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…
Read more…
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…
Read more…
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…
Read more…
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…
Read more…
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,…
Read more…
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.
Read more…
(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…
Read more…
For many years, in different roles and organisations, I have programmed events for International Dance Day. I am drawn to the possibilities that can come from bringing people together. Dance provides opportunities to embrace diversity in its broadest sense. A key to the human experience; whether narrative or abstract, each performance holds a story, a…
Read more…
Last week, I was delighted to be invited to speak at Arts Connect International’s Arts Equity Summit in Boston, Massachusetts, an initiative bringing together artists and influencers examining equity both in and through the arts. Sam and I were privileged to hear contributions of speakers such as Hyppolite Ntiguirwa, Kaisha Johnson and Marian Brown, executive…
Read more…