This book brings together a diverse array of perspectives and histories that weave together notions of Black-ness, British-ness, and dance. It offers a starting point for those interested in these topics, signposting readers to other sources while also providing an extensive overview of companies, artists, events, and artworks that compose a foundational account.
The chapters foreground Black-ness within the multicultural landscape of British dance, addressing gaps in narratives of dance history, development, and innovation from a British perspective. Engaging with Black-ness as diasporic multiplicities—expressed through the lived contexts of Caribbean British, African British, Black British, and Afro-Indigenous British lineages, alongside African American influences that have been lived and developed within Britain—the collection highlights artists whose work has profoundly shaped and continues to enrich the British dance landscape. More than a record of the past, this book reflects the living, evolving presence of Black-ness in British dance today.
Introduction.
Chapter 1: Sankofa Performance: African Caribbean Dance
in Britain, H Patten (Open University, Irie! Dance Theatre).
Chapter 2:
Black Practice: Identity, Innovation & Continuity, Robert Ramdhanie
(Independent Scholar).
Chapter 3: Reclaiming Land: Mary Woolaston and The
Black Mary Project, Valerie Ebuwa (Independent).
Chapter 4: A Black British
Jazz Dance Renaissance, Jerry Barry, Jreens Green, Ellen Miller, Lee
Rochester, Orson Nava, Juliet Vibert, and Annette Walker (The Jazz Dance
Collective).
Chapter 5: A Moment in Time: Michael Halls Dance Lessons with
Buddy Bradley, Sandie Bourne (Independent Scholar).
Chapter 6: Harmonies of
Heritage: Sound Systems and Dance Across Generations: In conversation with
Donald Edwards, Yassmin V. Foster (University of East London).
Chapter 7:
Navigating British ballet institutions: Dancing with the Scottish Ballet,
Vincent Hantam (Independent) and Sandie Bourne (Independent Scholar).-
Chapter 8: Becoming Namron: From Asphalt to Maplewood Floor, an Interview
with Namron, Carolene Sargeant (Independent).
Chapter 9: British Popping
History: An Introduction, Alex Mechanikool Peters (Independent).
Chapter
10: London Youth Dance Theatre, Hilary Ball (Independent) and Adesola
Akinleye (Texas Womans University).
Chapter 11: Mara Ya Pili: Youth Dance
in Leeds, Paul Hambley (Independent).
Chapter 12: A Home for Dance: An
Introduction to the Carol Straker Dance Foundation and Company, Carol Straker
(Independent).
Chapter 13: Chickens Coming Home to Roost: UK Hip Hop Dance
and Theatre, Robert Hylton (Independent).
Chapter 14: Ballet Reaching out,
Brenda Garratt-Glassman and Julie Felix.
Chapter 15: Heritage in Dance:
Caribbean Dance in Britain, Caroline Muraldo (Independent).
Chapter 16:
Weekend Arts College and Its Contribution to Black Dance, Celia Greenwood
(Independent).
Chapter 17: Profiling Dance of the African Diaspora
Choreographers from a Cultural Producer Perspective, Mercy Nabirye
(Independent) interviews Carl Campbell and Bawren Tavaziva.
Chapter 18:
Stewart Avon-Arnold and British Contemporary Jazz, Stewart Avon[ 1]Arnold
(Independent) and Adesola Akinleye (Texas Womans University).
Chapter 19: A
Love Letter to Jackie Guy (1944 2021): Interview with Chester Morrison,
Hopal Romans (Royal Academy of Dance).
Chapter 20: Dance & Diversity Irie!
Dance Theatre 40 years and still counting..., Beverley Glean (Irie! Dance
Theatre).
Chapter 21: Phoenix Dance Theatre: Rising and Rebellion, Laura
Griffiths, (Leeds Beckett University) and Marcus Jarrell Willis, (Phoenix
Dance Theatre).
Chapter 22: Stuart Thomas: Soul Boy, Stuart Thomas
(Independent).
Chapter 23: Union Dance Company, Corrine Bougaard (Union
Dance Company), and Michael Joseph (Union Dance Company).
Chapter 24:
Dancing African and Caribbean Identities: an overview, Alison Ray
(Independent).
Chapter 25: Dance United: Developing Dance in the Community
and in Prisons, Tara Herbert (Independent).
Chapter 26: State of Emergency,
Deborah Baddoo (State of Emergency) and Jane Carr (Bird College).
Chapter
27: Adzido Pan-African Dance Ensemble and the development of professional
practice in the UK: The Dance Journeys of Hilary Carty, Judith Palmer, and H
Patten, Funmi Adewole-Elliott (Independent Scholar).
Chapter 28: Breakin
Convention, Michelle Norton and Jonzi D in conversation, Adesola Akinleye
(Texas Womans University).
Chapter 29: Bullies Ballerinas: Jeanefer
Jean-Charles and Pearl Jordan in conversation, Hopal Romans (Royal Academy of
Dance).
Chapter 30: Creating a Strategy for Black Dance Development in
Merseyside: Reflecting on the African Peoples Dance Programme within the
Merseyside Dance Initiative 1993-2018, Karen Gallagher (Retired) and Maxine
Brown (Independent).
Chapter 31: The Black British Ballet Project, Sandie
Bourne (Independent Scholar, Black British Ballet Project).
Chapter 32:
Young, Black, and Dancing, Akosua Boakye (Independent Scholar).
Chapter 33:
Tom St. Louis: A Whole Story, Louise Katerega (People Dancing: The Foundation
for Community Dance), Gladys Agulhas (Independent), and Adam Benjamin
(Independent).
Chapter 34: Now Rinse Out Lighter!: African Retention on The
Junglist Dancefloor of 1990s Bristol, Cleo Lake (Independent).
Chapter 35:
Dance as Living Kinship: Dance and Young Audiences, Adesola Akinleye (Texas
Womans University).
Chapter 36: My Story and the Birth of Uchenna Dance
Company, Vicki Igbokwe[ 1]Ozoagu (Independent).
Chapter 37: National Youth
Dance Company: reflections from Pamela Johnson, Hopal Romans (Royal Academy
of Dance).
Chapter 38: British Ballroom: I have a right to show my colour,
Adesola Akinleye (Texas Womans University) in conversation with Lasseindra
Ninja (Independent).
Chapter 39: Dr Geraldine Connor Carnival Messiah Third
Space Afroplitan Dance, Lara Rose (Leeds Beckett University).
Chapter 40:
Dancing the land (in Wales): Taking Root and Making Roots, Krystal S. Lowe
(Independent).
Edited by a collective of dance-artist-scholars Adesola Akinleye, Sandie Bourne, Beverley Glean MBE, Louise Katerega, and Hopal Romanswith Julia Cheng contributing to the original planning alongside the editorial team, this book is both a resource and an invitation. It is essential for students, scholars, artists, and practitioners seeking to engage with the histories, innovations, and lived practices of dance.
