Over the last few months films such as Encanto (2021) and the remake of West Side Story (2021) have showcased Latinx talent and stories, achieving significant attention and success. The popularity of Reggaeton has endured with the genre continually evolving. The narrative is changing, however, the representation of Latinx community in mainstream media has not…
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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 in New Year Honours. Pawlet Brookes has been the Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, since she founded…
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The last few months have seen life as we know it turned upside down, with the impact of COVID-19 and the renewed urgency of the Black Lives Matter movement. We continue to experience change on an international level, and to our lives. Last year, having led the initiative Archiving the Past, Reflecting the Future, we…
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The last few weeks have presented challenges for everyone. With social distancing and travel restrictions keeping people physically apart (for the best in light of the COVID-19 pandemic) I have been overwhelmed by how people have pulled together, and none more so than across the international dance ecology. A little over a week ago, we…
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In November, I was fortunate to be invited as a delegate at the second edition of the biennial festival of performance art in Martinique, FIAP19. Curated by Annabel Guérédrat and Henri Tauliaut, the festival is a platform for a range of performance artists from around the world, attracting a number of curators, programmers and art…
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In October, I was fortunate enough to receive a grant from the Heritage Alliance and British Council to attend the Rex Nettleford Conference in Jamaica. Having worked with Rex many years ago on a conference and publication in the UK called Serious About Dance, I was honoured to have the opportunity to attend the conference…
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Last month I had the opportunity to attend the Afroeuropean conference in Lisbon; Black In/Visibilities Contested. The conference is a platform for transdisciplinary research on racism, Black cultures and identities in Europe, widening networks between scholars, activists and artists. For myself, it was a fantastic opportunity to meet academics and practitioners from across the world,…
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In June, I was privileged to attend Heritage Dot conference at the University of Lincoln. The premise of the conference was to explore digital horizons in relation to cultural heritage, and I was invited to speak about Archiving the Past, Reflecting the Future, an initiative by Serendipity supported by the Heritage Fund to document and share the cultural contribution of the African and African Caribbean community to the East Midlands.
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(The Jamaican motto Out of Many, One People is the inspiration for this month’s blog title. The Jamaica moto encompasses the diverse heritage of the Caribbean and nods to the Latin phrase E pluribus unum, one from many). May has been a wonderful opportunity to celebrate what dance can mean in terms of bringing people together. Often…
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