The University of Leicester's arts centre - open to all

Sunday 19 February at 3pm
£8 / family of four £28
A delightfully heartwarming and interactive family-friendly spectacular.
Meet Wobulous Discombobulous, the anarchic sock, as he presents a line-up of extraordinarily talented performing objects, all with their own unique and captivating storylines. Includes the world’s only acrobatic potato sack, a daredevil ski glove, an incredible dancing milkshake straw, the hypnotic tie snake Windsor Knot, and the lovable yet bizarre magical Mexican hat Timrek.

As with all quality circuses, there is a wonderful musical accompaniment.
For more information please visit www.foldedfeather.com
Suitable for  4+ years. The duration of the show is 60 minutes with no interval.

“outstanding” Time Out London
“fantastic puppetry act” Lucy Ribchester, The British Theatre Guide

Saturday 18 February at 7.30pm £13 (full price) / £11 (concession) / £5 (fiVer student scheme)
Steven Worbey and Kevin Farrell make up one of the world’s most entertaining and certainly unique piano-comedy double acts.
Formerly known as Katzenjammer, their mix of barbed wit, jaw-dropping playing and breathtaking cabaret – all with four hands on one grand piano – has gained them a dedicated following across the world. Expect exquisite musical virtuosity, utter stupidity and a breathtaking display of gymnastic piano playing talent as they take
a hilarious look at the instrument’s most famous pieces and players.
For more information please visit www.worbeyandfarrell.com
The duration of the show is 115 minutes.

Take a peak at Worbey and Farrell in action

Click on the links

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvHXv9-H51g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckI-l0B_SCE

Read more about Worbey and Farrell in an interview

“virtuosity, creativity and throwaway humour *****” Kate Copstick, The Scotsman

“Incredible” ITV1’s This Morning

Thursday 9 February at 7.30pm
£ 7 (full price) / £5 (fiver student scheme only)
With a BBC Radio 4 series for 2012, the award-winning sketch group performs some of the best from its three highly-acclaimed live shows.
Expect fast-paced delivery, daft slapstick and clever wordplay in a bizarre look at life, men and women.
For more information please visit: www.cleverpeter.com

“Monty Python meets The League of Gentlemen” The List

“A flair for high-energy silliness” The Guardian

Saturday 11 February at 7.30pm

£6 (full price) / £5 (fiVer student scheme).

Double bill discount- book for both Saturday 11 February shows for just £10.

Albert Lymes has lived a less-than-extraordinary life – until today.
Arriving home to fi nd his dog has left him, his wife has been replaced by a coconut and his father’s ashes are in a plastic bag on the porch, he embarks on an adventure of self-discovery. Albert tells you his hilariously twisted, profoundly insane and possibly moving story – because sometimes you have to lose your mind to fi nd yourself. Beautiful imagery, inventive staging and a surrealist wit make this one-man show stand out.

For more information please visit www.tinshedtheatrecompany.com
Suitable for 13+ years. The duration for the show is 60 minutes with no interval.
“A hyperactive little one-man psychological comedy!” Three Weeks

Saturday 11 February at 9pm £6 (full price) / £5 (fiver student scheme)
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll want to perform a self-exam.
In 2001, at the tender age of 20, Brian Lobel was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Cue chemo, frozen sperm and a host of cancer clichés. Unexpected, quirky and provocative, this is a performance about illness and the changing body over time
that goes beyond stories of hospital treatments to explore sexuality, gender and politics. Brian’s charming style infuses the “cancer story” with an urgency and humour which is sometimes inappropriate, often salacious and always, above all else, honest and open.

For more information please visit: www.blobelwarming.com
Written by Brian Lobel; directed by Margot Bordelon.
Suitable for 16+ years only. The duration of the show is 70 minutes with no interval.

“raw, powerful … a runaway hit” The Guardian

Sunday 12 February at 7pm £5 (full price ticket and fiver student scheme)
Meet Phillipa and Will: an oversexed, over-sharing Romeo and Juliet for the internet age.  Follow these indiscreet young lovers through their courtships, break-ups, tantrums and make-ups, all told entirely through a Facebook wall-to-wall.
This funny, filthy and bittersweet romance was an outstanding hit at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011.
Written by Jonathan Brittain; directed by Ant Cule; cast: Jack Swain, Alice White.
For more information please visit www.misshapentheatre.com
Suitable for 14+ years. The duration of the show is 30 minutes with no interval.

“Utterly cringeworthy and brilliant – highly recommended ****” Edinburgh Fringe Review

“OMG ROFL ” The Financial Times

Sunday 12 February at 8pm
£10 (full price)/ £8 (concession) / £5 (fiVer student scheme)
Seyonsay Knowall is a woman about to go over the edge. She loves her daughter, but her daughter loves Facebook more. Hear Seyonsay’s story as she faces a lesson which takes her down the e-corridors of dodgy connections and interesting quick bytes. We all know mums like Seyonsay, but what price should a mother pay to win her daughter back?
This quirky one-woman show is packed with a multitude of characters, social media networking dilemmas and comedy mishaps.
Written by Michelle Vacciana; directed by Giles Croft.
A Nottingham Playhouse commission.
For more information please visit www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk
Only 14+ years. The duration of the show is 50 minutes with no interval.

Friday 9 December at 8pm
£10 / £5

Elegant chamber jazz from two of the UK’s most sensitive and resourceful musicians.
Both Jason Yarde (saxophones) and Andrew McCormack (piano) have been at the forefront of contemporary jazz in the UK for over ten years.
With this duo, their collective spirit seems to ignite an even greater depth in their compositions and performance.
www.reverbnation.com/myduo

Sunday 4 December at 3pm

£7 / family of four £25
Post-show workshop £1 per child (adults free) – limited places so please book early
A Sign Language Arts production featuring fully-integrated sign language throughout.
An enchanting and magical journey; a story of hope and friendship.
Join the boy as he travels through a world of colour, texture and form in search of his identity and the happiness he thought he had lost forever.

Cusan Theatre makes its second visit to Embrace Arts with another high-quality visual performance combining life-size puppetry, masks, dance theatre and sculptural costumes.
www.cusantheatre.com

Improvised performance events by UK and European dancers
Sunday 27 November at 6pm £6 / £4
Be curious, ask questions and even take part as dance artists demonstrate their work methods and explain their practice, inviting you through discussion and games to question and engage with the art of improvisation.
Berlin-based choreographers Gabriele Reuter and Susanne Martin bring the successful concept of their ‘Salon der 100 Fragen an die Improvisation’ [‘Salon of 100 Questions on Improvisation’] to the East Midlands for the first time.

Featuring performances by Pete Shenton, Sally Doughty, Jo Breslin, Marie Fitzpatrick, Kerry Francksen, Miriam Keye, Eleanor Walker, Gesine Daniels, Susanne Martin and Gabriele Reuter. www.gabrielereuter.de
5+ years. Disabled people actively welcome.
This duration for this event is 120 minutes.

Friday 25 November at 8pm

£8 / £5

Featuring the vocal talents of Nicole van de Kuinder
An evening of laid-back sophistication presented by this group of popular local musicians. Swinging instrumentals combine with gentle love songs in a celebration of the melodic line, showcasing the talents of Don Blakeson (trumpet), Chris Wright (saxophone), Martin Slipp (bass), the legendary Dougie Wright (drums) and the piano magic of Brian Humpherson.
This duration for this event is 150 minutes.

Sunday 20 November at 3pm
£7 / family of four £25
The woods, the food … and that witch!
This popular company returns to Embrace Arts with a fast-moving comic retelling of the classic fairy tale. With beautiful puppets, equally beautiful people, magic tricks, silly singing, and super sand dancing.
This is one of D/deaf director Tinca Leahy’s favourite stories and it’s given the full Krazy Kat treatment in this vibrant new version featuring music from the Humperdinck opera.

3 – 7 years. This duration for this event is 50 minutes (no interval)
www.krazykattheatre.co.uk

Saturday 19 November at 6pm (food served from 5pm) 
£8 / £5 (under 19s) / £5 (fiVer student scheme)

Liming is a Caribbean-style event offering a mix of poetry, music and dancing all under one roof.
This “carnival and going with the flow” culture from Trinidad mixes with the cosmopolitan style of England to create Tilt’s popular party atmosphere.
Featuring an intoxicating mix of national and local talent, with legendary poet and performer Michael Horovitz (Poetry Olympics), Deborah Stevenson, Melanie Abrahams and James Ingham, plus Leicester’s very own Lydia Towsey and Michael Brome aka Sureshot. Plus reggae, calypso, Brazilian and hip-hop music by Psykhomantus (2009 DMC Supremacy Champion).

Caribbean food and drink on sale from 5pm to get you in the party mood.
www.ontilt.org
11+ years.
The duration for this event is 150 minutes.

Saturday 12 November at 7.30pm 
£8 / £5

Matthias Sperling and Rachel Krische don superhero lycra and boldly delve into the relationship between body and mind.
Both humorous and deadly serious, Do Not Be Afraid explores the notion that dancers might possess the unique superpower of allowing an audience to see the mind through the body. These two gifted artists form a delightful combination with their different physicalities and deadpan wit.
This duration for this event is 50 minutes. No interval

Join the artists, Dance4 and Martin Leach (Lecturer in Performance, De Montfort University) for a free discussion after the show.

Friday 11 November at 8pm
£8 / £5

He’s worked in quartets with Elton Dean and Art Themen, but Howard Riley is no stranger to solo playing and has recorded many solo albums.
His powerful technique and profound knowledge of both classical and jazz music have kept him fascinated by both traditions.
It’s nearly 30 years since he last performed in Leicester, so a return visit is well overdue. He’s promised to play some Thelonius Monk, maybe some Duke Ellington too, as well his own compositions.
www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/mriley.html

Friday 4 November at 7.30pm

£10 / £8 / £5

Win two FREE tickets to see Maison Foo's: Memoirs of a Biscuit Tin at Embrace Arts on Fri 4 Nov. Visit www.maisonfoomobilelibrary.com and add a memory to Maison Foo's Cyber Library Shelves by Wed 26 Oct.

Mrs Benjamin has disappeared, leaving her decaying house to fend for itself. In an act of desperation, the house sets off to find her.
In this intriguing tale of a wall, a floor and a chimney, a forgotten old lady and the memories that lie within, Maison Foo blends clowning, visual theatre and puppetry to bring to life the imaginative topsy-turvy world lurking behind the door of Number 92.
A sell-out show at Edinburgh Festival 2010. Produced by Spiel. Toured in partnership with Dementia UK and supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

www.maisonfoo.co.uk
12+ years.
This duration for this event is 60 minutes.

Maison Foo’s Blockbuster Movie Miniatures is a spoof on Top of the Tops called 'Top of the Books' and features the Librarian's top 10 memories for the week.

There are another 4 top 10's to come on 16, 21 and 28 Sept and 4 Oct

See the mini movies at Maison Foo's blog, Facebook page or Youtube

Win two FREE tickets to see Maison Foo's: Memoirs of a Biscuit Tin at Embrace Arts on Fri 4 Nov. Visit www.maisonfoomobilelibrary.com and add a memory to Maison Foo's Cyber Library Shelves by Wed 26 Oct.

Look out for Maison Foo’s Mobile Library on Friday 7 October, around the new Bishop Street Central Library and across Town Hall Square, as its librarians stamp, file and collect the memories of the people of Leicester as part of the Everybody’s Reading Festival. www.everybodysreading.org

Sunday 26 June – Sunday 30 October

The University of Leicester celebrates the tenth year of its major free exhibition at the unique Botanic Garden in Oadby, with a wide range of diverse works in a variety of materials and scales. Curated by Dr John Sydney Carter FRBS, this year’s show includes new pieces by some of the most renowned international, national and regional artists.

Improvised performance events by UK and European dancers
Sunday 30 October at 6pm £6 / £4
Be curious, ask questions and even take part as dance artists demonstrate their work methods and explain their practice, inviting you through discussion and games to question and engage with the art of improvisation.
Berlin-based choreographers Gabriele Reuter and Susanne Martin bring the successful concept of their ‘Salon der 100 Fragen an die Improvisation’ [‘Salon of 100 Questions on Improvisation’] to the East Midlands for the first time.

Featuring performances by Pete Shenton, Sally Doughty, Jo Breslin, Marie Fitzpatrick, Kerry Francksen, Miriam Keye, Eleanor Walker, Gesine Daniels, Susanne Martin and Gabriele Reuter. www.gabrielereuter.de
5+ years. Disabled people actively welcome.
This duration for this event is 120 minutes.

Short Fuse presents* Séance
Saturday 29 October at 8pm 
£6.50 / £5

Table tapping, velvet tipping, spirit rapping, ghostwriting and the infernal writing machine.
Explore the theme of Hallowe’en through readings from the other side, music to summon spirits from around the globe, romantic horror on celluloid, a short play about ghosts, electro-magnetic occurrences and sleight of hand.

Dress code: exquisite corpse. Hallowe’en food and drink on sale.
14+ years.
This duration for this event is 120 minutes.

www.shortfuseleicester.wordpress.com

Sunday 16 October, 6pm until late
FREE

Taking place at Embrace Arts, New Walk and The Y Theatre
Book in advance at www.hatchfresh.eventbrite.com

Hatch, one of the East Midlands’ leading performance platforms, returns to Leicester after a successful first outing at Embrace Arts last year.
With innovative live art across three city locations, expect the weird and the wonderful in spoken word, theatre, music, one-to-one performance and more. Frankly, anything goes:
Sample the region’s emerging arts scene as ten acts selected from an open call for submissions strut their stuff and do their thing at Embrace Arts from 6pm to 9pm. Join Leicester’s own Alternative Bar Crawl as it takes over the Arts Bar in its inimitable style.
Take part in a procession of digital and analogue technology along New Walk in Nottingham-based artist and filmmaker Frank Abbott’s new interactive installation ‘Aboretum’.
End the night at The Y Theatre at 10pm as internationally-renowned duo Action Hero present their new piece ‘Frontman’.
Experimental, provocative, sometimes challenging, always surprising, definitely fresh. For one night only.
Hatch: Fresh is supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, Embrace Arts and De Montfort University.
www.hatchnottingham.co.uk
16+ years

Friday 14 October at 8pm
£10 / £5

Steve Waterman – trumpet / flugelhorn; Anthony Kerr – vibes; Alec Dankworth – bass
An evening of new arrangements specially written by Steve Waterman in tribute to the giants of jazz trumpet as released on CD by Mainstem. Includes ‘West End Blues’ by Louis Armstrong, ‘In A Mist’ by Bix Beiderbecke, ‘Little Sunflower’ by Freddie Hubbard, ‘All Blues’ by Miles Davis and many more.
www.swjo.co.uk

Sunday 9 October at 7.30pm
FREE
More new writing from Afghanistan, supported by Everybody’s Reading as part of this year’s festival. Dedicated to the memory of Hamida Barmaki (pictured). Hamida was a professor of law and human rights who was killed by a suicide bomb on 28 January 2011 in Kabul, along with her husband and four children. Hamida’s sister starred in last year’s ‘Enduring Freedom: New Writing from Afghanistan’ event. 
www.everybodysreading.org
This duration for this event is 75 minutes.

Conductor: Paul Jenkins
Saturday 8 October  
Fraser Noble Hall at 7.30pm £8 / £6

KCO welcomes back one of the UK’s finest young soloists, Tamsin Waley-Cohen, to play the wonderful Brahms violin concerto.  The evening opens with the overture to Beethoven’s only opera ‘Fidelio’ and the highly-dramatic ‘Little G Minor’ Symphony of Mozart, which was used in the film ‘Amadeus’.
www.knightonchamberorchestra.uk
120 minutes

Embrace Arts is pleased to support local music on behalf of the University of Leicester. Our associated group scheme is open to any Leicester-based amateur or semi-professional  music group.

For more details, please contact [email protected]

Friday 7 October at 7.30pm 
£15 / £12 / £5

Beethoven: Quartet in F Op 18 No 1; Shostakovich: Quartet No 13 in B flat minor Op 138; Dvořák: Quartet in E flat Op 51
The Coull kicks off its new season of three concerts at Embrace Arts with a programme of light and shade that is perfect for chamber music lovers.
The evening opens and closes with two works that brim over with joy. Beethoven’s first string quartet was inspired by the classic romance of Romeo and Juliet, while Dvořák’s piece in E flat was written in answer to a request for a characteristically Slavonic work. But where there’s light there has to be darkness too, and Shostakovich’s 13th, with its sinister percussive effects, stares mortality straight in the face.
Join us for a concert of contrasts as this highly-acclaimed ensemble brings this great music to vibrant life.

www.coullquartet.com
This duration for this event is 105 minutes.

The Coull returns
Concerts on Friday 9 March and Friday 11 May
Save 20% – buy a season ticket for all three for just £36 / £28.80 (con)

Friday 30 September at 8pm
£15 / £5

Mercury Prize 2011 nominee Gwilym Simcock is one of the most gifted pianists and imaginative composers on the British scene.
A musician of exceptional, brilliant and dazzling ability, he is able to move effortlessly between jazz and classical music. Stylistically reminiscent of Keith Jarrett, his music has been widely acclaimed as engaging, exciting, often unexpected, melodically enthralling, complex and wonderfully optimistic.
Gwilym has played at Embrace Arts twice before, solo and with the Impossible Gentlemen quartet. Book early for what will be a sell-out gig.
www.gwilymsimcock.com