Let's Dance International Frontiers star Maya Taylor is set to move you

......Kicking things off at City ROOMS, on Wednesday is New Orleans-based dancer and choreographer, Maya Taylor.

Maya's been specially commissioned by the festival TO OPEN the proceedings with a solo piece she has called Under The Glass Bell.

The dancer is excited to be making the transatlantic journey to Leicester.

"Any international dance festival is really important, anywhere in the world," says Maya. "It's an opportunity to perform in front of an audience who've never heard of you, or seen YOUR work – and that's a wonderful thing."

Maya heard about the festival from a FRIEND in New York who had performed here a couple of years ago.

"I sent my information and a few videos over for the director to look at and kept in CONTACT, and this year I was lucky enough to be invited to take part.

"When they said I would be OPENING the festival I was nervous with butterflies, but thought 'wow', what a great opportunity."

The thing Maya really likes about the festival is that it covers an exciting spectrum of dance forms.

"When there's something for everyone it's a really enriching experience," she says. "My style is contemporary modern, so it has elements of classical, modern and ballet, moving towards something that you really can't tell any more what it is."

Maya's solo show is a deeply personal piece, looking at the feelings of isolation, danger, heartbreak and acceptance, and is accompanied by an original score by Dustin Gledhill, an American composer and pianist.

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