So just who are we pushing?

A tower of five circus performers - all balanced on a bike, with a woman in yellow on the top with her arms outstretchedWith PUSH ME we get to feature the work of some fabulous artists and companies. Want to know which ones? Then read on…

We have Mish Weaver/Stumble Dance Circus with Box of Frogs giving us a poignant, original and funny exploration of passion and disappointment - a Bipolar Circus, a manically depressed form of entertainment (its their pic here), Bobby Baker/Daily Life Ltd with Mad Gyms and Kitchens - from working-out to chilling out, Bobby’s wellness roadshow investigates how to get better at feeling better – cup of tea included, and Susan Austin with Creating the Spectacle! – a ground breaking series of performances by the artist in her self-propelled underwater wheelchair.

We’ve also got Jez Colborne/Mind the Gap with Irresistible: Call of the Sirens and this is your call to join Jez as he takes you on a musical journey of alarms, other non-traditional instruments and songs to create a breath-taking symphony, Rachel Gadsden with Unlimited Global Alchemy an exhibition and live performance exploring human fragility in the face of chronic health issues and the politics around HIV AIDS with the South African Bambanini Artist group. and Simon Mckeown with Motion Disabled: Unlimited where beauty within the physical form and movement of people with difference is revealed.

Thats not all, there is also Graeae and Strange Fruit withThe Garden working in collaboration with Strange Fruit in a gravity-defying outdoor theatre in three stories of love, consequence and hope, and Laurence Clark with Inspirational, his poignant stand-up show looking at the uncanny way that disabled people are felt to be inspirational when doing the most normal of things.

Thanks to the generosity of Creative Scotland we are featuring four fantastic commissions from Scotland too. We have Janice Parker with Private Dancer showing us dance that is never seen – yet alone at home, we give it our all our best performance… ever, and Ramesh Meyyappan with Skewered Snails - a darkly comic tale of a dysfunctional family told using physical performance, an ingenious aerial set, choreography and a dynamic live score. We’ve also got Claire Cunningham with Ménage à Trois, which explores Claire’s twenty-year relationship with her crutches – this darkly humorous and deeply personal portrait asks if it’s possible to find love when there are already three of you in the relationship. And finally we have Caroline Bowditch with leaving-limbo-landing where dancers and aerialists perform in air, water and on land in this ambitious new outdoor production.

Now how can you not want to find out more about that lot then?