Pawlet awarded an MBE
Pawlet Brookes, the Founder, CEO and Artistic Director of Serendipity – Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, has been awarded an MBE for services to the arts and cultural diversity…
Read more…
Save The Last Dance For Us
The official countdown to the Let’s Dance International Frontiers has begun! Celebrating 9 years of LDIF, Serendipity is getting ready Serendipity is gearing up for its 9year of LDIF. Marking…
Read more…
Japans homeless banish despair through dance
Marking the Start of National Homeless awareness week, Serendipity looks back on the Japanese dance troupe, who rose from the streets. Quite literally. Just two years after the legalisation of…
Read more…
Dancers of the world unite for World Kindness.
On World Kindness day, groups from across the world join together to perform Flashmobs, thousands of people, dancing to the same song, at the same time, separated by continents but…
Read more…
Calling all dancers!
Do you love to dance or choreograph? Do you want to perform on an international stage? Look no further. In just two days’ time, applications will close for The Signatures…
Read more…
BHM Film Programme
This year the theme for Black History Month is Seen and Not Heard: Black Women, tying in with 2018 being the year of the women. This theme gives Serendipity the chance to…
Read more…
LDIF18 Round-Up
It’s been over a week since the final event of Let’s Dance International Frontiers 2018 and I think we can safely say it was one of the most successful so…
Read more…
LDIF18: Meet Namron
Down to our final count down for LDIF18! While we pride ourselves on giving opportunities to up and coming artist we are also very excited to welcome an artist…
Read more…
LDIF18 Launch: Meet Nora Chipaurmire
LDIF18 Launch: Meet Nora Chipaumire With LDIF18 just over a week away, we cannot wait to celebrate International Dance Day at the 2Funky Music Café on the 29 April.…
Read more…
What Should you Expect from Germaine Acogny in LDIF 2018
We have just 13 weeks to go before we celebrate International Dance day on the 29 April! But most importantly with 13 weeks to go until the launch LDIF 2018,…
Read more…
What is LDIF all about?
Hello Everyone! Happy New Year and all that jazz! Hope everyone is having a great year so far, especially with the upcoming and long-awaited Let’s Dance International Frontiers 2018! Today…
Read more…
What can you as a performer gain from Serendipity events?
Hi guys! As one of the new interns working with Serendipity for the next six weeks, one of my roles includes taking over the blog and getting to share some…
Read more…
Lost Legends: Artist Directory
Lost Legends is calling out to local artists to get involved and showcase their work. A new online directory that highlights local talent and artists from the African and African…
Read more…
LDIF17 Round Up
Hello Readers, WOW! I cannot believe that it has already been two weeks since the launch of Let’s Dance International Frontiers 2017. The programme this year was jam packed…
Read more…
Lost Legends: Project Update April 2017
Serendipity are proud to present and launch the new section of the website focused on Leicester’s Lost Legends, the African and African Caribbean community. 2017 celebrates the 30th anniversary of…
Read more…
LDIF17 Launch: Celebrating International Dance Day with Urban Bush Women and George Caldwell
International Dance Day is celebrated yearly on the 29 April. The intention of the International Dance Day Message is to celebrate dance, revel in the universality of this art form,…
Read more…
What is Jookin?
Ahead of Let’s Dance International Frontiers 2017 I have had the privileged of interviewing Phoebe Driscoll Director of Pharaohs of Memphis. This is Phoebe’s international premier in the UK! What…
Read more…
A creative educational course is born
On March 3-5, 2017, Developing your choreographic voice is the first creative programme of its kind which Serendipity has co-ordinated. As a participant myself, I can assure our readers to…
Read more…
Two-days left to book!!! Developing your choreographic voice
To all dancers, choreographers, and performance artists. There are two days left to book ladies and gentlemen. Developing your choreographic voice residency is a residency happening at Curve on…
Read more…
Why is Continued Professional Development (CPD) important to your career?
Hello Readers, As I write this post, I am currently on my third-year, studying BA Hons Dance at De Montfort University (DMU). Before starting my course, I used to think…
Read more…
TWO DAY COURSE WITH JAWOLE WILLA JO ZOLLAR
Jawole Willa Jo Zollar and the members of Urban Bush Women Company are offering not just one but a two-day course focused on a series of practical masterclasses and discussions…
Read more…
LDIF17 Launch: A Night to Remember…
Dear friends, I would like to invite you to the launch of Let’s Dance International Frontiers on Saturday 29 April, International Dance Day, at the Mercure Leicester, The Grand Hotel…
Read more…
Signatures Catch-Up: Dan Daw
With a New Year comes a new LDIF programme, and with a new LDIF programme comes a plethora of performers for the Signatures event. As always, we are keen…
Read more…
Three is a magic number…
*Calling all future choreographers! You are in for a real treat! Three choreographers, all hailing from different parts of the world are teaming up to lead an intensive weekend of…
Read more…
Lost Legends: Missing BHM Brochures
The Serendipity team are still searching for BHM brochures for the years: 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2004. So start…
Read more…
LDIF17: Philadanco!
We have some exciting news for you all! Joan Myers Brown founder of Philadanco who we had the pleasure of meeting at Re:Generations conference is coming back to the UK…
Read more…
Triumph, Trials and Turn Out – My New Life at Laban
Hello again, avid readers of the Serendipity Blog! It feels great to be back on this platform after having started it in January and then leaving it to rest post BA…
Read more…
Lost Legends ignites passions in first Call Out session
Saturday 1 October was the first Call Out event for the Lost Legends project. The aim of the day was for people involved in the project to meet members of…
Read more…
‘Lost Legends’ and Leicester…
Black History Month was launched in London on African Liberation day in 1987, meaning Black History Month will be 30 years old next year. In Leicester we will be celebrating,…
Read more…
The End of the Blog?
This blog was set up as part of my study at De Montfort University to investigate the effectivity of dance blogging as a means of supporting e-commerce. My time posting for…
Read more…
Interview | Urban Bush Women’s Jawole Willa Jo Zollar
Today I had an amazing Skype chat in the Serendipity office with Urban Bush Women’s founder and artistic director Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. She spoke eloquently about her inspirations, her company…
Read more…
Interview | Funmi Adewole & British Black Women In Dance
The other day I had a fantastic interview with international dance academic and lecturer Funmi Adewole about the current circumstances for Black women in the British dance industry. Funmi has…
Read more…
Misty Causing a Storm in USA
On Thursday 5 May, A Ballerina’s Tale: Misty Copeland will have it’s UK premiere at Phoenix Cinema, Leicester. It is a documentary featuring the career of African-American ballerina Misty Copeland and her…
Read more…
29 April – Let’s Dance International Frontiers Launch!
The launch for this year’s Let’s Dance International Frontiers will be held at Leicester’s New Walk Museum on Friday 29 April marking the International Dance Day, which links Leicester with celebrations…
Read more…
Autograph | Who is New York’s Cameron McKinney?
At this year’s Let’s Dance International Frontiers Cameron McKinney will be making his return and performing at our Autograph event on Friday 6 May. His new work With (some of)…
Read more…
Disappointment at Signatures? WHY?!
Our Signatures event is by far one of the most exciting for Let’s Dance International Frontiers. Why? Because it is where we showcase the best of this year’s international emerging…
Read more…
Only a handful of tickets left!
It’s getting ever closer to the date of the Black Women In Dance: Stepping Out of the Barriers conference (May 10) and our tickets are flying off the shelves like…
Read more…
Interview with Ellie Walton | Digital Marketing for Dance
The other day I conducted an informal interview with our new Digital Marketing Apprentice Ellie Walton about her experience with Serendipity so far. Today’s social media has a real impact on…
Read more…
Jazz Music and Urban Bush Women
On May 13 & 14, Urban Bush Women are debuting their new work Walking with ‘Trane as part of Let’s Dance International Frontiers 2016. The work is inspired by the works…
Read more…
How You Can Get On the Guest List…
The Black Women In Dance: Stepping Out of the Barriers conference is coming up fast and there are only 15 tickets left! At the conference our many speakers (including Urban…
Read more…
Interview with Volunteer Danni Spooner: 15 tickets left!
I conducted an informal interview with one of our volunteers Danni Spooner to discuss the exciting line up for this year’s Let’s Dance International Frontiers 2016! With performances from Cameron McKinney and…
Read more…
Urban Bush Women 1987, Leicester. How was that?!
It is time to start getting excited about Urban Bush Women coming to perform at this year’s Let’s Dance International Festival! Even better, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar is keynote speaker at…
Read more…
Black Women In Dance: Where Is the Literature?
We’ve heard of them all: Martha Graham, Katherine Dunham, Brenda Edwards, Misty Copeland… and, oh, who else… From the top of my head, these were the only Black female choreo-dancers…
Read more…
Urban Bush Women’s Greatest Work? Take a Guess!
Over the 30 years of Urban Bush Women’s legacy, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar has created countless fantastic choreographies. But at what point did audiences and critics start to truly believe…
Read more…
What Everyone Ought to Know about Black Female Choreographers in the US
The Black Women in Dance: Stepping Out of the Barriers conference in May 2016 will see dance enthusiasts unite with Urban Bush Women to reflect upon the challenges that have…
Read more…
Black Female Dancers in America (featuring Maya Taylor)
The Black Women In Dance: Stepping Out of the Barriers conference will see Urban Bush Women and other international dance artists and academics discuss the achievements of diversity within our…
Read more…
A Brief History of Urban Bush Women
So we all know that Urban Bush Women are coming to Leicester in May 2016 to showcase their new work Dancing With ‘Trane, but what we might not know is…
Read more…
New Years Resolution – Get your conference tickets!
The countdown to the end of 2015 is upon us, and whilst we have had a fantastic year it is exciting to think about the Stepping Out of the Barriers…
Read more…
Throw back to the One Dance UK launch!
Last Monday (December 7th) just past Oxford Circus, more than 400 dance artists, academics, associates and supporters attended the launch of One Dance UK. For all of those not in…
Read more…
Akram Khan Company Interview – Why Chotto Desh?
Yesterday evening I attended Akram Khan Company’s Chotto Desh at Leicester’s Curve Theatre, and interviewed rehearsal director Amy Butler and dancer Nicolas Ricchini. Meaning “Small Homeland”, I was truly excited…
Read more…
Dance4 join us to select Signatures applications!
Last Tuesday (Nov 24th), our Artistic Director Pawlet Brookes and Dance4 producer Stuart Allen came together in the Serendipity office to select the dance artists performing in the Signatures event for Let’s…
Read more…
Starbucks Challenge: @LetsDanceFront #RedCupCheer
We’ve all seen the unusual controversy stirred by Starbucks’ minimalist Christmas cups. Whilst many believe that this is their attempt to ruin Christmas, I am writing to inform you that…
Read more…
Serendipity Volunteers support Quick Shifts
Yesterday evening at Leicester’s Attenborough Arts Centre, dance improvisation collective Quick Shifts performed for the first time this academic year and I was thrilled to see other Serendipity volunteers supporting…
Read more…
A Blog Is Born!
You asked and we listened! Our team is excited to inform you on this warm November afternoon that the Serendipity Blog has just been brought into the world! As the Serendipity intern, it is…
Read more…