#ldif17

Last week I had the honour and privilege of participating in LDIF2017 Festival run by Serendipity. Asha, Guille and I performed CLAY at the Attenborough Arts Centre. One of the few times I’ve come off stage saying that felt quite right! Probably a first for me! Amazing how long it takes for things to start settling! I feel like only now is the piece really making sense to me! We got a great audience response and the brilliant questions after the piece seemed to indicate that it really resonated with audience members. [I will be writing properly about CLAY soon!]. The day after the performance the festival screened Gurumbé: Canciones de tu memoria Negra, by Miguel Angel Rosales. The two are connected in so many ways, it’s great that the programers reflected that, I also want to write about Gurumbé properly! So many amazing things have been happening and as someone who processes things slowly, I’ve got a huge backlog of stuff I want to say!!!

What I wanted to write about today was day 3 of the festival (for me, the festival launches annually on International day of dance, 29th of April). Day 3 for me was the conference. This year’s edition centred around Identity and Choreographic Practice, I took part in the Colonial past, New Aesthetics panel. I didn’t end up saying any of what I prepared in my paper, but just the preparation for the talk, got me all excited and reminded me of my uni days (I secretly love ideas and thought and libraries!), it allowed me to analyse and think about my journey so far in a way that I never do. It also helped me realise how much I’ve come to know, over the years, about the unspoken politics of identity and heritage in flamenco!!! Yet again another topic for another day!! So let me get to the point!

I need to shout out loud about the buzz I’m still feeling from the conference! The whole day was a sharing of experiences and ideas from practitioners of African decent from the continent to across the diaspora although mainly the UK and US! Not only did I learn loads about key players in “Black”dance (if there is such a thing but for us to be clear) in the UK and US past and present but I got to meet all these trailblazers and inspiring dancers! Pinch me please! I would like to list everyone that spoke because it was such a pleasure hearing these different perspectives and experiences and then I’d like to focus on a few that have just blown me away! Delia Barker and Sandie Bourne spoke about the continued struggle for visibility for Black dancers in ballet. Sheron Wray, Terry Ofosu, Francis Angol and Kendrik Sandy spoke about recognising the critical place of improvisation as performance in re-inscribing Africa’s multi-dimensional aesthetic, this panel really resonated with me. I had the privilege of sharing the panel with H Patten, Nora Chipaumire and David Hamilton! 

Starting off the day was the incredible Joan Myers Brown. As soon as she started talking the inspiration began! I cannot begin to say how before even finding out about her incredible legacy as Founder and Artistic Director or Philadanco, amongst many other amazing accomplishments, her whit, elegance and poise were quite overwhelming, it felt like being in the presence of real royalty!! Then added to her determination, business mindedness and vision as someone who saw a need to create a nurturing space of excellence for black dancers, and so did, I was awe struck! I also have to add that Joan seemingly effortlessly continues to travel and tour with her company at the age of 84 and doesn’t look a day over 60. Impressed no lo siguiente!!

Here is a little videography of Mrs Myers Brown.

Somewhere during Mrs Myers talk I turned to look through the audience and I spotted Kristina and Sadé Allenye! Another pinch me please moment! I had seen them perform in Akram Khan’s Kaash when it came to The Teatro Central in Seville last year. They are both exquisite and powerful dancers of amazing skill, versed in so many different styles including African dance, hip-hop, contemporary and kathak! It was so heart warming to see them present at this conference, before heading off to their own rehearsals of their duet A Night’s Game which I can’t wait to see!

By the first break I was already enthused and so grateful to Pawlet Brookes the Founder and Artistic director of Serendipity for creating this space for this discussion, or just for bringing all theses amazing people together!

The panel on improvisation was opened by Dr Sheron Way, this is when I almost started jumping in my seat!! She gave us a little introduction into her work around Embodiology: 'A West African-informed theory of improvisation-as-performance’. Everything Sheron went on to describe about the relationship between music and ‘dancer’ ‘audience’ and ‘spectator’, rhythm and repetition was screaming Flamenco out to me!!! WHEN THE DOTS JOIN!!! I will say this, what Gurumbé ultimately suggests is that Flamenco is directly connected to West Africa not so much in its use of specific steps or even specific rhythms, which is what the study of Flamencology so often searches for to construct the history of Flamenco, but in the very construct and expressivity of the form. Here in Dr Way’s work is the actual breakdown, an almost scientific approach to how improvisation works in specific West African cultures such as the Ewe and Yoruba. I have goosebumps! Yes I have intuitively know this, but to sit and hear someone describe it so well was ground breaking for me! Thank you Sheron for this incredible work!

Here is a video of some of Sheron’s work, amazing to see her trajectory and how it has come together in her latests research on Embodiology: 

Last and certainly not least I have to mention the incredible Nora Chipaumire, we were on the same panel, but before seeing her work, just from some of her comments and a brief talk we had over lunch, I could tell she was a badass boss! What I found most inspiring was Nora’s expansive energy and poignant reflections. One of the only practitioners on the panels who was born on the African continent, Zimbabwe to be specific, she seemed to be coming from a place of assertion and working from the idea of being present, whereas I sensed that much of our discussion for those of us from the diaspora was centred around asking to be seen, or somehow looking for validation and to a certain extent inclusion. For me meeting Nora felt like a glimpse at what we should all be looking for: unapologetic dialogue. You come to my side for a minute, why do I always have to come to yours? Yes yes yes!!!

I don’t want to put any words in anyone’s mouth though, Nora speaks beautifully about her work in this recent CNN interview. (click to see)

I am also very excited because next week I will be attending a series of workshops she will be giving as part of Africa Moment created by Aida Colmenero Diaz which opens with a screening of Gurumbé: Canciones de tu memoria negra. Not to be missed!! Details for the full festival programme can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/AidaColmeneroDiaz/ 

Serendipity it is!

Here Nora Chipaumire captured by Andrew Boyle.