Publications Catalogue 2025
About Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage
Based in Leicester, UK, Serendipity’s mission is to centre perspectives from the African and African Caribbean Diaspora, embedded as part of cultural experiences for all. Serendipity’s programmes include the flagship dance festival, Let’s Dance International Frontiers, Black History Month Leicester and the Annual Windrush Day Lecture. Serendipity has established a legacy: hosting a growing Living Archive documenting Black arts, heritage and culture, publishing the voices of Black arts practitioners and community activists, nurturing artists to create high quality new work, and mentoring young people.
As publishers, Serendipity curates and shares expert voices in Black arts, heritage and cultural politics, supported by trailblazing artists and practitioners such as Thomas Talawa Prestø, Dr L’Antoinette Stines, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Eduardo Vilaro, Ronald K Brown, Kyle Abraham, and academics such as Professor Stephen Small, Dr Beverley Bryan, Professor Gus John, Gary Younge, Professor Lisa-Dionne Morris and Professor Verene A Shepherd. Serendipity is now respected as one of the most significant publishers for Black dance in the UK and Europe.
Serendipity seeks to safeguard the legacy of those who have come before, document knowledge for the future and present a bigger picture of arts and heritage beyond that dominated by the Eurocentric gaze.
As limited-edition print copies and digital eBooks, Serendipity’s publications are now available online, at independent booksellers and through Proquest and Kortext, with a catalogue record for all titles available at the British Library.
This catalogue seeks to provide an insight into the titles Serendipity has produced to date.
Pawlet Brookes MBE CEO and Artistic Director Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage
Image Credit: Pawlet Brookes. Photographer Lauryn Pinard.
Hidden Movement: Contemporary Voices of Black British Dance
Hidden Movement: Contemporary Voices of Black British Dance explores the seldom told history of Black Dance in the UK. The publication features contributions from leading professionals, researchers, dancers, choreographers and artistic directors representing a 70-year legacy. A snapshot of social history, the narrative of Hidden Movement explores changing politics, policies and terminology, through the personal journeys of those who have shaped the story of Black British Dance. The publication features a timeline of Black-led dance companies from 1946 – 2013.
“I became a founder member of London Contemporary Dance Theatre in 1969. Our first show and my Mum came to see me perform, in fact it was the first time she had come to see me perform professionally… My Mum overheard a guy in front of her saying that it was Bill Luther dancing and my Mum lent over and said ‘No, it’s my son’. That was the first time she had acknowledged what I was doing.”
Namron
Contributors:
Patrick Acogny
Pawlet Brookes
David Bryan
Hilary S Carty
Keisha Grant
Jackie Guy
Sue Harrison
Namron
Henri Oguike
Lee Payne
Bob Ramdhanie
Dwayne Antony Simms
Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp
Djoe Tomakloe
Sharon Watson
Cover Credit: Paul Liburd for Scottish Ballet. Photographer Graham Wylie.
Publication Year: 2013
RRP: £21.99
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-0-9926319-0-1
ISBN: (EPub) 978-1-9163965-2-4
Keywords:
CONTEMPORARY
VOICES OF BLACK BRITISH DANCE
Including Hidden Histories by Dr Patrick Acogny
David Bryan
Hilary S Carty
Jackie Guy MBE
Henri Oguike
Dr Bob Ramdhanie
Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp OBE
Sharon Watson
With an introduction by Pawlet Brookes
16/10/2013 14:16
Creolizing Dance in a Global Age
Creolizing Dance in a Global Age brings together key voices for a discourse on the complex relationships between ‘Creolization’ and dance, especially those embodied within the dynamics of the Caribbean. The publication journeys between Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Guadeloupe and Diasporic connections to Zimbabwe and the UK. Contextualised with a foreword by eminent expert on Caribbean social history and Diaspora studies, Verene A Shepherd, and with a cover featuring Matisse’s famed Creole Dancer, the publication is a valuable introduction to the concept of creolization and identity politics within a Caribbean construct. The publication also introduces dance practice from L’Antech and Dunham Technique to Gwo Ka.
“A dancer can execute a grand plié whilst simultaneously disrupting the ridged line of the back with the circular rotation of the hips as done in a daaance’all bubble. Consequently the body retains the established rules of classical ballet while also presenting the technique of the of the bubble in daaance’all movements and obviously an African heritage. Those two contrasting techniques and movements, which are body languages, have been synerbridged.”
L’Antoinette Stines
Contributors:
Pawlet Brookes
Marie-Laure Soukaina Edom
Gladys M Francis
Roshini Kempadoo
Patrick Parson
Verene A Shepherd
L’Antoinette Osunide Stines
Cover Credit: ‘Creole Dancer’ 1950 by Henri Matisse. Musee Matisse, Nice. Succession H Matisse/ DACS 2014. Photographer Francois Fernandez 2011.
Publication Year: 2015
RRP: £21.99
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-0-9926319-1-8
ISBN: (EPub) 978-1-9163965-9-3
Keywords:
Creolization Caribbean Technique Dance
CREOLIZING DANCE IN A GLOBAL AGE
Marie-Laure Soukaina Edom
Gladys M. Francis
Roshini Kempadoo
Patrick Parson
L’Antoinette Stines
With a foreword by Verene A. Shepherd and preface by Pawlet Brookes
Blurring Boundaries: Urban Street Meets Contemporary Dance
Blurring Boundaries: Urban Street Meets Contemporary Dance is an exciting thoughtful publication exploring the origins, developments and collaborations that have shaped street dance, and how this has led to the multiplicity of current dance styles.
The publication features the voices of leading dance practitioners and researchers reflecting the diversity embodied within these genres. It examines perspectives on topics such as the key influences of Black practitioners, the integral role of music, social dance, cultural appropriation and hip-hop dance theatre, and how the boundaries have blurred in this ever-evolving scene.
“… if we look at a broader timeline of the Black dance experience and the African Diaspora we can find traces of hip-hop dance no doubt reaching from Congo Square, the middle passage and beyond.”
Robert Hylton
Contributors:
Kyle Abraham
Funmi Adewole
Ivan Blackstock
Pawlet Brookes
Jreena Green
Robert Hylton
Orson Nava
Jo Read
Nefeli Tsiouti
Tia Monique Uzor
Danilo DJ Walde
Cover Credit: Beautiful Dancers on the Town.
Elise Drew, Kile Hotchkiss, Aisha Mitchell, Tyrell Rolle, Natasha Diamond-Walker. Photographer Richard Calmes.
Publication Year: 2016
RRP: £21.99
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-0-9926319-2-5
ISBN: (EPub) 978-1-9163965-3-1
Keywords: Street Dance Dance Biographical Hip Hop
Kyle Abraham / Funmi Adewole / Ivan Blackstock / Jreena Green / Robert Hylton / Jo Read / Nefeli Tsiouti / Tia-Monique Uzor /Orson Nava/ Danilo DJ Walde With a preface by Pawlet Brookes
Black Women in Dance: Stepping Out of the Barriers
From early trailblazers to contemporary ground breakers, this publication explores topics from the need for institutions and infrastructure to support work from African and African Caribbean artists, and the key role of women within these organisations, to artists’ journeys taken to develop new aesthetics and an individual choreographic voice.
The contributors reflect upon the obstacles they have had to overcome as Black women, as they have progressed in their careers and some of the challenges they still have to face. Moreover, Black Women in Dance is a celebration of the tenacity, strength and creativity of the authors, their peers and their predecessors.
“Another way I describe the aesthetic of the Choreographic Centre is ‘running towards the fire while you’re on fire’. That was the urgency of the 60s and 70s that we felt, our communities were on fire… because we were on fire with passion, anger frustration, love, joy and we’re going to acknowledge that and create from that.”
Jawole Willa Jo Zollar
Contributors:
Adesola Akinleye
Deborah Baddoo
Pawlet Brookes
Hilary S Carty
Catherine Dénécy
Pam Johnson
Mercy Nabirye
Maureen Salmon
Jessica Walker
Sharon Watson
Jawole Willa Jo Zollar
Cover Credit: Vanessa. Photographer Chris Nash.
Publication Year: 2016
RRP: £21.99
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-0-9926319-3-2
ISBN: (EPub) 978-1-9163965-4-8
Keywords:
Invisible Visibility: Diverse Voices within Inclusive Dance
Invisible Visibility: Diverse Voices within Inclusive Dance is the fifth instalment in a series of publications produced by Serendipity exploring hidden perspectives in dance. Invisible Visibility discusses the key barriers that marginalise disabled artists from taking centre stage and looks at examples of good practice through three key case studies.
This publication puts forward an agenda for change, inclusion and ultimately visibility within the sector and beyond for disabled dancers from culturally diverse backgrounds.
Available as an eBook and audiobook.
“Just because dancers are blind, it doesn’t mean that they can’t create good work, but they need to have access to quality training.”
Louise Dickson
Contributors:
Pawlet Brookes
Louise Dickson
Anthony Evans
Louise Katerega
Cover Credit: Antoine Hunter, Urban Jazz Dance Company. Photographer RJ Muna.
Publication Year: 2016
Out of Print | Available Digitally
RRP: £5.59 (audiobook)
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-0-9926319-6-3
ISBN: (EPub) 978-1-9163965-6-2
ISBN: (Audio Book) 978-0-9926319-7-0
Keywords:
Best Practice
Timeline Dance
Deaf and Disabled Voices
INVISIBLE VISIBILITY
DIVERSE VOICES WITHIN INCLUSIVE DANCE
LOUISE DICKSON
ANTHONY EVANS
LOUISE KATEREGA
PAWLET BROOKES
Identity and Choreographic Practice
The sixth instalment of a series of publications produced by Serendipity, Identity and Choreographic Practice examines how culture and training influence choreographic vocabulary, and touches upon how identity is revealed in practice, from ballet to Embodiology®, freestyle to reggae, flamenco to art dance.
Practitioners explore topics ranging from the challenges and triumphs faced by Black dancers when attempting to break the glass ceiling, a reflection on colonial pasts and new aesthetics, and a discussion of how the rich, diverse and complex heritage of the African and African Caribbean Diaspora has influenced contemporary dance.
“We cannot dismiss what our cultural heritage has given dancers as we continue to create and inform the next generation. The keepers of our history in this field must insist that our contribution is included in the dialogue, or a vast cultural legacy will be lost.”
Joan Myers Brown
Contributors:
Francis Angol
Delia Barker
Sandie Bourne
Pawlet Brookes
Joan Myers Brown
nora chipaumire
Yinka Esi Graves
David Hamilton
Terry Bright Kweku Ofosu ‘H’ Patten
Kenrick ‘H20’ Sandy
S Ama Wray
Cover Credit: Photographer Ken Hermann/Getty Images
Publication Year: 2017
RRP: £21.99
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-0-9926319-5-6
ISBN: (EPub) 978-1-9163965-5-5
Keywords:
Legacy Diaspora Technique Dance
IDENTITY AND CHOREOGRAPHIC PRACTICE
Sandie
Lost Legends: 30 Years 30 Voices
Lost Legends: 30 Years 30 Voices is a publication which records the contributions and perspectives of Leicester trailblazers from an African and African Caribbean perspective, as part of the 30th anniversary celebration of Black History Month (BHM) in 2017. 30 Years 30 Voices celebrates the impact they have made on the cultural landscape of the city.
This publication presents 30 unique voices, who have been involved as community activists or performed at BHM events over the past 30 years. The contributors reflect upon their experiences, the importance of education about Black history, and their thoughts for the future. Above all, Lost Legends: 30 Years 30 Voices is a celebration of the strength, perseverance and character of the authors and other key participants who have been a part of change in the city.
“Black history is all around us every day not just for the month, we are so blessed by Black people around us and equally we can learn so much from the successes of others…”
Derrick ‘Mr Motivator’ Evans
Contributors:
30 voices including:
Mellow Baku
George Cole
Derrick ‘Mr Motivator’ Evans
Dorothy Francis
Tony Graves
Philip Herbert
Donna Jackman
Louise Katerega
Duncan Lawrence
Carol Leeming
Iris Lightfoote
Elvy Morton
Florence Nyahwa
Quincy
Boston Williams
Freedom Tariq Zampaladus
Cover Credit: Design by The Unloved
Publication Year: 2017
RRP: £21.99
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-0-9926319-4-9
ISBN: (eBook) 978-1-913862-00-8
Keywords:
Pamela
Madu
Suzanne
Brian
Julie
Gregory
Dianne
Boston
Brookes
Ancestral Voices: Dance Dialogues
Ancestral Voices: Dance Dialogues is a ground-breaking publication that brings together leading dance practitioners from Senegal, Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Trinidad and the UK. The publication provides an exploration of the roots of contemporary dance techniques from the African and African Caribbean Diaspora with the pioneers who have developed them.
It shares their wisdom on the development of Acogny technique, the development of contemporary dance and Black-led dance in the UK, the work of Eduardo Rivero Walker, the foundations of L’Antech and the influence of Voudun and Bruckins’. The publication opens up a conversation that extends beyond western dance technique and decentres African and African Caribbean contributions and influence.
“YI GarabbouyFecc? Doffbi! They called me crazy (doffbi) but they loved watching the ‘crazy’ one dance and trying to copy her.”
Germaine Acogny
Contributors:
Germaine Acogny
Pawlet Brookes
Barbara Ramos Caballero
Namron
Bob Ramdhanie
Jeanguy Saintus
L’Antoinette Stines
Cover Credit: LaShawn Prescott. Photographer Sancho Francisco.
Publication Year: 2018
RRP: £21.99
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-0-9926319-8-7
ISBN: (EPub) 978-1-9163965-7-9
Keywords:
Diaspora Legacy Technique Dance
Black Dance: A Contemporary Voice
Black Dance: A Contemporary Voice is an exploration of the processes behind creating choreography that blends techniques from the African and African Caribbean Diaspora to create new vocabularies. Contributors provide their own reflections on contemporary dance practices, whilst examining what ‘Black dance’ means today, whether this is reflecting on the joy and pain that comes with doing your work, the real impact that cultural policy has on creativity, the use of technology, the essential need for codification and training, and what it means to be a guardian of legacy.
“Black expression or technique on a Black person is often viewed as merely an expression of nature (innate ability) and would first be framed as Technique, as an expression of discipline, work and intelligence, if displayed on a white body. This continues a structural gap in funding, investment, perceived value and continued commodification as opposed to the validation of cultural significance for the Black ‘body’ and the multiple art forms in which this particular experience is manifested.”
Thomas Talawa Prestø
Contributors:
Pawlet Brookes
Ronald K Brown
Gladys M Francis
Thomas F De Frantz
Chester Morrison
Thomas Talawa Prestø
Alesandra Seutin
Cover Credit: Valeriane Louisy Louis-Joseph in Four Corners. Ronald K Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company. Photographer Stuart Hollis.
Publication Year: 2019
RRP: £21.99
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-0-9926319-9-4
ISBN: (EPub) 978-1-9163965-8-6
Keywords:
My Voice, My Practice: Black Dance
My Voice, My Practice: Black Dance is an opportunity to listen to the voices of Black dance as they discuss their career history, technique, pedagogy and performance practice in their own words. The voices shared are of practitioners who have not been afraid to position and reposition their work, and to dismantle any perceptions of homogeneity when it comes to dance by, from and for the African and African Caribbean Diaspora. It explores a number of techniques including Talawa Technique™, hip-hop and Techni’ka, and how these are manifested in artistic practice.
Published during the first year of the pandemic and in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, it reflects on the changing face of dance during a time of grief and healing.
“Disability was signalled, but not embodied. I was again looking for a home in ways it did not yet exist; I wanted to find a disabled Blackness where both my race and disability expressed themselves equally… Now, I knew that the dance had to identify both Blackness and disability as meaningful symbolic life forms of the past and future.”
Alice Sheppard
Contributors:
Mele Broomes
Jonzi D
Gladys M Francis
Annabel Guérédrat
Ashanti Harris
Vicki Igbokwe
Rhea Lewis
Lénablou
Cynthia Oliver
Thomas Talawa Prestø
Alice Sheppard
Henri Tauliaut
Makeda Thomas
Eduardo Vilaro
Cover Credit: Dandara Amorim Veiga, Ballet Hispánico. Photographer Paula Lobo.
Publication Year: 2020
RRP: £21.99
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-1-913862-02-2
ISBN: (EPub) 978-1-913862-03-9
Keywords:
LDIF 10 Years in the Making
LDIF 10 Years in the Making dances beyond the boundaries of a single nation, charting the journey of Let’s Dance International Frontiers (LDIF). This transnational dance festival launches each year in Leicester, UK, on 29 April, International Dance Day and in 2020 celebrated its tenth anniversary. This limited edition publication was created seeking to recognise over 266 artists and dance companies from over 45 countries who had been part of the programme to that date.
Looking back to the festival’s origins, LDIF 10 Years in the Making looks at some of the key moments, performances, artists and collaborations from the festival’s ten-year history. Through stunning photographs, poetry and personal recollections, the legacy of LDIF is laid bare in celebration of this milestone.
“Dance so I may see you
Dance
so we become once more”
Thomas Prestø
Contributors:
Pawlet Brookes
Gladys M Francis
Thomas Talawa Prestø
Cover Credit: Design by The Unloved.
Publication Year: 2020
RRP: £40
ISBN: (special cover) 978-1-9163965-0-0
Keywords: Poetry Legacy Photography Dance
Reflections: Cultural Voices of Black British Irrepressible Resilience
Reflections is a publication that focuses on the contributions of Black people in arts, culture and heritage from a British and Afroeuropean perspective, rendering them visible. It explores historical and contemporary contexts and how these are expressed in various art forms.
Reflections brings together key voices who, covering a range of art forms from theatre and dance to classical music, to carnival and literature, showcase the Black British voice and identity. It explores the contribution that Black British artists have made in the UK and internationally, the changes that they have witnessed, and the impact of cultural politics and policy on shaping the arts sector as we know it.
“I’m not suggesting that challenging colonialism and its legacies are the primary or main goals of Black expressive culture, but I have argued throughout… that Black expressive culture has played a crucial role in such challenges.”
Stephen
Small
Contributors
Pawlet Brookes
Eddie Chambers
Philip Herbert
Carol Leeming
Tara Lopez
Maureen Salmon
Kadija Sesay
Stephen Small
Cover Credit: Portrait of a woman, Gugulethu, Cape Town, South Africa by Africa Images and Portrait Noir et Blanc by sy.thiero, Getty Images. Design by The Unloved.
Publication Year: 2020
RRP: £21.99
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-1-9163965-1-7
ISBN: (eBook) 978-1-913862-01-5
Keywords:
Creating Socially Engaged Art: Can Dance Change the World?
Black women have been at the heart of social justice movements and making positive change in their communities the world over and their impact to the international dance ecology is no different. This publication features the contributions of dance practitioners, who through their own activism and artistry, have brought to light untold issues and taboos, codified techniques, developed and raised the profile of dance from the African and African Caribbean Diaspora, and engaged with communities in innovative ways.
From personal reflections to practical solutions, this publication, born in a time of great cultural and political disturbance, is a testament to a community of Black women who transcending time zones and technology came together one day and planted seeds of hope, resilience and growth.
“Archivists, scholars, dancers, choreographers and so much more… We feed the world in so many ways as we develop dances that are recorded in time through our blood histories.”
Anita Gonzalez
Contributors:
Jeanette Bain-Burnett
Pawlet Brookes
Lizzy Cooper Davis
Anita Gonzalez
Chanon Judson
Wanjiru Kamuyu
Greta Mendez
Marlène Myrtil
Vivine Scarlett
Maya Taylor
Cover Credit: Photographer Melika Dez. Dancers Michael Jackson Jr, Renaldo Maurice, Kanji Segawa, Chalvar Monteiro, Vernard J Gilmore, Jermaine Terry, Jeroboam Bozeman, Samuel Lee Roberts, Michael F McBride. Le Louvre Museum, Paris.
Publication Year: 2021
RRP £21.99
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-1-913862-07-7
ISBN: (EPub) 978-1-913862-15-2
Keywords:
CREATING SOCIALLY ENGAGED ART: CAN DANCE CHANGE THE WORLD?
JEANETTE BAIN-BURNETT
LIZZY COOPER DAVIS
CHANON JUDSON
WANJIRŨ KAMŨYŨ
GRETA MENDEZ
MARLÈNE MYRTIL
VIVINE SCARLETT
MAYA TAYLOR
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ANITA GONZALEZ
PREFACE BY PAWLET BROOKES
Colonisation in Reverse: Jean-Léon Destiné
Jean-Léon Destiné was a significant contributor to the development of dance in Haiti and the USA, influencing contemporaries such as George Balanchine and Katherine Dunham, and saw his work showcased at Jacob’s Pillow and the international film festivals of Edinburgh and Venice. Although not widely acknowledged in the contemporary dance canon, his legacy as a choreographer and teacher, is one that radiates through the practice of many.
This publication complements and expands upon the digital exhibition, Colonisation in Reverse: Jean-Léon Destiné, with photographs and archival materials that bring Destiné’s rich and colourful career to life.
“Destiné was a purist. Destiné did not want to dilute his technique. He didn’t want to misinterpret or not be able to resource the origin of a movement… But what he did more importantly was to recognise the political climate in which work was being created, staged and promoted.”
Valerie J Rochon
Contributors:
Pawlet Brookes
Thomas Talawa Prestø
Valerie J Rochon
Cover Credit: Jean-Léon Destiné.
Photographer Jack Mitchell/Getty Images.
Publication Year: 2021
RRP: £10.99
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-1-913862-05-3
Keywords:
In Situ: Responding to Space, Place, People and Time
Dance can be anywhere, in a studio, on screen, in the streets, on a stage; dance can bring communities together, share lived experiences beyond barriers and express moments of joy. Dance can be a powerful tool for change, whether that is defining our own spaces, challenging the white gaze, responding to places of trauma, addressing that we are part of an ecosystem and environment, acknowledging our embodied histories and the moments in our lives that have shaped us, and honouring the legacies that we carry.
This publication brings together dance artists, practitioners and educators with a particular reference to the Caribbean, to share ideas and research as a part of a collective questioning exploring In Situ: Responding to Space, Place, People and Time.
“Being an artist is an in situ of its own. We come into our practice as an act of love and many times for us as an act of revolution.”
Eduardo Vilaro
Contributors:
Pawlet Brookes
Yinka Esi Graves
Annabel Guérédrat
John Hunte
Monique Jonas
Thomas Talawa Prestø
Henri Tauliaut
Makeda Thomas
Eduardo Vilaro
Cover Credit: Ashley Mayeux in Paris. Photographer Melika Dez.
Publication Year: 2022
RRP: £21.99
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-1-913862-13-8
ISBN: (EPub) 978-1-913862-14-5
Keywords:
ANNABEL GUÉRÉDRAT
YINKA ESI GRAVES
JOHN HUNTE
MONIQUE JONAS
THOMAS TALAWA PRESTØ
HENRI TAULIAUT
MAKEDA THOMAS
EDUARDO VILARO
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY PAWLET BROOKES
IN SITU: RESPONDING TO SPACE, PLACE, PEOPLE AND TIME
Moving Lines: Fifty Reasons to Dance
As illustrator-in-residence for Let’s Dance International Frontiers 2021, patricia vester transcends lines by questioning and challenging how dance connects us through the intergenerational encounters that have shaped us.
Featuring her responses to dance and movement, the publication is complemented by the thoughts, wisdom and reflections of international dancers, choreographers and practitioners, each offering their reason for dancing.
“I dance to connect and to reveal my honest self through meditative exhaustion.”
Cameron McKinney
Contributors:
patricia vester
Pawlet Brookes
50 international voices
Cover Credit: Illustration by patricia vester.
Publication Year: 2022
RRP: £10.99
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-1-913862-08-4
Keywords:
1981 – Black Liverpool Past and Present
1981 – Black Liverpool Past and Present is an insight into the history of Liverpool’s Black communities through the eyes of two Liverpudlians, Jimi Jagne and Stephen Small. Centred around the 1981 Uprising as a pinnacle moment, Jagne and Small contextualise Liverpool’s Black history before and after. In doing so, they recognise the people who have shaped Liverpool and their stories of resistance and self-determination.
“Black people have been living in Liverpool, in substantial numbers, for at least 300 years now. In fact, Liverpool’s Black community is hugely significant as it is evidently the oldest in the country.”
Jimi Jagne
Contributors:
Jimi Jagne
Stephen Small Pawlet Brookes
Cover Credit: Design by The Unloved.
Publication Year: 2022
RRP: £10.99 (print) | £7.99 (digital)
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-1-913862-09-1
ISBN: (eBook) 978-1-913862-10-7
Keywords:
Cultural Politics Pocket Book Black British Liverpool
1981 - BLACK LIVERPOOL PAST AND PRESENT
JIMI JAGNE AND STEPHEN SMALL WITH A PREFACE BY PAWLET BROOKES
A Wise Monkey Knows Which Tree to Climb
A Wise Monkey Knows Which Tree to Climb is a reflective analysis of decoloniality and steps that can be taken to apply this to arts practice and specifically dance. Thomas Talawa Prestø takes a considered approach, drawing on his own experiences and practice of the Talawa Technique™. It particularly pays attention to unpacking language and contemporary discourse around race.
“Often when we are speaking about decolonising, we are talking about decolonising western institutions. We seldom talk about what decolonising looks like from the Africana practitioner’s perspective. Decolonising then becomes yet another situation in which Black people are working for white institutions, usually for free. Dedicating and donating our time and efforts to make the institutions more viable, more sustainable and let’s be honest, more marketable.”
Thomas Talawa Prestø
Contributors:
Thomas Talawa Prestø Pawlet Brookes
Cover Credit: Design by The Unloved.
Publication Year: 2022
RRP: £10.99 (print) | £7.99 (digital)
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-1-913862-13-8
ISBN: (eBook) 978-1-913862-14-5
Keywords: Cultural Politics Pocket Book Race Dance
Souls and Solos, Duets and Dreams
Souls and Solos, Duets and Dreams is a collection of poetry written by Christian “Cubs the Poet” Davenport, whilst in residence at Let’s Dance International Frontiers 2023 (LDIF23). LDIF is a dance festival that takes place annually in Leicester, UK, produced by Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage. Launching each year on 29 April, International Dance Day, the festival is known for the particular profile it gives to dance from the African, African Caribbean and Latin America Diaspora.
i’ve seen roots become branches like locks unlocking the traumas of being told “sit still” when all we wanted was to dance.
Cubs the Poet
Contributors:
Christian Davenport
Pawlet Brookes
Cover Credit: Design by The Unloved.
Publication Year: 2023
RRP: £10.99 (print) | £7.99 (digital)
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-1-913862-16-9
ISBN: (eBook) 978-1-913862-17-6
Keywords: Cultural Politics Pocket Book Poetry Dance
SOULS AND SOLOS DUETS AND DREAMS
BY
CHRISTIAN “CUBS THE POET” DAVENPORT
BY PAWLET BROOKES
14/08/2023 11:37
Uncovering the Dance Within: Origins and Authenticity
Uncovering the Dance Within: Origins and Authenticity is an exploration of what it means to dance, told through the voices of dance practitioners from the African and African Caribbean Diaspora. The publication explores embodied practice, the impact of racial trauma of the body, but also the empowerment offered by movement vocabularies from the Diaspora and their use as a critical tool.
“As we move through our artistic lives we must pay attention to the impulses of our own bodies in motion, respond to the guidance of our mentors (I use respond because sometimes we resist our mentors as much as we follow their instructions), embrace our heritage and access our imagination through physical and mental practices. We want to keep all these streams healthy.”
Anita Gonzalez
Contributors:
Pawlet Brookes
Alexandria Davis
Christian Davenport
Anita Gonzalez
Freddy Houndekindo
Antoine Hunter
Cameron McKinney
Shamel Pitts
Thomas Talawa Prestø
Cover Credit: Christopher. Photographer Melika Dez.
Publication Year: 2023
RRP: £21.99
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-1-913862-18-3
ISBN: (EPub) 978-1-913862-19-0
Keywords: Diaspora Site Specific Technique Dance
Uncovering the Dance Within: Origins and Authenticity 11/10/2023
Uncovering the Dance Within: Origins and Authenticity
Pawlet Brookes
Alexandria Davis
Christian “Cubs the Poet” Davenport
Anita Gonzalez
Freddy Houndekindo
Antoine Hunter
Cameron McKinney
Shamel Pitts
Thomas Talawa Prestø
Intellectual Property Guide for Black Artists and Performers
The Intellectual Property Guide for Black Artists and Performers is produced by Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage in collaboration with Naomi Korn Associates. Leading experts in this area, recognise the need for clear guidance on intellectual property. The guide introduces copyright and performers’ rights, contracts, using others’ works, working with museums and galleries and creative commons licences.
Created by Naomi Korn Associates in partnership with Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage.
The Intellectual Property Guide for Black Artists and Performers was created as a part of Unearthed: Forgotten Histories, with funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Cover Credit: Kerry-Ann Henry Arsenio Calderon’s a Prayer. National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica.
Publication Year: 2023 Free | Available Digitally
Intellectual Property Guide for Black Artists and Performers
Camouflage: Embodied Dance
Camouflage: Embodied Dance is grounded in the insights of Black theorists, drawing from Édouard Glissant’s concept of the “right to opacity” and the paradox of Black women’s invisibility/hyper-visibility explored by bell hooks and others. Camouflage, a vital strategy for Black survival, takes on diverse forms across the Diaspora. This publication brings together reflections from various contributors who examine camouflage within their own artistic practice, addressing the complexities of the Black performing body, the histories it carries, and the transformative power of dance artists in sharing these narratives.
Contributors:
Pawlet Brookes
Nora chipaumire
Yinka Esi Graves
Tyron Isaac-Stuart
Carole Y Johnson
Makini
Peter Badejo
Marlon D Simms
Andrea E Woods Valdés
Cover Credit: Shade Thaxter, National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica. Photographer Edward Massias.
Publication Year: 2024
RRP: £21.99
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-1-913862-20-6
ISBN: (EPub) 978-1-913862-21-3
Keywords:
Peter A Badejo, Carole Y Johnson, Thomas Talawa Prestø, Makini, Marlon D Simms, tyroneisaacstuart, Andrea E Woods Valdés, with an Introduction by Pawlet Brookes
100 Black Women Who Have Made a Mark Catalogue
This beautiful publication features the portraits of 100 Black Women Who Have Made A Mark.
Curated by Pawlet Brookes MBE, CEO and Artistic Director of Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, the publication features 100 portraits of Black British women by visual artists Valerie Asiimwe Amani, Yvadney Davis, Gayle Ebose, Grace Lee and Lauryn Pinard. Each portrait is accompanied by the sitter’s biography providing a rich account of the Black women who have shaped life in the UK.
Cover Credit: patricia vester
Publication Year: 2024
RRP: £45
ISBN: (Hardback) 978-1-913862-22-0
Keywords:
Exhibition Black Women Portraits
BlackInk
BlackInk is an incisive magazine focusing on Black arts, heritage and cultural politics. Initially rooted in the events of 2020, BlackInk was established as a creative response. Now published each October for Black History Month, BlackInk brings together a range of interconnected international voices from across the African and African Caribbean Diaspora and Indigenous communities.
As a limited-edition high-quality art magazine, BlackInk showcases the work of national and international artists and writers. Each issue dedicates space to a particular artform, a key theme, emerging talent, new writing, interviews with creative practitioners and responses to events.
“Articles of real depth and insight with every turn of the page. Raises aspirations and points to forgotten histories.”
Nicholas Serota, Chair, Arts Council England
“A lot of the time we are so busy living life we are not seeing what’s happening around us.”
Vanley Burke
Contributors: Over 120 contributors, including:
Pauline Black
VV Brown
Beverley Bryan
Vanley Burke
Nora Chipaumire
Carolyn Cooper
Tyrone Huggins
Gus John
Roshini Kempadoo
Soweto Kinch
Mel Larsen
Kwame Nimako
Paulette Randall
Mark Sealy
Nyugen E Smith
Henri Tauliaut
patricia vester
Gina Yashere
Lola Young
Gary Younge
Publication Year: 2020 – Present (Published Each October)
Issues 1-3: £12.50 (print)| £10 (digital)
Issue 4: £15 (print)| £12 (digital)
Issue 5: £16 (print)| £12 (digital)
ISSN: (Paperback) 2634-4289
ISSN: (Digital) 2634-4270
Keywords: Cultural Politics Black Voices Heritage Art
Cover Credits:
I Will Take You with Me by patricia vester
Bundlehouse by Nyugen E Smith Chaman by Henri Tauliaut
The Islands by Mel Larsen
Geraldine’s Joy, portrait of Geraldine Connor and The First Muse, portrait of Fanny Eaton by Valerie Asiimwe Amani
“A people’s art is the genesis of their freedom”
Claudia Jones
Strive for Justice, portrait of Dorothy Kuya and An Ode to Leonora Stapleton by Yvadney Davis
Joy of the Carnival Queen, portrait of Carmen Beckford and Raceophillia portrait of Annie Yellowe Palma by Gayle Ebose
The Unknown Suffragette, portrait of Jessie M Soga and Beyond Containment, portrait of Claudia Jones by Grace Lee
Five-Finger Boogie, portrait of Winifred Atwell and Voice of the Voiceless, portrait of Una Marson, by Lauryn Pinard
Coming Soon 2025 Intersection: Diasporic Dialogues
Intersection: Diasporic Dialogues is centred in exploring the dance practices of the Diaspora across Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America. It initiates a conversation in culture, connections and collaborations forged through diverse socio-political environments with a shared global history. From Cuba and Colombia to Honduras and Haiti, Black presence has led to a diverse range of dance practices including kumina, kalinda, salsa, bachata, tango, son and merengue. However, Black erasure has also led to the appropriation and commercialisation of dance styles, removed from their ancestral connections. How do we connect the threads across the Diaspora to honour the past, present and future of Black dance in all its complexity?
Contributors:
Melissa Blanco Borelli
Pawlet Brookes
Anita Gonzalez
Diedre Nyota Dawkins
Torens L Johnson
Cláudia Nwabasili
Roges Doglas
Eduardo Vilaro
Melissa M Young
Cover Credit: Amir J Baldwin and Cori Lewis, Ballet Hispánico in Dance Creole by Geoffrey Holder. Photographer Benjamin Rivera.
Publication Year: 2025
RRP: £21.99
ISBN: (Paperback) 978-1-913862-24-4
ISBN: (EPub) 978-1-913862-25-1
Keywords:
Socio-Politics Diaspora Race Dance
Join Us!
Serendipity Connect is our membership scheme that offers exclusive benefits for those who are passionate about Black arts, culture and heritage.
Members have access to a range of events, exhibitions, and workshops, as well as discounts on tickets. They also receive our regular newsletter, which features news and updates about our latest projects, collections and collaborations.
What do Connect members enjoy?
• Monthly e-newsletter - giving you industry news, events and the latest opportunities in Black arts and heritage
• Priority booking - be first in line for the release of Let’s Dance International Frontiers, Annual Windrush Day Lecture and Black History Month tickets
• Discounts on tickets - Connect members enjoy 20% off our performances and 15% off masterclasses and screenings
• Invitations to members events for a chance to network with industry specialists and other members
• On Demand access to our Digital BlackCentric platform - members can login anytime to catch up on over 15 hours of films, discussions and podcasts
By becoming a Connect member, you will be joining a vibrant community of artists, industry leaders and specialists who are dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion in arts and heritage. You will have the opportunity to attend exclusive members-only events, meet like-minded people, and support our work in promoting Black arts and heritage.
Connect membership starts at £70 per year/£6.50 per month SERENDIPITY-UK.COM/CONNECT
Image Credit: Ballet Hispánico’s Shelby Colona and Mark Gieringer in CARMEN.maquia
Photo by Marius Fiskum/Northern Lights Festival.
Image Credit: Cia Pé No Mundo in Ato Perene. Photographer Clarissa Lambert.
Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage
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Charity number in England and Wales 1160035