - everyone is invited to discover their inner drag queen and Sex Show where Timberlina leads an olde worlde sex workshop, Bear Justin does a ‘private dance’ & Fancy Chance helps adjudicate a strip slam – there really is nowhere quite like VauxhallVille. “Vauxhallville is insane, hilarious and most of all entertaining - the most unique night out on the scene!” Scene Out

Sadler's Wells - On the Lake

Latitude is overjoyed to announce the involvement of Sadler's Wells – the dynamic and contemporary dance theatre venue. From cutting-edge performance to mainstream contemporary dance, tango to tap and flamenco to family shows, the joy of movement and celebration of dance are always at the heart of Sadler's Wells. It is the epicenter for dance in the UK, bringing the widest forms of world-class international and UK dance to London audiences.

For the first time Sadler’s Wells will be presenting work on a specially designed stage at sunset on the lake at Latitude. In keeping with the range of work currently flowing through the theatre’s programme the mixed line up including European hip hop, classical Indian Kathak, and UK contemporary dance in a rare slice of modern choreographic life.

Speaking about Sadler’s Wells presentation of dance On The Lake at Latitude, Alistair Spalding, Artistic Director and Chief Executive says: “I am really delighted for Sadler’s Wells to be able to take a leap out of the theatre and into the wild outdoors at Latitude. It’s absolutely the right time for these dynamic dance artists to be part of such a rich festival, especially in such a setting. All the dancers will have swimming proficiency badges….’

Sadler’s Wells is a well-established producing house committed to producing, commissioning and presenting works of the highest standard and ground-breaking collaborations on an international scale, including the award-winning zero degrees and PUSH. The theatre is dedicated to working with celebrated artists, performers and companies at the forefront of dance, many of whom are Associate Artists and resident companies of the theatre, including Sylvie Guillem, Akram Khan, Matthew Bourne and his company New Adventures, Wayne McGregor and his company Random Dance, Russell Maliphant, Jasmin Vardimon, Michael Nunn and William Trevitt (aka the Ballet Boyz) and Jonzi D.

Drawing inspiration from Latitude’s beautiful old oak woodland and winding lake, one of last year’s musical highlights returns to Latitude this summer. The orchestral brilliance of The Irrepressibles left many astounded by their concert and this year the 12-strong orchestra will be performing three brand new pieces of music from this truly magnificent setting.

Karl James & The Dialogue Project

Small, hidden and tucked away. The joy of finding it, the joy of experiencing it. Winding through the enchanted woods of Henham Park can bring a variety of exciting discoveries. In 2006 it was late night only. In 2007 it becomes a stage to be found in the day and the night. Hosting the intimate and surreal in the daylight hours and partying dance in the night. 2008 sees this amazing area turn into almost a woodland festival of its own.

After two hugely successful year’s at Latitude, the acclaimed dialogue artist Karl James brings to 2008’s festival even more Intimate Conversations. For those who like waking up in the morning, festival goers can take time away from the craziness, sit quietly in the woods and lose themselves in a series of extraordinary and private conversations made public; tenderly edited and crafted. The voices you hear are genuine; the conversations are moving and disarmingly honest. The themes of pain, loneliness and joy are things that people normally find it hard to talk about. But not here… Listen to Anne the Polar explorer talking about the pain of divorce, Yvette the shop assistant talking about why she cuts herself every day with a scalpel, the doctor who believes disease is humanity’s friend or Anjelo, who suffered severe burns in a fire-bomb attack… and calls it the best thing that ever happened to him. As a special innovation for Latitude, this year some of the conversations will be set to music by Eberg and Bird’s Janie Price.