A HEAD of London and Edinburgh, The Belfast Festival has scooped the UK premiere of Ocean. Involving 15 dancers and 112 musicians it is the last collaboration of the composer John Cagi and the choreographer Merce Cunningham, performed by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, at the Waterfront Hall. Booking opens on June 16th, phone 080-1232-334455 . . . There will be a reading by Irish and Sicilian poets on Saturday at the Old Museum Arts Centre in Belfast, including Filean Ni Chuilleanain and Macdara Woods (Ireland) and Carmelo Zaffora and Nicolas Romano (Sicily), at 4 p.m.

There will be four Cothu Arts Sponsor of the Year Awards this year, including Best Arts Sponsorship by a Small Business and Best Arts Sponsorship of the Community Directed by Anne Makower, Come Dance With Me In Ireland is an interview with the celebrated dancer and choreographer Dame Ninette de Valois, left, (she celebrates her 99th birthday tomorrow) which will be screened on Sunday on RTE 1 at 10.35 p.m ... Also on Sunday the Stray Dog Cafe (at Project at the Mint) is offering music with Keith Donald and Agnes Bernelle and poetry with Gabriel Rosenstock and Damian Gorman, 8 p.m. ... The City Arts Centre is launching Music Map, a course in music management and promotion for people with disabilities to run in July, phone 016770643.