Vanguard Issue 8 - Winter 2024

NO. 8 WINTER 2024

100 BLACK WOMEN WHO HAVE MADE A MARK

INTERVIEW WITH: JAMAAL BURKMAR

UNSPOKEN: AFRICAN DIALOGUES

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Cover Photo Credit: Darius Drooh - Jonas Yuan

Editor-in-chief

Pawlet Brookes MBE

Research

Georgina Payne, Heather Saunders, Hafsa Hirsi and Amy Grain

Vanguard c/o Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage 21 Bowling Green Leicester LE1 6AS CL00.14, Clephan Building De Montfort University The Gateway Leicester LE1 9BH

+44(0)116 482 1394 info@serendipity-uk.com

WWW.SERENDIPITY-UK.COM

CONTENTS 5

Editor's Welcome Pawlet Brookes MBE

ARTS AND CULTURE 6

100 Black Women Who Have Made a Mark

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Spotlight on LDIF24: Signatures and Black British Dance Platform

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Interview with: Jamaal Burkmar

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A Career of Resilience: Navigating Dance when you don’t Fit in Djoe Tomakloe

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Continued Professional Development: Black British Dance and Performance: Impact, Voice and Gaze HERITAGE

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Unspoken: African Dialogues Hafsa Hirsi

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The Living Archive presents: The Reference Library NEWS

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Events and Festivals

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CAMOUFLAGE: EMBODIED DANCE 29 APRIL - 4 MAY 2024

FEATURING

NATIONAL DANCE THEATRE COMPANY OF JAMAICA

SERENDIPITY-UK.COM Image: Kerry-Ann Henry in Chris Walker's Mountain Climbing for National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica

EDITOR'S WELCOME Pawlet Brookes MBE

Welcome to this issue of Vanguard. This edition explores the achievements of Black British women and highlights the significance of intergenerational performance and resilience in the dance industry.

2023 was another strong year for Serendipity with the launch of 100 Black Women, a project celebrating the stories of Black British women who have made a positive change across arts, education, technology, science and community activism. We are excited to have five artists capturing the stories of 100 women who deserve their recognition in British and Irish history, working towards an exhibition in Black History Month 2024.

Also in this issue, an interview with Jamaal Burkmar highlights his latest work, How To Build A Universe. We hear about his decision to incorporate intergenerational performers into this piece and the value of improvisation in his creative process.

Veteran performer, Djoe Tomakloe has shared his experience as a dancer and the challenges he has overcome throughout his career. Featuring in this year’s Black British Dance Platform for Let’s Dance International Frontiers (LDIF24), Tomakloe is a fantastic example of resilience and provides inspiration for those facing challenges in the dance industry.

Finally, in this issue we hear from our Heritage Team with a paper about the current exhibition, African Dialogues, drawing attention to the hidden realities of the African Diaspora that are so often overlooked by society. The work explores the timeline of colonialism and African countries' struggle towards independence and works to dissipate the misconceptions associated with migration trends.

We hope you enjoy this edition of Vanguard and we look forward to enjoying our 2024 programme with you.

Image Credit: Pawlet Brookes. Photographer Matt Glover

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100 BLACK WOMEN WHO HAVE MADE A MARK On International Women’s Day in March 2023, Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage launched an exciting new project, 100 Black Women Who Have Made A Mark, celebrating the stories of Black British women who have made a positive change, whether it be across arts, education, technology, science or community activism. Following a public consultation and an open call, 100 Black women have been selected to have their portrait created by one of five visual artists.

Collectively, the artworks will be shared in a city-wide exhibition at Leicester Gallery from 1 October 2024 – 4 January 2025.

100 Black women and five visual artists were shortlisted by a selection panel of Sandra Pollock OBE, founder of the Women’s Awards, which recognises women’s achievements across industry sectors; of photographer, media artist and scholar, Roshini Kempadoo; and of Pawlet Brookes MBE, CEO and Artistic Director of Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage. Those selected offer a reflection of women across a range of professions and occupations who are deserving of recognition, whether they are a familiar face on stage or screen, a pioneer in research breakthroughs, or have worked quietly behind the scenes to make a positive change to their community.

There is a particular focus on Black women with a connection to the UK and include household names alongside quiet leaders including sporting trailblazers, artistic directors, school principals, legal experts, politicians, community champions, medical practitioners, artists, actors, educators and entrepreneurs.

The names of the 100 Black Women Who Have Made A Mark will be announced in due course.

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The five artists who will between them create 100 portraits are: Valerie Asiimwe Amani Tanzanian born, UK based interdisciplinary artist and writer, Asiimwe Amani has exhibited internationally including group shows in Lagos, Paris, Cape Town and Leipzig and solo work at Alliance Francaise, Dar es Salaam and South London Gallery in collaboration with the Roberts Institute of Art. Amani holds a MFA from The Ruskin School of Art. She is the recipient of the 2021 Ashmolean Museum Vivien Leigh Prize for a work on paper and winner for the 2022 Ingram Art Prize. Her work has been featured by Art Monthly, Hyperallergic and the BBC. Yvadney Davis A figurative multi-media artist from London whose work is a love letter to her British Caribbean experience, Davis Self-taught, her art has transformed from a hobby to an award-winning practice, which includes exhibitions, commissions and, most importantly, connects the nostalgia and joy of the Windrush Generation with its descendants. Key exhibitions and projects include: ING Discerning Eye, M&C Saatchi x Harrods, Casild Art, Evening Standard, Art Seen, Colours of Art School and Road Chef.

Shortlisted for RA Summer Exhibition and John Moore’s Painting Prize.

Gayle Ebose Born and bred in London, Ebose studied Broadcast Journalism at Nottingham Trent University and a few years later received her postgraduate in Fine Art Painting at Camberwell College of Arts at the University of Arts London. Ebose has exhibited in galleries across London including the Saatchi Gallery and Copeland Gallery.

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Grace Lee A multidisciplinary artist of Jamaican and Scottish heritage from Sheffield, Lee creates vibrant pieces inspired by the biodiversity of nature, well-being and the African Caribbean Diaspora. Lee is a Delphian Gallery Open Call Winner 2023 and has exhibited with Monaverse Lisbon, The Museum of Colour (Manchester Poetry Library, Bodleian Libraries and Pitt’s River Museum) and the Hagtitude exhibition at The Gallery 54 in Mayfair.

Lauryn Pinard Pinard is a London-based Franco-Haitian cross-disipline artist spanning phtogorapher, filmmaker, researcher and dance artist whose practice engages with the body as archive. She was Artist-inResidence at Academy Mews Dance Studio in autumn 2022 and premiered her film series Moun Dlo as part of the Dancing with Decolonisation 2022 conference. She received the Best Independent Practice and Performance Project Prize 2023 and was finalist for the Black Impact Academic Excellence Award in 2020.

100 Black Women Who Have Made A Mark is possible with the support of the Freelands Foundation’s Space to Dream Fund, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England and Leicester City Council.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY FRIDAY 8 MARCH, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM Join this roundtable discussion and hear from the five visual artists working on the project. The first round of the selected 100 Black women from across Britain and Ireland will also be announced!

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LDIF24 SPOTLIGHT: SIGNATURES AND BLACK BRITISH DANCE PLATFORM Signatures and the Black British Dance Platform come together to showcase emerging dancers and choreographers locally, nationally and internationally for a unique mixed bill performance.

Signatures Led by Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, Signatures showcases the best in international emerging dance practice, nurturing 78 artists over the last fourteen years.

This year selected artists demonstrate innovative practice connecting across the African Diaspora and Europe.

Woven Mystery Clemence Oliver (France/Tanzania) Death of The Bachelors BlacBrik (UK)

Black British Dance Platform A collaboration between Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage and FABRIC, the Black British Dance Platform has a strategic aspiration to support and nurture dance artists from the African and African Caribbean Diaspora who are based in the UK, with an ambition to present work internationally. The platform supports the aims of cultivating a sector that is representative of contemporary Britain. Now entering its fourth year, previous participants include Fubunation, Dani Harris Walters, Seren Marimba, Walker Movement Theatre Company, Cherilyn Albert, Chad Taylor, Blake Arts and Rose Aïda Sall Sao. This year the platform presents two new pieces of work.

Let Freedom Ring Djoe Tomakloe (UK) Negus Genesis Toussaint to Move (Jamaica/UK)

Photo credit: Negus Genesis. Toussaint to Move

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AN INTERVIEW WITH: JAMAAL BURKMAR What is How To Build A Universe about and what was your inspiration for the piece?

How To Build A Universe is a show about making shows. It’s about the first blank page, an empty white walled studio, a solo metronome ticking in a room filled with instruments. The show is an exploration of my relationship to the unseen and unspoken ‘rules’ of creation that are steeped in known and unknown biases.

Why did you decide this piece should be intergenerational? Does it feature your mother because of her dance experience?

I’d say my first desire was to make this piece in such a way that anyone could interact with it. When I was a student and then when I was a younger graduate, I really felt the weight of what ‘dance was supposed to look like’. That weight may have been imposed on me by others, it may have been imposed on me by myself, but it’s become a weight I've wanted to unburden myself from for a long time.

Welcoming guests into this work, regardless of age, background, ability is another step in creating a place for myself that anyone can come and be a part of.

Asking my mum to perform in our premiere felt like the most apt way to begin our tour.

It actually has little to do with her dance experience and all to do with literally everything else.

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How has your mother influenced you in your career?

There isn’t a career with my mother.

There’s 4 Burkmar children. There’s no career for any of us without our mother.

How valuable is spontaneity to your work?

Crucial. Not only in my work but in my relationship to this industry. Our relationship to improvisation keeps things feeling constantly alive. But it’s also the silent long periods of staring at blank walls that have allowed me to constantly refresh my ideas of how and why I choose to be an artist.

How significant is your choice of music in How To Build A Universe?

Music is pretty much the only thing that’ll get me into a studio, so it’s pretty significant with any work I make. I’ve worked with my brother on this project to create a text based score for this show, alongside more wonderful music from Jameszoo. Ultimately, I don’t have too much to say about it, music says something for me that I don't quite know how to put into words, so its existence in each work is difficult to explain.

How To Build A Universe is showing at The Place on Friday 1 and Saturday 2 March. Book online.

Image credit: How To Build A Universe.

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DJOE TOMAKLOE

Career of Resilience: Navigating Dance when you don’t Fit in Heather Saunders Describing his dance style as a fusion of contemporary and African dance mixed with classic ballet, Djoe Tomakloe began his dance career ‘body popping’ in the streets of Leicester during the 1970s and 1980s. A regular at the reggae dance halls of the time, Tomakloe grew up with African Caribbean Reggae and R’n’B, and was initially inspired by robotics and acrobatics that was so popular during this time on for Northern School of Contemporary Dance where he began his formal training.

Focusing on strength, Tomakloe is a product of the Martha Graham technique and form in the fluidity of his performances; the ‘mechanics’ of the body fast became his signature dance style.

Now in his sixties, his extensive career is a varied one drawing on a range of influences, particularly from West African dance. He is an admirer of Bode Lawal and H Patten and is proud to have worked with Peter Badejo and Jackie Guy among so many others.

Early influences came from Earle Robinson and Morris Gilmore in his hometown of Leicester. This led to performances at the Phoenix Theatre and Haymarket Theatre in the city, along with a showcase at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. There he met Kate Hutchinson and Judy Webb, further influencing him to audition for Northern School of Contemporary Dance where he began his formal training.

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Bolaji Badejo, H Patten, Djoee Tomakloe - Black Dance Development Trust, Black Dance Summer School - Photographer unkown

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Resilience in dance Tomakloe describes himself as ‘haphazard’ and the same could be said for his journey through dance. A mixture of street culture and classical training, he is a ‘free spirit’ happy to pursue opportunities but not easily pinned down or changed. When Morris Gilmore suggested he should go to France to study mime, he also commented that ‘he may not like the dance world’ because ‘you don’t always listen’.Tomakloe admits that there was some truth to this, best shown when he temporarily left his training at Northern School of Contemporary Dance. He puts this behaviour down to his youth and the sheer energy, driving him to chase prospects in London.

Resilience in the dance industry is extremely important, the industry is notoriously tough with constant judgement and high expectations. ‘You have to chase opportunities and face large auditions for commercial work.’

Tomakloe also feels that Black style from the streets can often be penalised when up against more formally recognised techniques.

Tomakloe was able to push-through in the dance world but at times felt ‘isolated’ with his alternative approach.

His ‘streetwise’ grounding proved very different to what was expected from a formally trained performer. His abilities were often challenged and he had to prove his capabilities above and beyond what was expected of his peers.

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Forever chasing opportunities and auditioning can be difficult but the real challenge for Tomakloe was not fitting into the recognised stereotype of a male in the dance industry. When asked to ‘remove his shirt’ at an audition for London Contemporary Dance School, he was left confused and uncomfortable.

Other dancers seemed much more at ease in the ‘flamboyant world’ where you are expected to be ‘spectacular’ in both performance and style.

He is not homosexual and his ‘streetwise’ traits can make him more confrontational than his more ‘eloquent’ counterparts. Furthermore, ‘gender issues’ as he calls them, and aspects of sexuality are often ‘protected’ and any issues concerned have consequences.

This is not always the case with racial issues. In Tomakloe’s experience racial prejudices are far easier to dismiss and overlook.

I asked if he felt that anything had changed during his career. Tomakloe feels that the majority of the dance industry remains the same, it’s extremely competitive and dominated by this stereotype. ‘Black style’ from the streets is still prevalent and can cause problems when auditioning for traditional roles.

However, opportunities are now more accessible with widespread advertising now done online. Having said that, Tomakloe feels there are more dancers out there and tv production has improved, but the audition process is still as gruelling as ever.

Advice for the younger generation starting out in the dance industry Creatives often lack managerial skills and need help with the administration behind their career. A business mind is needed to bring things together and structure the work around the creativity and art being produced. Tomakloe feels that this can be difficult to find and the right partnership is important to get ahead in the industry. He was very ‘lucky’ to work with his wife, Aisha Kibibi, who was his administrator for most of his career.

Furthermore, as an individual, a Black performer can find a way through the industry but a Black group of creatives can face more challenges when navigating larger institutions.

Young performers can often lack structure and the funds to operate in the commercial dance industry. American rappers such as 50 Cent can afford to self-produce and promote their art.

Tomakloe stresses that being financially stable can give you the ‘financial capacity to retain your work and protect it.’ Without this, considerable problems can occur.

Future plans and ambitions Tomakloe is currently back in his home city of Leicester making the most of the creative opportunities and connections.

He is keen to teach and pass on his technical skills to the younger generation, providing encouragement and advice.

Despite the barriers and challenges out there, he would always be a dancer.

Image credit: Djoe Tomakloe in Let Freedom Ring. Photographer: Georgina Payne.

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CONTINUED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Black British Dance and Performance: Impact, Voice and Gaze Georgina Payne

Black British Dance and Performance: Impact, Voice and Gaze, an eight-week online course that will examine and explore Black dance from a British perspective, provided by Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage.

The course aims to further participants’ knowledge of how language, terminology and representation within the media and cultural practice affect the artistic and sociopolitical landscape within the UK and internationally; also to explore funding bodies, legislations and policies that come into play as an artist who creates culturally diverse work and develops audiences.

Over the years Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage has been at the forefront of learning and is proud to collaborate with educators at schools, colleges and universities to offer a range of training and meaningful engagements around Black dance and heritage from the African, African Caribbean and LatinX community where it meets Diaspora, and this online course is no exception.

Serendipity has crafted a dedicated platform that will enhance your overall learning experience throughout this course.

You will receive over 180 hours of taught sessions, a reading list, access to creative films, a handbook for further reading, and links to subject areas.

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Each week has several modules, and participants are required to engage in various self-directed learning tasks that will need to be completed to progress through the course. Course tasks will consist of writing, researching, engaging in discussions, going to see a performance in mainstream and non-mainstream venues, to creating your piece of work that will be shared during the final week of the course.

Throughout the eight weeks, you will be taught by Pawlet Brookes MBE, CEO and Artistic Director of Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, with insights from pioneers of Black dance including Thomas Prestø, Artistic Director of Tabanka Dance Ensemble and the Talawa Technique , Joan Myers Brown, Founder of Philidanco! and the International Association of Blacks in Dance (IABD), L’Antoinette Stines, Founder of L’Acadco and creator of L’Antech, and Sharon Watson MBE Principal of Northern School of Contemporary Dance. The course will be assessed by Tony Graves, former Associate Professor and Head of Subject, Arts and Festivals Management at De Montfort University.

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Black British Dance and Performance: Impact, Voice and Gaze will launch on Tuesday 24 September 2024 and run until Tuesday 12 November 2024. The final Tuesday of the course will be an in-person event, where we will share creative digital work that was tasked within the course and host a discussion around programming diverse work. For those participants who are unable to be at the in-person event, there will be the option to still engage and be a part of the session by live streaming.

The full course price is a one-time fee of £275; this covers all course sessions, additional course content, and the inperson event. To register your interest in the course please visit Serendipityuk.com/training.

Serendipity Connect members save up to 20% on the course price.

Image credit: African American student watching online course. Photgrapher: Barbara Lorena Vergara from Getty Images

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UNSPOKEN: AFRICAN DIALOGUES Hafsa Hirsi Digital Archivist for Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage The Unspoken African Dialogue opened for private viewing at Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage on 18 January 2024. The aim of the exhibition is to draw attention to the hidden realities of the African Diaspora that are frequently disregarded by society at large. The themes explored are a synthesis of Diaspora-wide issues that shed light on current challenges and the casualties of significant concerns pertaining to the continent and its relationship to the United Kingdom. The exhibition will delve deeper into the historical timeline of colonialism and African countries' struggle towards independence. Although the exhibition will detail Africa's historical colonial legacy, it will additionally explore contemporary aspects that have developed from the continent's post-colonial environment, that has been established through political, social and environmental circumstances.

Migration is a prevalent subject in the exhibition, which demonstrates the extraordinary people who comprise a significant component of British art and culture. Notable figures such as Peter Badejo are juxtaposed with historic newspapers that convey the way African immigrants were received in Britain and how they propagate an adverse connotation regarding their immigration.

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Image credit: Courtesy of Serendipity.

The exhibition focuses on various matters, including the unspoken narrative of the politics underpinning Africa's post-independent reality and the current implications on the continent. The photographs on display feature Idi Amin, the President of Uganda, who is regarded as one of the most unjust leaders in contemporary history. He symbolises authoritarianism and unconstitutional governance in the African continent, which is contrasted by Nelson Mandela's inspirational quote about his fight for equality and the end of apartheid in South Africa. His sentiment in the exhibition inspires hope and depicts the achievements of Africans in that century.

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Understanding the intricate and

This exhibition transcends expectations

nuanced details of African culture and

and tackles crucial topics in a well-

religion depends substantially on its art

curated and stimulating approach.

and creative expression. This is demonstrated by the African masks on exhibit, among which the two displayed

Visit our exhibition and join us for an

represent the religious and cultural

intriguing and enriching experience.

manifestations of West African civilisation.

The exhibition's segment on British Africans in Contemporary Culture finalises the theme of the exhibition through highlighting well-known figures from British media that emanate their African identity in their creative endeavours and serve as exemplars for those in the African Diaspora.

By exposing the hidden reality encountered by African immigrants to the UK, the exhibition seeks to dispel commonly held misconceptions surrounding migration trends.

The exhibition's significance is rooted in having the capacity to provide viewers with an in-depth comprehension of the silent discourse that exists within African political and cultural life. It also celebrates the successes of the continent, serves as an encouragement, and as a source of inspiration to the African community.

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PODCASTS

Black Manifesto! Series 2 Released monthly, nora chipaumire envisages ten more commandments of the Black Manifesto, that recognise not just a moment in time, but a continued need to keep action and activism alive.

Access the series

Image credit: nora chipamire , Black History Month 2018. Photo credit: OsborneHollis

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REFERENCE LIBRARY The Living Archive is delighted to launch their Reference Library. This collection of publications is available at the Serendipity office, exclusively to Connect members.

Please get in touch to arrange a visit.

Titles include: Rediscovering Black Portraiture (2023) Peter Brathwaite Life Between Islands: Caribbean British Art, 1950s - Now (2021) David A. Bailey Island Possessed (1969) Katherine Dunham Black Dance (1989) Edward Thorpe Africa is Not a Country: Breaking Stereotypes of Modern Africa (2023) Dipo Faloyin Voices of the Windrush Generation: The real story told by the people themselves (2018) David Matthews Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain (1984) Peter Fryer Speak Out! The Brixton Black Women's Group (2023) Milo Miller Dispatches from the Diaspora: From Nelson Mandela to Black Lives Matter (2023) Gary Younge The Christena Disaster Forty-Two Years Later: Looking Backward, Looking Forward (2013) Whitman T. Browne

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EVENTS AFROFUTURISM AND CLIMATE JUSTICE: ARTIST-LED EXHIBITION TOUR FRIDAY 16 FEBRUARY, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM AUTOGRAPH, RIVINGTON PLACE, LONDON EC2A 3BA, UK Utilising aspects of Afrofuturism and mysticism, artist Wilfred Ukpong creates compelling and poetic reflections on the crisis of environmental degradation and exploitation in the Niger Delta. Drawing on historical and personal archives, ecology politics and indigenous environmentalism, his work demonstrates how artmaking can be used as a tool for social empowerment and to confront continued, aggressive colonial practices.

Join us at the gallery for an artist led response to the large-scale mixed media photographs and performance-based films featured in Wilfred Ukpong: Niger-Delta / Future-Cosmos exhibition.

More information

BLACKCHAT: EXPERIENCES OF BLACK WOMEN IN THE BRITISH EDUCATION SYSTEM WITH APRIL-LOUISE PENNANT THURSDAY 29 FEBRUARY, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM DIALOGUE BOX, 21 BOWLING GREEN STREET, LEICESTER LE1 6AS, UK How do Black girls and women experience education in Britain? Due to the lack of attention given to Black female students, little is known about how they understand and engage with the education system, or the influences that shape their long-term strategies and decision-making in order to gain educational “success”.

Dr April-Louise Pennant is a sociologist who works in education and social justice and has a particular interest in how identities, social class, gender, ethnicity, culture and race intersect to shape and influence individuals, the ways they interact with others and how they navigate within society. She is also conducting history, heritage and memory research as a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow.

Full details

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY : 100 BLACK WOMEN WHO HAVE MADE A MARK FRIDAY 8 MARCH, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM DIALOGUE BOX, 21 BOWLING GREEN STREET, LEICESTER LE1 6AS, UK 100 Black Women Who Have Made A Mark celebrates the stories of Black women who have made a positive change, whether it be across arts, education, technology, science or community activism.

This roundtable conversation will be an opportunity to hear from the five visual artists working on the project ahead of the exhibition in October. It will also be an opportunity to be the first to find out who has been selected as sitters for this project featuring the portraits of 100 Black women from across Britain and Ireland.

More information

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DANCING BEYOND BORDERS SATURDAY 16 MARCH, 7.30 PM DALLAS BLACK DANCE THEATRE W.E. SCOTT THEATRE, 1300 GENDY ST, FORT WORTH, TX 76107 DBDT: Encore! transcends borders and boundaries in a stunning display of contemporary modern dance.

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HERITAGE DAY: REPATRIATION OF ARTEFACTS FROM MUSEUMS WEDNESDAY 20 MARCH, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM DIALOGUE BOX, 21 BOWLING GREEN STREET, LEICESTER LE1 6AS, UK British museums and heritage institutions are grappling with facing the colonial origins of the collections they care for and the calls for reparations through the repatriation of artefacts to their country of origin. Although a handful of museums and heritage institutions have returned artefacts, there are institutions who continue to argue the case for why repatriation of artefacts is not an option.

Serendipity’s Collections Archivist and Digital Archivist will focus on the issue of repatriation, how the heritage sector is currently approaching Britain’s colonial past and what the approach should be going forward.

Full details

LET’S DANCE INTERNATIONAL FRONTIERS 2024 LAUNCH RAUL REINOSO, ACOSTA DANZA MONDAY 29 APRIL, 7.00PM THE CITY ROOMS, LEICESTER, UK To celebrate International Dance Day and the launch of Let’s Dance International Frontiers 2024, dancer and choreographer Raul Reinoso of Acosta Danza explores, by the processes of creolisation, the foundation of African Caribbean culture.

UNBUNTU is an exploration of the connections of Diaspora, how surviving and thriving in new territories is necessitated by assimilation, appropriation and adaptation. Intentionally spelt this way, UNBUNTU encapsulates the spirit of the Bantu philosophy of humanity, Ubuntu, “I am because ‘we’ are” in juxtaposition with the reality of the continued exploration of unity and nuance across the African and African Caribbean Diaspora. With the passage over oceans, languages change, but the connection to African heritage remains. Simultaneously, the title plays on the institutionalised perspective of the United Nations, the “UN” as the forum for humanity and peace.

More about the event

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LDIF24 - CONFERENCE CAMOUFLAGE: EMBODIED DANCE TUESDAY 30 APRIL, 10.00AM – 5.00PM PHOENIX, LEICESTER, UK The conference for Let’s Dance International Frontiers 2024 explores the theme of Camouflage: Embodied Dance. This annual gathering of artists, activists and practitioners has established a growing reputation as a leading voice and home for Black dance.

Contributors include: nora chipaumire (Zimbabwe/USA), Yinka Esi Graves (UK/Spain), Tyrone IsaacStuart (UK), Carole Y Johnson (USA/Australia), Makini (USA), Peter Badejo (Nigeria/UK), Marlon D Simms (Jamaica) and Andrea E Woods Valdés (USA).

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COCKTAILS AND CONVERSATION WITH MARLON SIMMS SATURDAY 4 MAY, 6.00PM – 7.00PM LEICESTER, UK A reception to celebrate National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica’s performances as part of Let’s Dance International Frontiers 2024 and meet the company’s artistic director, Marlon Simms.

More about the event

ANNUAL WINDRUSH DAY LECTURE BLACK FEMALE ACADEMICS’ HEALTH AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MARKERS: THE IMPACT OF SERENITY WITH PROFESSOR LISA-DIONNE MORRIS SATURDAY 22 JUNE, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM DIALOGUE BOX, 21 BOWLING GREEN STREET, LEICESTER LE1 6AS, UK The lecture titled Black Female Academics’ Health and Psychological Markers: The Impact of Serenity aims to delve into the necessity, effects, and influence of a state of tranquillity, calmness, or peacefulness, commonly known as “serenity of thought”, provided to Black females by other Black females working in academia. This exploration seeks to better understand the consequences and outcomes arising from the experience of Black females in a non-serene workforce and work environment.

During the lecture, Morris will utilise Data Science and Design Science to explore how a peaceful and serene mindset can positively impact the mental health, reduce stress, and enhance the overall emotional well-being of Black females in academia. This exploration includes understanding how a calm and focused state of mind might contribute to increased productivity and creativity in the work or daily activities of Black females. Additionally, Morris will examine the potential positive effects of serenity on physical health and discuss how maintaining a sense of tranquillity can influence and improve relationships, fostering better communication and understanding.

Full details

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Image credit: Nahum McLean - Nick Guttridge