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PRESS RELEASE – 14 AUGUST 2015
Wales Millennium Centre’s multi-faceted outdoor spectacular to bring Cardiff
Bay to life on Saturday 12 September
www.arwaithardaith.com | #Awen2015
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Wales Millennium Centre teams up with award-winning outdoor arts experts Walk the Plank to
create an epic visual spectacle following a 7 month creative journey through Wales.
The Welsh tale of Taliesin will be played out in front of Wales Millennium Centre and across Cardiff
Bay as the finale of the centre’s 10th anniversary celebration programme
Highlights to include breathtaking processions, dance, aerial artistry, projection, storytelling, music
and pyrotechnics
New choral composition from BAFTA-award-winning composer John Rea to be performed by Sinfonia
Cymru
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PRESS RELEASE – Page 2
Saturday 12 September 2015 will see the outdoor spectacular and grand finale of Ar Waith Ar Daith, a
journey of Welsh myth and magic created by outdoor arts experts Walk the Plank for Wales Millennium
Centre. Free to attend and suitable for all the family, this unforgettable event – the largest outdoor
production to take place in Wales this year – will bring together over 600 participants from across the
country.
The age-old Welsh tale of the birth of Taliesin will be at the heart of this cross-arts performance, with
Ceridwen the enchantress performed by Welsh classical singer, actress and presenter Shân Cothi. Lured by
the magical powers of Ceridwen, a flotilla of boats from the Welsh Sea Rowing Association will complete
their odyssey in Cardiff Bay, joining children and young people from Caernarfon, Mid Wales and the Valleys.
The whole show will be set to music, an original score composed by BAFTA award-winning composer John
Rea, featuring Sinfonia Cymru, choirs, and schoolchildren from Cardiff and Harlech.
Theatrical processions, aerial artistry, stunning animations projected on the building, storytelling, music and
extraordinary pyrotechnics will harness participants and the audience’s collective imagination to transform
the Wales Millennium Centre itself in a celebration of the poetic inspiration of contemporary Wales and the
talents of the country’s dancers, musicians and singers.
This free, large-scale spectacle comes after an epic 7 month artistic journey across the length and breadth of
Wales and takes its inspiration from the rich history and mythology of the country.
Graeme Farrow, Artistic Director at Wales Millennium Centre comments: ‘Ar Waith Ar Daith far
exceeds anything, by way of scale and ambition, that we have ever commissioned here at Wales
Millennium the Centre. It has been fantastic to work with Walk the Plank throughout the year-long
planning and creation process. One of our key ambitions here at Wales Millennium Centre is to
inspire the whole of Wales and to facilitate the burgeoning creativity of our nation. Walk the Plank
has embraced this fully, working closely with Welsh artists and communities and expertly weaving
this creativity and inspiration into the finale performance. I am extremely excited for September 12
for what will no doubt remain a landmark event in the Centre’s history for decades to come.’
Liz Pugh, Artistic Director, Walk the Plank, adds: ‘What makes this particular celebration so unique is the
way that ‘Awen’, the inspirational muse of Welsh culture and artistic expression, has generated such a rich
tapestry of creative responses from so many different people and communities throughout Wales. Our
finale production is the expression of this and the culmination of an incredible creative journey, one that has
captured the imaginations of everyone and will, I believe, leave an important legacy to inspire the next
generation of artists.’
Ar Waith Ar Daith will take place in Roald Dahl Plass on Saturday 12 September at 7.30pm. Audiences are
advised to arrive early to secure a good vantage position to watch the show, and to dress appropriately for an
outdoor show. The event is free to attend and suitable for all ages.
Find out more about Ar Waith Ar Daith at www.arwaithardaith.com, via the Ar Waith Ar Daith Facebook event
page and on the hashtag #Awen2015
Ar Waith Ar Daith is made possible by the kind support of Lloyds Bank, principal sponsors of Wales Millennium
Centre’s 10th anniversary.
ENDS
For further information, please contact Chloe Davies or Rosie Beaumont-Thomas at Four Colman Getty:
Chloe.Davies@fourcolmangetty.com / 020 3697 4251
Rosie.Beaumont-Thomas@fourcolmangetty.com / 020 3697 4330
Notes to editors
Lloyds Bank Awen Schools
The Lloyds Bank Awen Schools - providing adventurous training in Outdoor Arts for creative practitioners in
Wales and led by Walk the Plank - took place in North, mid, and South Wales earlier this year. Ideas and
inspiration developed during these training schools has gone on to shape the finale event, putting the legacy
for the next generation of Welsh artists at the heart of our finale celebrations.
Made possible by the kind support of Lloyds Bank, principal sponsors of Wales Millennium Centre’s 10th
anniversary.
Awen Bus Tour
A further element of the Ar Waith Ar Daith journey of myth and magic is the Awen Bus Tour, which arrived
on 1 August at the National Eisteddfod, and is on a 27 stop tour of the country, arriving at Wales Millennium
Centre in time for the finale event on September 12.
As they travel around the country, the Awen Bus team are meeting with artists and filming their creative
responses to ‘Awen’, the poetic muse. These films are being fed live to the ‘Cauldron of Inspiration’ which
can be found in the foyer of the Wales Millennium Centre until September 12.
Walk the Plank
Walk the Plank are outdoor arts experts, who create powerful events with mass appeal. From international
stage to village square, their specialist team develop remarkable moments that enrich the lives of their
audience through shared experience - encouraging a sense of place, a feeling of pride, and well-being.
The organisation empowers artists and communities through creative development, transforming people
and the places in which they live through opportunities to engage with accessible, artistic excellence. Walk
the Plank’s work includes the opening ceremony of Turku’s 2011 European Capital of Culture in Finland and
The Return of Colmcille – a landmark event for the first UK City of Culture Derry-Londonderry.
Walk the Plank is a registered charity and is part of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio.
www.walktheplank.co.uk
Wales Millennium Centre
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Wales Millennium Centre is an iconic arts venue and a cultural destination, opened by Her Majesty
the Queen on November 28, 2004
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Its founding mission was to bring the best of the world to Wales and to showcase the best of Wales
to the world and bring the best of the world to Wales
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Built at a cost of £106m, its construction was funded by Welsh Government (£37m) and the
Millennium Commission (£31m), and is recognised as one of the most successful Lottery funded
Millennium projects
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The Centre receives £3.6m per annum in public subsidy from Arts Council of Wales, 19% of its total
income
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It has been described by Lord Lloyd Webber as the best theatre built in the world in the last 50
years
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On its 7.5 acre site in Cardiff Bay, the Centre has a 1900 seat lyric theatre, named after its founding
patron Sir Donald Gordon, designed for opera, large scale musicals, ballet and contemporary
dance
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Other performance spaces include a 250 seat studio theatre, a dance house and 350 seat recital
hall, BBC Hoddinott Hall
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Wales Millennium Centre is also home to eight other cultural organisations: Literature Wales, BBC
National Orchestra of Wales, Hijinx Theatre, National Dance Company Wales, Touch Trust, Ty
Cerdd, Urdd, Welsh National Opera
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For further information about the Centre please visit: www.wmc.org.uk
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The Centre’s news releases can be found at: www.wmc.org.uk/press
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Wales Millennium Centre is a registered charity, number – 1060458