Mela Magic
The Edinburgh Mela has launched its 2012 programme, which promises to be the biggest and best yet.
The new-look festival kicks off with an extra special free evening show on Friday 31 August. World-renowned Manchester theatre company Walk The Plank, who deal in gigantic outdoor spectacle, are teaming up with Edinburgh!s own Dance Ihayami for an evening retelling of the legend of Rama and Sita, involving dance, fireworks and twelve-foot high fire drawings.
The key focus of the 2012 Mela is dance. The Mela World Dance Feste, funded by the Scottish Government's Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund, will be dedicated exclusively to dance and will be an exciting chance for audiences to experience contemporary, classical and traditional dance from all over the world. The Edinburgh Mela has also commissioned brand new pieces by some brilliant Scottish dance artists: one of the best-known faces to Edinburgh audiences will be Adura Onashile, fresh from her her starring role in the Olivier-award winning play Roadkill. Alongside the new commissions, the World Dance Feste aims to showcase the dance traditions of Edinburgh!s diverse communities, alongside excellent contemporary and traditional work from Scotland and across the globe.
All of the the best-loved aspects of the festival, which last year welcomed 27,000 people over two days, are
still in place. The Global Food Village will tempt festival-goers with smells and tastes from all over the world, the Mela Kidzone has a packed programme designed to enchant and delight junior audience members, and the two music stages will be hosting a diverse range of sounds: everything from funk and dhol drumming to the very best of classical Indian music.
Chris Purnell, the director of the Edinburgh Mela, had the following to say about the programme: “Our vision for the Mela for this year, and for the future, is to build on the success of the past, creating a festival which is true to its origins and community roots but which also has the confidence to look outside itself, to bring and attract artists from the global music and dance scene to Edinburgh.”
The Edinburgh Mela will be situated in Leith Links, and will run from the 31st August to the 2nd September 2012.
Book tickets for the Edinburgh Mela now.
