BIG Up North dance theatre festival has some of the region's most imaginative movers and shakers on the bill.

Put together by forward thinking innovative outfits, Ludus Dance and The Dukes theatre, the terrific two-nighter features a dynamic, diverse and exciting mix of high quality dance talent.

First up on Friday (April 26) is a thrilling selection of fresh, original performance from emerging professional artists. Apparently, the pieces may contain sensitive themes so the performances are recommended for those aged 14 plus.

Among the dancers performing under the heading of emerging and graduate artists are Chambers Dance Company, from Lancaster, and Emily Moves with Nana, which is Kendal dance artist and practitioner, Emily Davies, with her grandmother.

Emily's performance piece Memoirs of a Grandchild explores the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren. Emily has used the movement and rhythm of knitting as the inspiration for her piece, which is a rework of the original she created for her dance degree: "This time round it was a case of revisiting movement already choreographed and relearning it as well as devising new sections of the work which made the piece more relevant to its new context, a duet performed by an emerging artist and her 81 year old grandmother. A lot of the new material was created in response to recorded audio of my nana and myself discussing our grandparent grandchild relationship and other associated subjects."

The former Kirkbie Kendal and Kendal College student says the movement in the piece is inspired by knitting because her nana is an accomplished knitter and the presence of knitting and knitted objects often feature when she thinks of her: "To use knitting as a stimulus for movement felt relevant to the overall theme of the piece, as well as being a strong stimulus for creating movement which is interesting, different and challenges the body. The instructions for knitting 'in, over, through, off' were the steps I used with my body to create much of the movement content. This has led to choreography which weaves and tangles much like the wool in knitting."

Come Saturday, and community, school and youth groups take over on the Lancaster stage with a range of eclectic, energetic work.

Included are Jennifer's Dancers of Carnforth and Ingleton Youth Dance.

Jennifer's Dancers are a street dance crew who focus on the foundation and history of each dance style to achieve perfection. They will be performing Chapter One.

As for Ingleton Youth Dance, they will explore the challenges of change and transition; how we find our fit and build new friendships. Their piece Roast Potato, Sweet Potato, Mash and Fries! confirms that while we are all different and unique, we are united: because really, we all like potatoes.

Showcasing technique, raw talent, dance across all forms and dance for camera, all the pieces in Big Up North have been selected by a professional panel from Ludus Dance and The Dukes.

Highly thought of Ludus is Lancashire’s leading dance development charity, operating across the north west.

It aims to inspire and engage people through dance. The charity provides a wide range of opportunities through dance, working with children and young people, especially those who are hard to reach and in areas of socio-economic deprivation.

Since 1975, Ludus's team of experienced dance and arts professionals have delivered bespoke creative projects in communities and schools, providing new experiences for developing regional dance artists and audiences and a wide range of opportunities to take part in, create and watch dance.

There will be special pop-up performances in the city centre throughout the day.

Tickets are available from the Dukes box office on 01524-598500 or visit www.dukes-lancaster.org.

For further information go online at www.ludusdance.org.