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Hope College's H2 Dance Company has been invited to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and needs your help getting there. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, held in Scotland's capitol in August 2016, is one of the world’s largest international theater and dance festivals. H2 Dance Company plans to perform the world premiere of Dieser Ort, a new full-length evening work created by co-artistic director and Hope professor Matthew Farmer.
To make this performance possible we would like to take a total of 24 Hope artists, including dancers, choreographers, directors and technical crew. A majority of these individuals (19) will be Hope students. For many of these students this will be their first experience traveling abroad and for all of the students it will be their first time performing on an international stage. And what a stage to perform on! The cost per individual is approximately $5,000 and we are hoping to raise enough money, along with institutional funds, so that all the students can have this experience.
H2 Dance Company
H2 Dance is a pre-professional dance company within the Hope College Dance Department. It continues the legacy established by Aerial Dance Theatre, dANCEpROjECT, Insync Dance Theater, and IDT, providing professional dance performance and touring experience to its student company members. H2 engages its audiences through artistically and educationally diverse programs and its repertory spans all areas of dance. H2 seeks to impact its audiences through works that are versatile, dynamic, engaging, and inspiring; ultimately presenting dance that is both accessible and thought provoking.
Festival Fringe
Every year thousands of performers take to hundreds of stages all over Edinburgh to present shows for every taste. From big names in the world of entertainment to unknown artists looking to build their careers, the festival caters to everyone and includes theatre, comedy, dance, physical theatre, circus, cabaret, children's shows, musicals, opera, music, spoken word, exhibitions and events. In 2015 there were 50,459 performances of 3,314 shows in 313 venues, making it the largest ever arts festival in the world.
The Fringe story dates back to 1947, when eight theatre groups turned up uninvited to perform at the (then newly formed) Edinburgh International Festival, an initiative created to celebrate and enrich European cultural life in the wake of the World War II. Not being part of the official program of the International Festival didn’t stop these performers – they just went ahead and staged their shows on the "fringe of the festival" anyway – coining the phrase and the name Festival Fringe.
Exceed the Goal for a Lasting Impact
This project is the first to be funded from a new fund to support international dance at Hope College. Any funds raised in excess of the amount needed to support this trip will go toward future trips of the same kind. Let's pass our goal and start making progress on the next life shaping experience for Hope students!
Others Involved
The International Collegiate Theatre Festival (ICTF) runs in conjunction with and is a part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. ICTF was developed with the help of university and college performance arts professionals and is designed to complement collegiate performing arts programs. Their goal is to provide an extraordinary educational experience for collegiate students.
theSpaceUK is a production company specializing in live theatre, music and event production. With over 20 years of experience in producing an array of live production across all genres of performance art, theSpaceUK has over 9 top-rated venues at the Fringe where over 300 shows are produced during the festival. These Award winning Edinburgh Festival venues have become widely established and continue to host some of the festivals most talked about shows. theSpaceUK has extensive knowledge of all aspects that go into producing a show at the fringe including: technical and stage specification, insurance, accommodation, audiences, marketing and promoting shows, health and safety requirements, licenses, and show tickets.
If you have questions about the project, please contact Matthew Farmer at farmer@hope.edu, or like the Facebook page (H2 Dance Co. at the Fringe) to stay up to date on funding campaigns, videos and pictures of the rehearsal process, as well as general information on this amazing journey.
Thank you for your support! The Hope Dancers will send you an email with a thank you video.
Receive an autographed poster from the H2 Dance @theFringe dancers.
We will mail you a H2 Dance @theFringe Tank Top. We will also include your name in our list of donors for upcoming performances.
We will mail you a pair of H2 Dance Company @ the Fringe sweatpants. We will also include your name on our list of donors for upcoming performances.
We will mail you a H2 Dance @theFringe sweatshirt. We will also include your name on our list of donors for upcoming performances.
2 complimentary tickets to the Holland Fall Premiere of H2 Dance @theFringe. Dates of these performances will be announced soon! And an autographed poster from the H2 Dance @theFringe dancers. We will also include your name on our list of donors for upcoming performances.
This spectacular H2 Dance @theFringe Gift Bag includes sweatshirt, autographed poster and 2 tickets to the Holland Fall Premiere Performance. We will also include your name in our list of donors for upcoming performances.
This package includes the spectacular H2 Dance @theFringe gift bag, sweatshirt, autographed poster, 2 complimentary tickets to the Holland Fall Premier Performance AND dinner for you and a guest with the directors in downtown Holland before the premier! We will include your name in the list of donors for upcoming performances as well.
Join the H2 Dancers at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland! Experience the Fringe Festival with Hope students. (Airfare not included, tax deductible portion at this level is $7,000.)