FOLK group The Demon Barbers are aiming their latest show Quest at seven to 12-year-olds and their families.

The group, and its folk and hip-hop dance company Breaking Tradition, will premiere the show in Bradford on May 25 and 26.

The award-winning band created groundbreaking theatre shows Time Gentleman Please and The Lock-In which blended traditional and modern dance styles like Morris, rapper and hip-hop.

Quest is described as a rousing and unforgettable adventure within an extraordinary gaming world, complete with dazzling dance and stomping tunes.

Written by award-winning writer and actor Stacey Sampson, it fuses morris, clog and sword dance with popping, locking, breaking and martial arts.

The story of Kai’s search for his missing sister, drawing him into the extraordinary computer game, is to the Beat of new songs and traditional melodies with an electronic edge.

Quest can be seen at the Kala Sangam Arts Centre at 1 Forster Square, Bradford, on May 25 at 7pm and May 26 at 2pm.

Haworth-based Damien Barber, Breaking Tradition’s artistic director, said: “We’re all excited to be producing a new dance show specifically aimed at a younger generation and look forward to the challenges of incorporating traditional folk customs into the digital world.

“We’re also really chuffed to be launching the premiere at our new home at Kala Sangam.”

Alex Croft, Kala Sangam’s Creative Producer, said: “Breaking Tradition creates work that’s unique.”

Quest will tour the UK in the autumn.

Call 01274 303340 or visit kalasangam.org/breakingtradition

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Breaking Tradition is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.

ENDS

For further information, images, interviews and press tickets please contact:

Shona Galletly PR on m: 07813 796733 e: shona@shonagalletlypr.co.uk

Notes to editors

? QUEST Cast and Creative Team

Dancer – James Fogerty Artistic Director – Damien Barber

Dancer – Chris Banks Assistant producer – Laura Simpson

Dancer/musician – Damien Barber Script writer – Stacey Sampson

Dancer/musician – Zoe Moores Lighting and projection designer – Will Monks

Musician/dancer – Ben Griffith Set and costume designer – Sarah Mills

Musician/dancer – Angus Milne Movement mentor – Junior Cunningham

Musician – Hugh MacDermott Guest director – Mark Tillotson

? Breaking Tradition Dance Company raises the profile of traditional English dance, music and song through integration with modern genres. The company aims to emphasise the cultural importance of traditional English heritage through delivery of high quality, accessible performance and education.

Founded by Artistic Director Damien Barber, the company is widely recognised as the UK’s leading folk and hip hop Dance Company and has developed its own unique repertoire of folk and hip hop dance fusion.

It is this originality that has led to Breaking Tradition’s critical acclaim, gaining 4 and 5 star national reviews for their high quality productions. Affiliated to the BBC Radio 2 Award Winning ‘The Demon Barbers’, live music is an essential part of the company’s work.

? Damien Barber has been a professional folk singer since leaving college in 1989. Having spent 11 years as a solo artist he formed The Demon Barber Roadshow in 2000 gaining major recognition for their original and imaginative approach to traditional music, song and dance. He co-founded the award winning rapper sword team, Black Swan Rapper and created the Folk & Hip Hop Dance Extravaganza, The Lock In, in 2012 and is now established as one of the most respected performers of folk music in the UK today.

? Stacey Sampson is a writer and actor from Sheffield, South Yorkshire. She has been working in theatre, television and film for twenty years and specialises in making collaborative work, often with young people at its heart.

She is an Associate Artist with Third Angel, Dead Earnest and Griffin Theatre Arts, as well as regularly working with other theatre companies across the UK, to create work that tours regionally and nationally to both theatres and non-traditional spaces.

Stacey was selected as one of the twelve ‘Next Generation Artists’ to represent the UK at the international ASSITEJ Festival (making work for young audiences.) She went on to be accepted for the prestigious Jerwood Arvon Mentoring Scheme. Her children’s fiction has won numerous awards including the Mslexia Children’s Novel Competition, a Northern Writers’ Award and the Arvon Award.