A SERIES of stunning dance performances lit up Poole as the Inside Out Dorset Festival continued at the weekend.

French dancers Boo Cirkvost performed a daring acrobatic display in Poole Park on Saturday night atop a 15 metre high bamboo structure.

There was also entertainment to enjoy from a little closer to home, with a display of bamboo structures made by five schools in Poole and Bournemouth inspired by the Boo Cirkvost set at Poole Quay.

Audiences watched on as choreography by Dorset based Portrait Youth Dance Company accompanied the displays.

Dance producer Clare Parker said she has been delighted with the response from spectators.

“It has been really great,” she added. “A lot of people maybe haven’t heard about the festival before.

“It was great to see people walking by stop and start to enjoy it. Some seemed a little mystified, but they were lining up to watch and asking us questions about the festival.”

Meanwhile Studland played host to Up In the Air – a feast of outdoor Anglo-French circus performances which saw crowds watch acts with high wires, dance, acrobatics and a little humour too.

The popular festival, which comes to Dorset every two years, runs until September 28 and there is still lots more entertainment to come.

Outdoor theatre company Periplum take over Blandford town centre on Thursday for a spectacular sensory performance encompassing stilts, dramatic pyrotechnics and soaring music.

And, running from September 25 to 28, the festival's final show, The Roof, promises a “breathless mix of three-dimensional sound and the hair trigger movement of free running” within a purpose built auditorium at the former IMAX site on Bournemouth seafront.

With the exception of The Roof all performances are free. More details are available at www.activateperformingarts.org.uk/inside-out/ or 01305 260954.