It\u2019s a bright, summer morning in the Gulbenkian caf\u00e9, and already it\u2019s a thriving hubbub of activity, with children clacking their way through in dance-shoes, beribboned with medals, parents hurrying after them, and an assistant carrying what appears to be a bucket of pink and mauve decapitated toy flamingos. It\u2019s all part of the Canterbury Dance Festival, which is in full swing in the theatre.<\/p>\n
Through the ebb and flow of dancers and harassed-looking parents shimmers the Director of the Gulbenkian, Liz Moran, who\u2019s come to talk about bOing!<\/strong><\/em>, <\/a>its family festival which is back for the second year running. I begin by asking her how the festival has developed since last year.<\/p>\n \u2018\u2019It\u2019s developed dramatically since last year,\u2019\u2019 she enthuses, \u00a0\u2018\u2019thanks to the additional funding from Arts Council England as a result of us becoming a National Portfolio Organisation. We have been able to bring to Kent some of the best international work created for young audiences from across Europe as well as a new commission in partnership with Conflux in Glasgow of a spectacular outdoor new outdoor show, Fragile<\/em>.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n