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Welcome Issue 2: Autumn 2005

Contents

1. Editorial - from Jeannette Brooks 2. The Career Curve - by Maria Ryan 3. The Creative Streak - Robert Hylton, interviewed by Jeannette Brooks 4. Review - Breakin’ Convention, by Natasha Bunbury 5. Wasssup! –Strictly African Dancing on the BBC, by Bill Harpe 6. Review - Compagnie Kafig, by Maria Ryan 7. ADAD Asks… Beverley Glean 8. Managing, Mentoring, Mothering - by June Gamble 9. Making Big Things Happen - Alistair Spalding, interviewed by Jeannette Brooks 10.ADAD Glossary - by Thea Barnes 11.ADAD News

1 Welcome

…to the second Hotfoot Online magazine. The summer break may be finished and your dancing just warming up so let Hotfoot get you thinking about your ‘next steps’!

This edition focuses on The Artist. We have articles from the manager’s point of view, a choreographer’sinterpretation and a venue managers’ perspective on the dancer creator.

Reviewers, Maria Ryan and Natasha Bunbury, feedback their thoughts on Compagnie Kafig from France and the Breakin’ Convention event at Sadler’s Wells Theatre respectively.

Pamela Zigomo of ADAD gives us an overview on all the new developments within the organisation. Our regular item ADAD Asks features some thought provoking opinions from Beverly Glean and then in our ongoing push to move on the debate around the interpretation and definition of Dance of the African Diaspora (DAD), ADAD launches the Diaspora Dictionary with Thea Barnes. But that’s not all.

You’ll have to read on.

African dance on the BBC is featured in Wasssup! Wasssup! is aimed at making sure Hotfoot is and remains pertinent, direct and representative by asking you to contribute your own work. Get in touch if you’re ready to write for the next edition of the magazine.

Finally as this is the second mailout please let me know your thoughts on the Hotfoot’s delivery to your inbox so far. Do you have any suggestions for content or features, design or direction? Don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Jeannette Brooks Hotfoot Online Editor

2 Think Piece An artist that once was

The Career Curve By Maria Ryan

I’m not quite sure I strictly fit the bill anymore… that of an artist I mean. As of 1 June this year I have been employed by Tavaziva Dance as company manager.

This is a step that I had intended to take eventually but I did not think the dance manager role would happen quite so soon. I am 34 this year and as I started dancing at 18, (training for six years) have only had 10 years in the business as it were and I felt I was just beginning to understand the art of performance.

I co-founded Wild Roots Collective in 2001 and received positive feedback from audiences, venue managers and promoters. All showing interest in the work, I was even awarded some funds from Arts Council England but (and it’s a huge BUT!) I need regular income to eat and clothe myself and my new and unrelenting responsibility… my daughter. Being a young, free and single person performing, teaching and workshopping all over the UK is one thing, having an extra little human bundle in tow is quite something else, and I desperately want to know how so many before me have managed the freelance career and mummyhood at the same time!

3 It’s the organising that does it…. its project management in itself. So I’vehad to make a choice and I’ve settled for the easy option, I think… I’vequit travelling around and work from home so I could be there for my daughter.

I have experienced a number of ups and downs as a dancer, these have made me the dancer and person I am today. I have also known others to fall apart under really stressful circumstances. Some extremely talented dancers have lost the will to dance. That is the saddest part –those who gave so much to dance have often left it behind them feeling dejected, unfulfilled and bitter.

I’m not bitter… no, yes I am!

I feel I should have achieved more as performer. I feel I can achieve so much more as a choreographer but that road is a hard and bumpy road to travel, and I have come as far as I could given my circumstances.

I was afraid of starting my own company because I had worked with other choreographers, watched them struggle through projects only to have their funding cut when it seemed that what they really needed was funds to develop their work. Yet, I have learnt that we dancers are so good at complaining about what we don’t get, moaning about what we should get and who is getting what we’re not.

Of course the poor old Arts Council England bears the brunt of this –the ‘dark force’ who owes us so much! It can’t do right for doingwrong. Life-coaching and self-help advice is “if you want something done, do it yourself –you want change, what are you waiting for? - you are the key to your future destiny – feel the fear and do it anyway”.

If I want things to change, I have to be the one to get in there and change them.

4 I have ideas of grandeur.In my mind, I can be the first dance manager to manager my own company and someone else’s too?! No… There would be surely be a serious conflict of interest. Never the less, Wild Roots Collective excites me because I think it’s quite unique in its attempt to address issues that relate specifically to the Black British community through dance and spoken word. The use of writer Rommi Smith’s texts adds a layer of intensity and drama to the work, so the intention is very clear. For this reason, I will strive to build on what we, Joanne Moven, Rommi Smith and myself have started.

But for now I have put Wild Roots Collective on the backburner. I fully intend to re-consider my options as a choreographer when I feel I have settled in to this management role.

I’m currently experiencing a massive learning curve. I needed to challenge my brain in a different way after years of tondues and triplets. I’m embarking on a new journey, one of management courses, legal and financial seminars, meetings and conferences. I’m going back to school to do I.T. and I’m doing it to make a difference; to facilitate change and encourage the people I work with to be the best they can be.

I feel strongly that I if I excel in this role I can enable dancers to enjoy their dance experience - making their lives a little easier and their dance path a little smoother.

As an advocate for ADAD I hope that the dance community can forge new pathways to both honour the past and create a glorious future for black dance. As a teacher I want to pass on all the knowledge that has been passed on to me. As a choreographer I want to question all the rules and make the audience think, feel, smell, touch and taste the dance. As a manager I want to assist in making someone else’s dream happen, to do it successfully and efficiently AND get paid well!

5 I may have shed a negative light on my dance experience. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret a single moment. I loved being in ballet class at 8.45am every day for three years, I adore the wonderful people I have met along the way, travelling around the world, the excitement and adrenalin rush in the wings before a show, I totally miss Graham technique classes, I even long for that deep muscular pain on return to work from a short break from dancing!

I have different priorities now, my responsibilities are no longer just to myself so the choices I have made reflect this. It’s very clear that you and your needs come second to your children’s. My slightly larger human bundle now goes to nursery and to a childminder four days a week and I am able to discuss current affairs again, instead of complaining about the price of nappies and debating whether breast is better than bottle.

During my career so far, I have been a performer, a teacher, a creative workshop leader, an education officer, a project manager, an advocate for black contemporary dance artists, now I am all of the above plus a company manager. These certainly are challenging times….bring it on!

I have learnt there is nothing I cannot be taught and nothing I cannot achieve.

As for the new generation of successful black dance managers –watch this space!

Maria trained at the London School of Contemporary Dance and danced with Bunty Matthias, Yael Flexer, Henri Oguike, Jonzi D and Phoenix Dance Company. In 2001 she choreographed Raw Material for Nubian Steps and co-choreographed It’s the Way… for Wild Roots Collective (with Joanne Moven) in The Mission 2001 tour.

Maria has a Diploma in Arts Management (from the Roehampton University) and spent two years as Dance Education & Access Officer at Swindon Dance. She is now a freelance dance artist and is co-director of Wild Roots Collective.

6 Interview

“The Creative Streak” Robert Hylton

In conversation with Jeannette Brooks

Jeannette Brooks (JB) How did you start dancing?

Robert Hylton (RH) I started dancing at home in the living room when I was really little. I remember doing The Robot at around 10 years old! I danced after school at the local youth club and went to a breakdance club some Saturday afternoons in Newcastle called Tiffany’s (an occasional treat; single parent, five kids, no money and all that).

Popping was always my thing. I was never the best breaker, but that period of my life set the foundations for where I am now. I laugh sometimes as 20 years later I am doing the same thing I did when I was 15.

As soon as I got a job, that was it. With my own money I would go to jazz clubs. I got my dance fix with ‘bamboozle’, the crew I was in (super fast footwork and knee spins). We would travel: Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, London and take like three pairs of shoes, five t-shirts…

7 It was always the whole culture. The clothes, the attitude, the moves, the people, being cool! This was the pre ‘corporate’ era of clubbing (hip hop and house). In those days you couldn’t get into a club unless you were spick and span –shoes, nice hair cut and all that. Then one day I found myself at Dance City (before it became the National Dance Agency) in Newcastle.

(JB) When did you start to think you could do this for a living?

(RH) At no point did I think of dance as my career. It’s the same now, although it is actually; it’s taken a while to accept the fact.

I started my working life as an apprentice printer and, in working class tradition, stuck at it whilst, and this is very ‘Saturday Night Fever’, still clubbing and dancing as much as possible.

Then naively and enthusiastically I auditioned for the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and got in.

Dance in my school days in the northeast just didn’t exist. It was sport only. Plus in my case coming from a “white” area and being of mixed ethnicity there was always that sense of not belonging. Dance and hip hop navigated me into a clearer understanding of myself, my culture and global cultures.

As regards to doing this as a living, I see myself as a permanent student, their is so much to learn and popping demands constant study, my work is my hobby, plus I still have to maintain my other dance techniques and creative process –lots to do.

(JB) And your career now?

8 (RH) Currently I am responsible for a unit of 11 people – that’s eight on the road including me and three in the new office based at Laban and with the current new status as an RFO ‘Regular Funded Organisation’.

I have to lead. Work out strategies for training and teaching the company, education inniatives as well as make choreography and perform within our national and international touring schedules.

(JB) Do you remember your first choreography?

(RH) Yeah, yeah. It was when I was at college in Leeds. A solo to the music poetry of Gil Scot Heron, The Revolution Will not be Televised. I created it on a dancer called Alan Hudson. I liked it and still like it –it worked. That was in 1992.

(JB) How do you think the Revenue Funded Organisation support from Arts Council England will change things?

(RH) Less work and more work! I am able to have guests teaching company class. That’s good for me –provides me with time to focus on choreography and let’s me train too and be more physically aware. The office is better resourced too. I feel Urban Classicism is able to act not react. Things get done.

The support also means I can shift my mind onto artistic planning, not fundraising and look closer at production values, get it all together properly.

9 (JB) So what is Dance of the African Diaspora to you?

(RH) Lots of good stuff! We currently have a generation of artists who explore, create, experiment and define their work from a personal point of view which is more British than previous generations. Although guided by other Diaspora dance techniques and cultures, I feel the balance is translated in physical and artistic languages that present a clear new genre from the UK scene.

It’s using your own voice and style, and less about racial stereotypes of blackness and presenting a new outlook both within the traditional dances and experimental dance.

(JB) Where do you find your inspiration?

(RH) By understanding life, both physical and spiritual and knowing I always have more to learn. I am a dance junkie so there is always something new for me to find. I can sound a bit hippie at times but living and experiencing life is an inspiration in itself.

I am constantly inspired by the people I work with, for example Billy Biznizz, the performers in the company and working in the studio is a blessing. I am fortunate to have that continuous source. Plus there is the ever growing new generation and their enthusiasm.

(JB) What methods for choreography do you use?

(RH) The music with DJ Biznizz. I build the dance at the same time as the music is created. I use the music as a metaphor and sequence for abstraction, along with different movement techniques such as contemporary, hip hop and ballet.

10 There is always a narrative within my work but I tend to stop that process before it becomes too literal.

I also challenge the boundaries of what can be done in the improvisation moments. I want to confront the dancers and look for what they can’t do not what they can do. It becomes less ordinary, dealing with the unknown.

(JB) What challenges do you have for your artistic development?

(RH) In the past my work might have been confusing – ambiguous, and I didn’t mind that. Now I want the work to be clearer. I want to make all the elements of the production bond like they do in film making.

Also the future – I want to put things in place for the next generation. I’m a nerd, I study hip-hop history –scanning the net for archives, meeting the originators, sourcing reading and video documentation. Street dance must be studied as a discipline and come from a true real starting place. It is more than a few well known moves - headpins or moonwalks. Other artists may take the tourist route to hip hop dance –a few shapes, a couple of nice moves, buy the track suit and they’re off.

Hip hop is a real culture with many elements, pioneers and philosophies. People miss the history of the form and I want a space for the youth to learn more about that. Although my work is far from pure hip hop, my heart isn’t. Just as my contemporary training gave me an awareness of Cunningham, Graham, Isadora Duncan. Street dance practitioners should have the same inner knowledge of the form.

Lastly, I would like to inform people, provide them with the knowledge to further excel. As for the company, I hope to see them grow and achieve artistically the things I can only dream of.

11 Review Breakin’ Convention

Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London 13 May Hip Horror and 16 May Main Stage

From Natasha Bunbury

In a discipline where Hip-Hop culture and dance is not taken seriously, Breakin’ Convention is a necessary and relevant event –doing its part in breaking stereotypes.

The various dance forms in the hip-hop genre face a mountain of simulated media images of bling, sin and its shallow symbolism propagated and perpetuated by the music industry. Breakin’ Convention focuses and uniquely platforms the work of the prolific dancers and choreographers in this area as ‘Art’ and ‘Theatre’.

BC (Breakin’ Convention) is an international event with major Hip-Hop dance countries such as France, the USA and Korea represented alongside UK groups and artists. The Russians were a new addition to BC ’05 - a fact spotlighting the growth and development in the art form globally.

Never the less, it needs to be said that there is a short distance yet to be covered by the UK groups. The artistic development was in general not as rich or established as say the French.

Lets take the magnificent physical strength in movement displayed by Wanted posse, or the inventiveness of Cie Revolution AMAZONES. In both these French compositions you saw dancers with a ballet and contemporary dance training using Hip-Hop in a very experimental unbridled way.

12 Inspiring the audience, which included young people, Breakin Convention brought us dancers moving in a way that may never normally be seen on these shores. Their performances clearly underline the benefits of being financially backed and creatively supported by their arts council.

Having said this, overall I still preferred the content of the UK dance groups. With an undeniable history and influence in the understanding of contemporary / jazz choreography, they where the storytellers. Contributors in Lillian Baylis Theatre, such as Irven Lewis and D-physics, demonstrated very thoughtful work that lingered with the spectators and provoked discussion.

However the USA’s works represented a pure and traditional repertoire, handed down through the years uncomplicated by having to adapt to another format in order to be recognised and valued.

Shonn Boog, with his great dance family roots, is the youngest member of the Electric Boogaloos (the EBs). The son of Poppin Pete, Shonn is carrying the torch for preserving origins, by perfecting his uncle Boogaloo Sam’s repertoire. The EBs, new to this year’s great performance platform, presented a family piece that defied the generation gap. Sam was effortless; Pete was dynamic and Shonn electrifying.

Also deserving of a mention was Korea’s Project Soul whose technical abilities where simply breathtaking.

In fact each country had their own version and style of dance and so brilliantly demonstrated their inherent cultures. The whole event proved how ‘world wide’ this art form has become.

13 Coming from that perspective, the spirit of B-boyin’ (Break dancing), i.e. personal character, individuality and funkstyling, is shown as each country becomes that countries “B-Boy / Funkstyling crew”, competing in an international “battle”.

Therefore it is an absolute must for crews to be able to ‘REPRESENT’ on the dance floor and overall the UK Crew needs to step up a level (with the backing and creative support financially to do this). The majority UK groups on their second appearance to BC showed minimal progression in the intervening 12 months. For example Boy Blue where outstanding in 2004 and much anticipated again this year. Although they still produced a great show, the potential of this group is huge but was not maximised. As a foot-note, Twitch – another eagerly anticipated group from BC’04 didn’t even appear, due to not receiving funding. In Contrast Robert Hylton was able to produce fresh, new work for BC ‘05.

Dance is just one of the elements of Hip-Hop culture and in its own way reflects Traditional African dance and culture, as it too was born out of the African Diaspora. People all around the world now walk, talk, listen, and live for hip-hop. It is absolutely fundamental for us all involved in dance to allow Hip-Hop dance forms to have that freedom to evolve just as African dance has. So… watch this space!

Breakin’ Convention run from 13th –16th May 2005

14 “Wasssup?” It’s your shout.

Strictly African dancing on the BBC by Bill Harpe

“Respect!” is a word much used by people of African descent today. It’s also a word which the producers of BBC 1’s Strictly African Dancing (broadcast July 9) would have been well advised to keep in mind when working on this programme.

On one level it may seem that a programme promoting African dance, as part of the BBC Africa Lives season, could hardly be lacking in respect. After all, the six celebrities taking part in this contest –Antonia Okonma, Tupele Dorgu, and Louis Emerick (actors), Tunde Baiyewu (singer), Tessa Sanderson (Olympic Gold Medallist) and Robbie Earle (ex-footballer and pundit) –were comprehensively filmed in performance, in rehearsal, and in Africa. In performance, they all gave movingly spirited performances of the dances allocated to them, a remarkable achievement in itself given only two weeks (and sometimes less) of rehearsal. Overall, the programme was a popular success with an audience of 4.6 million watching.

But when making television programmes it is always a tricky business to maximise your audience while also respecting your material. Strictly African Dancing was, of course, conceived as a spin-off from BBC1’s phenomenally successful Strictly Come Dancing.

15 There, however, the judges and the viewers were comparing couples performing the same or similar Ballroom dances. Here it was performances of dances, which had nothing more in common than that they came from the same continent. Would the producers have thought it equally reasonable, as part of a Europe Lives season, to conflate the whole of the continent of Europe into one programme, judging between choreographed performances of such astonishingly different dances as the Tarantella, Hornpipe, Gopak, Minuet and Morris dance?

While the votes were counted we were invited to watch an African Samba – though having been told that it was danced barefoot, the performance was in fact danced in high heels. But, perhaps, the failing of the producers was as much one of nerve as of respect. Sometime during the preparations for the programme the producers must have decided that just over a minute of traditional drumming to accompany each dance would be too much for a television audience. Accordingly, South African style melodies were superimposed. It may seem like an innocuous gesture to make the drumming “palatable”, but, given that the drums provide the all-important cues for the dancers to follow, such melodic intrusions were culturally inappropriate and served to misrepresent the dance and on occasion to confuse the dancers.

So, what might have been done by the producers to represent Africa –surely a continent richer in dancing traditions than anywhere else in the world –with appropriate respect? Perhaps the answer was present in the programme itself when, after the voting had been completed, performers from The Lion King took to the stage with their glorious “Circle of Life” sequence featuring dancers as giraffes, antelopes, zebras and tigers. Why not a Strictly African Dancing in which all the contestants perform dances inspired by the living creatures of Africa? And then why not another Strictly African Dancing devoted to courtship dances? Respect –and enthusiasm –might generate a series. Come on BBC4. We know you can do it.

Originally printed in Dance Today, September 2005 issue.

16 Review

Compagnie Kafig Corps Est Graphique Wycombe Swan, 28 May 2005

Reviewed by Maria Ryan

It’s been quite some time since I felt the urge to get up and dance in the aisle at the theatre.

The last time was during the Alvin Ailey Company performance of Revelations two years ago at Sadler’s Wells Theatre. So it was an unexpected experience to be sat in sleepy High Wycombe’s Swan Theatre and want to get up and try out some moves! (the theatre isn’t sleepy just the town, I hasten to add).

To say I was impressed by the physical skills and presentation of this production by Compagnie Kafig is a massive understatement, and I was pleasantly surprised by how well crafted the work was. In my opinion, generally when choreographers use hip hop movement vocabulary the choreographic structure and intention of the work is sometimes weak, but not this time.

Corps Est Graphique explores the nature of male/female relations, the dynamics between the two sexes and explores gender stereotypes.

Choreographer and artistic director, Mourad Merzouki, sets up a number of situations in which we see these relationships unfold using some clever, humorous, entertaining and remarkably physical choreography.

17 The curtain raises, and on stage we see a raised ‘box’ centre stage, three white door frames, three screens of different sizes and a fourth screen on the front of the raised platform.

Four men enter through the door frames with black and white cubes over their heads, reminiscent of the liquorice sweet character, Bertie Basset. They step forward, slow and controlled, as if walking on the moon, stopping to perform headstands and balances on their square heads. They exit through the door frames and these become the entrance and exit points throughout the piece.

Baggy pants and simple tops look as if they have been drawn on the dancers in graffiti style with warm oranges, yellows and reds soaked in to the material. The music by AS’N evokes a sense of an Arabic land, with an undercurrent of electro beats. The screens project images of skeletons mirroring the movements performed on stage, Arabic writing and various other shapes.

Four women enter and they body pop sensually across the space in unison, stepping in to cubes of light on the floor, building pathways through the space before the men return to meet the women. There are many sub-sections throughout the piece.

A rhythmic battle takes place between two men who bang out drum rhythms on the platform centre stage, sending images of circles bouncing from one screen to the other, like a game of table tennis.

Another conflict takes place. Four men in a more traditional hip hop style compete to pull of the biggest, baddest moves. This section gets the audience whooping with delight at the spectacular back flips, somersaults, windmills, flairs and head spin challenges.

A dreadlocked, male dancer performs a solo on the platform which reminds me of “The Predator” movie character, his creature-like, lockin’ and poppin’ give the impression that he is made of something much more pliable than bone.

18 A quartet, playful and cheeky, in which two men and two women open up the centre platform. They flip, dive, jump and move behind the platform. Whatever body parts we are unable to see are cleverly exposed on the screens as x-ray images of their missing body parts.

I hear myself screaming alongside the younger audience members after each demonstration of daring skill until, one by one the dancers flipped, spun, jumped and slipped behind the platform for the very last time.

Overall what impressed me most was the attention to production detail. The music and lighting compliment each mood of the various sections throughout the evening, and when it comes full circle back to the beginning state, you feel you have been engaged in a roller-coaster journey with ups and downs of emotion. I felt completely satisfied and thoroughly entertained.

Merzouki’s French-Algerian roots, his knowledge of martial arts, hip hop and circus skills have fused together creating a strong, individual choreographic voice. He has the ability to choreograph impeccably detailed hip hop movement that is well rehearsed. Merzouki transfers this predominantly freestyle genre from the streets to the theatre stage with panache and integrity.

The dancers seem equally competent with contemporary movement vocabulary and the hip hop style which is impressively highlighted in a duet section between the four men and four women. But if I had to be picky, then I’d have liked to see the women performmore daring physical feats, even though I know the argument about women not having as much upper body strength as men. Never the less, a refreshing evening. If you missed this company make sure you see them some time soon in the near future.

19 Regular Feature ADAD Asks

In each Hotfoot newsletter, ADAD interviews an experienced dance professional with connections to the APD / Black dance sector and asks them 10 direct questions.

This edition, we meet Beverley Glean, artistic director of IRIE! Dance Theatre

1. As artistic director of your own dance company, how would you briefly sum up the essence of your company’s work?

The essence of IRIE!’s work is to educate and entertain through the delivery of a variety of creative, artistic and cultural activities; sharing the spirit of APD, particularly Caribbean dance and culture. Our aim is to maintain a strong Caribbean focus throughout the company’s performance.

I believe that, that unflinching philosophy has supported IRIE!’s identity as a key contributor to the sector, whose values reflect the pride and heritage of APD in Britain over the past twenty years.

2. What event, strategy or initiative of your company best encapsulates this concept and why? 20 It would be difficult to single-out any one particular event, (of which there are many) but I would have to say the events that had the most impact because of the number of people who participated and benefited from them were firstly ‘Ancient Futures’in 1996, where IRIE!, in partnership with the Albany Theatre, hosted a 2 week international black dance festival and conference with Forces of Nature, USA and L’Acadco, Jamaica.

Then the two initiatives that have stimulated debate and effected change, are the UK’s first full-time Accredited Course in African and Caribbean Dance, set up in 1998 and the company’s most recent NESTA funded Dance and Diversity Action Research Project in 2004, looking at the place of African and Caribbean dance within mainstream education.

3. Ideally, where next for your company over the next three - five years? Where next? That’s an interesting question, and one I often find myself pondering over particularly because of the challenging nature of arts support, funding and resources for the APD sector. However, IRIE! has always tried to navigate its way through adversity.

We are very fortunate to be based in the London Borough of Lewisham. Deptford, north of the borough, where the company is located is a thriving hub of creativity, especially for dance. In 2004 the Mayor of Lewisham committed £2,000 000 towards the refurbishment of a disused building (Moonshot), which is due for completion in the summer of 2006. IRIE! is relocating there and it will herald the realisation of a substantial next step for the organisation. Our aim is to make Moonshot a focal point for the practice of APD.

21 With two large dance studios, teaching rooms, changing rooms, archive and library the company plans to deliver the accredited qualifications in African and Caribbean dance, run a professional development programme, extend it’s education and community outreach work, re-establish the performance company, broker relationships and provide access to/for APD practitioners. That’s enough for the next 3/5 yrs don’t you think?

4. What have been the most significant developments or changes in the Dance of the African Diaspora in the UK dance ecology since you began your role as artistic director? Significant developments are: The establishment of a full time certificate in African and Caribbean dance accredited by Open College Network and a full time diploma in African and Caribbean dance accredited by Birkbeck College, University of London; initiated in 1998 with support from ACE A4E. The above courses, which now include an access to Higher Education and a part-time foundation degree, will be re-established from January 2007.

A significant change is that not quite five years into the 21st century, we have lost two major companies from two major cities. Kokuma, Birmingham in May 2000. Adzido, London in April 2005.

The irony is that while the sector is crying out for stability, infrastructure, enterprise, creativity, employment, access, audience development etc the support systems needed to nurture and develop all of the above are becoming significantly weaker.

5. What is your present interpretation of African Peoples’Dance (APD)/Black Dance? Any dance style which, draws its main influences, sensitivities, means of expression and technical base from the cultural heritage of Africa and the peoples of Africa living in the Diaspora’.

22 6. What steps can still be made with the sector to build resources including artists’ development and audience development? We know that the sector is already stretched and under-resourced and the current funding climate has done little to alleviate the problems. Existing companies, individuals and agencies need to find ways of coming together to share resources, share good practice and inspire critical debate.

Plus the sector needs to value and define its work. This will only happen if we start to pull together under a focused definition by recognising our similarities and our differences.

ADAD is making steps in terms of identifying where the gaps are, however support from the sector is necessary if we are serious about building resources, empowering artists and attracting new audiences.

7. Is the APD / Black dance sector relevant to the overall British dance scene and why? YES! Because, Black people and Black culture is a fundamental part of British society. Cultural diversity is on everyone’s agenda; Socially and more importantly, economically we do have a voice, a voice that cannot be ignored.

Slowly but surely mainstream education is realising that there are untapped areas of APD that are increasingly significant to their development, in terms of widening participation, access and career paths into the cultural industries.

Emerging styles and fusions such as hip hop and Dance Hall and the work being done by companies like ACE in Birmingham and IRIE! Dance Theatre, not to mention notable West End productions such as Lion King and The Big Life make the case for the relevance of APD within the overall British dance scene.

8. What keeps you focused and motivated? Belief and evidence that what I do adds value, changes lives and continues the legacy of my culture and chosen art form.

23 9. Have you noted any strengths or weaknesses to being a female Artistic Director? Strengths! Always strengths.

Personal strengths that I have noted; I value collective working, I am a firm believer in working to people’s strengths and being as transparent as necessary. Certain situations can lead to feelings of vulnerability and sometimes, I believe I am taken less seriously because I am female. But I am usually aware of this and am often able to use these incidents to my advantage.

10. What advice or ‘words of wisdom’ could you offer to those people working in the APD / Black dance arena? APD is part of the British cultural landscape, it’s here to stay; however, when you are in a situation where there is a dominant culture, as an artist you should be open-minded.

If necessary, learn to fuse and synthesise, that’s the beauty of cultural diversity. But always remember who you are, where your roots lie and avoid being pushed into directions you are not comfortable with.

Beverley Glean –Founder and artistic development director of IRIE! dance theatre has worked in the field of dance, in particular African Peoples’Dance for over 20 years.

Trained at the Laban Centre London, The Jamaica School of Dance and The Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba; she has continued her training and development in dance & culture by working alongside artists from West Africa, Europe, America, and the Caribbean.

Beverley founded IRIE! dance theatre in 1985. She also currently shares the Directorship of the NESTA funded Dance and Diversity project with Rosie Lehan, Senior dance lecturer at City & Islington College.

24 Managing, Mothering, Mentoring Written by June Gamble

When I was asked to write this article, I wanted to change the working title. Never the less I’ve used it as the basis of questioning both myself and the readers of Hotfoot…

Firstly, let me start by defining managing, mothering and mentoring.

Managing:

Quick definitions (manage)  verb: be in charge of, act on, or dispose of  verb: carry on or manage  verb: achieve something by means of trickery or devious methods  verb: watch and direct  verb: be successful; achieve a goal  verb: come to terms or deal successfully with

I have learnt, as an Arts Manager for the past 16 years, that in order to effectively manage others, I need to be able to manage myself proactively and positively.

This has been a lesson, learnt slowly and at great expense over a long period of time. I now understand this concept, to the point that it has led me to the importance of both myself and the people I manage having a healthy work/life balance, hence my new career as a life and business coach.

25 Regarding the relationships between managers and artists, I can see that the above definitions can be taken literally!

It is true that I have been known to “be in charge of” clients, careers and projects, as well as “act on” my own and others’initiatives and events and it is true to say that I have, at times, “disposed of” clients and unwanted work.

However, I have never “achieved something by means of trickery or devious methods” but I do realise, that there are some artists that believe that this is what managers do!

I have “watched and directed” both the careers of individuals, the development of companies and in some cases, elements of dance productions (when requested by the artist). According to my clients, the benefits of having a manager include the fact that this reduces their sense of isolation, as I am able to give them an objective overview, as well as professional expertise and a business approach to their development.

As a manager, I continually set and achieve goals, as well as come to terms with or deal successfully with difficult situations, ranging from negotiating with venues, promoters and funders to managing relationships with clients and artists.

Mothering:

Quick definitions (mother)  noun: a condition that is the inspiration for an activity or situation (Example: "Necessity is the mother of invention")  noun: a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother) (Example: "The mother of three children")  noun: a term of address for an elderly woman  noun: a stringy slimy substance consisting of yeast cells and bacteria; forms during fermentation and is added to cider or wine to produce vinegar  verb: care for like a mother  verb: make children

26 During the past 16 years, I have managed numerous companies, projects and events, including Badejo Arts, Union Dance, Akshaya Dance Theatre and ADAD choreographic platforms. Notably I have had long term management relationships, ranging from three to eleven years, with clients including: Edwards and Watton, Bullies Ballerinas, Duende Flamenco, City Ballet of London, Bedlam Dance Company and Sankalpam Dance Company.

Did I “Mother” these artists, I ask myself?

I have always maintained that no matter when I acquired my "children" or whether they were new born, adopted or fostered, when these artists first approached me to work with them, they put me on a pedestal and looked to me as a Mother figure, in a position of experience and authority. However, over time, our relationship became more of a partnership, as the client (my baby!) matured and became a teenager who then, either rebelled and left home or worked through their angst and became my equal.

However, at this point, I would then say that the balance of the relationship shifted and became more like a marriage, which can make it difficult for either party to leave without an acrimonious separation. Although, I am proud to say that I continue to be on good terms with all my ex-partners!

From a personal point of view it is true to say that "mothering" my clients has meant that I have never felt the maternal urge to procreate. I feel like I have done my fair share of nurturing and that I have satisfied my maternal instincts. So, I am now at the point where I do feel like "an elderly woman" who occasionally feels like "a stringy slimy substance consisting of yeast cells and bacteria"!

I also feel honoured to have met and worked with all of the gifted artists that I have had the privilege of being associated with as their Manager. Like yeast, as it ferments cider or wine into vinegar, I consider that I have been a catalyst and an enabler producing hardy, well-rounded, valuable and effective artists. I am a very proud "Mother".

27 Mentoring:

Quick definitions (mentor) * noun: a wise and trusted guide and advisor * verb: serve as a teacher or trusted counsellor (Example: "The famous professor mentored him during his years in graduate school")

I prefer to refer to myself as a coach, as mentors tend to be associated with voluntary services and unfortunately, unless the world changes drastically, I need to be paid for my services.

As a coach, I am focused on helping people to identify, set and achieve their personal and professional goals in a supported and safe environment. I am a great believer that human beings are remarkable creatures and can achieve whatever their heart desires, if they take the time to listen to and trust their hearts.

I find it liberating that finally, my work is NOT driven by my passion for dance, but by my passion for empowering and facilitating the personal and professional potential of PEOPLE. Having been involved with dance since the age of four, it took me to the age of 34 to admit that dance was no longer my motivator.

This is substantially due to what I believe to be the poor quality and lack of variety in too much of the current dance work being made and offered to audiences and participants.

I think this is the direct result of the lack of long-term, strategic investment in our best dancers and choreographers. It is also due to my perception that Dance will continue to be underdeveloped and systematically undermined as a direct result of the current funding system and the lack of respect for professional dance and dancers shown by the present Government and its arts bureaucracy.

28 So, in this changing and unstable climate how do I manage to be "a wise and trusted guide and advisor" and how do I "serve as a teacher or trusted counsellor"?

My advice to all my clients is to think about number one. Are you happy and healthy? If not, what would make you happy and healthy? Once you are personally well, then you can make progress in your career. After this your approach needs to be lateral, look at the whole picture rather than just what you can approach the Arts Council for. All projects must be led by the artistic impetus, this will in turn help to signpost the potential external partners and commissioners. Then with a clear time plan, budget and proposal you can approach these, as well as the Arts Council (if appropriate). And, the secret is to always have an 'A', 'B' and 'C' plan.

Frequently Asked Questions:

How do I get a full-time Manager?

You don't!

The days of a company having a full time Manager are long gone. For 16 years, I have been managing companies on the basis of a maximum of one day a week (with the exception of City Ballet of London, which was three days a week). This is the maximum that funding would allow.

Today, unless you are already a Regularly Funded Organisation, your development as a project funded company is no longer secure (as borne out by the statistics). There is no guarantee of a ladder to climb towards RFO status, which means no security for the choreographer or the manager.

Prior to the current funding system, if you continued to develop artistically, managerially, increasing your touring circuit and audience figures, you could be 80% sure of a steady growth over a long period of time.

29 So, for example, with the companies I sought funding for, I achieved a 90% success rate, which enabled me to work with them consistently and developmentally over several years. As a result of the new Grants for the Arts system, my current success rate is 40%! And it's not a problem peculiar to me. These statistics reflect the experience of many of my fellow managers, as a recent survey of Independent Dance Managers Network confirmed.

So, back to the question. As an artist, it is imperative that you are aware that for the most part you will be expected to undertake your own management with the occasional paid support of managers on projects that you are able to raise money for. Unfortunately, my colleagues and I are less able to take risks or invest in artists as there is no security or guarantees. Artists will be expected to pay or make a contribution to work done on their behalf by a manager.

On a positive note, I strongly believe that the most "successful" artists are those that understand the importance of administrating their own company with or without management support and they are the ones who have a long and healthy career. Bullies Ballerinas, Bedlam, Biserk, Gelede, Darkin Ensemble, Sankalpam and Robert Hylton spring to mind. The artistic directors of all these companies were/are completely aware of and committed to running their own company. In my opinion without this awareness and commitment, they would not have achieved or continue to achieve their artistic ambitions.

What can I expect a manager to do? Will they do everything for me?

There are very few managers that will do everything and each artist/manager relationship is different. You will have to negotiate. This means from the beginning you need to be clear about your expectations and the manager needs to be clear about what he/she can and will deliver. This should then be documented in the form of a contract with a schedule of work, clearly identifying who is responsible for what and when.

30 However, in my experience, having a manager increases the work of the artist by at least double if not triple! The increase is due to the amount of work that needs to be done as you develop artistically and as more opportunities come your way. Increased success results in increased work. Also, the manager will require your input every step of the way, as it is your company not theirs. Once you work with a manager an artist is effectively an artistic director, this is a very different role to that of a dancer or choreographer and you need to plan for the transition.

Who can I ask to manage my company?

As I have already explained my colleagues and I are in less of a position to take financial risks, particularly those of us who have been doing it for a long time. Personally, I may not have children to feed, but I do have godchildren, a mortgage and goldfish! So, many of us have been diversifying in order to survive and to maintain a link with the dance world. Hence the training, consultancy and life coaching work that I do.

At the moment, a lot of us (particularly those of us who have been around for some time) are in transition and we may be forced to leave the dance world altogether. This would be very sad, as there is a wealth of information, experience and knowledge shared between us that is not acknowledged by the "powers that be".

In fact, in many situations, I am tired of seeing the wheel being reinvented. I, too, am a tax payer and do not appreciate good money being thrown after bad, being spent on more bureaucratic administration and projects that "look good" statistically, rather than investing long term in artists that are identified by their peers as having an important place and contribution to make to the UK Arts scene. Managed in this way artists provide economic benefits in the form of VAT on tickets and sales, National Insurance and Tax paid by the numerous people employed in the arts, as well as credibility worldwide for having a vibrant artistic cultural society.

Again, back to the question!

31 A few of us for the past couple of years have been endeavouring to support emerging freelance managers either independently or through the London Arts Management Training Scheme. As the Independent Dance Managers Network (IDMN), we are now looking at funding possibilities (outside of the Arts Council) to support training programmes for emerging and developing freelance managers for the independent dance sector. However, this will take time and may or may not be made possible, with or without the support of Arts Council England. But it is a ray of light in an ever-darkening landscape.

In answer to the question, if you are looking for a manager, then please email an 'advert' to the IDMN Coordinator, Natalie Andrews at: [email protected]

It is also advisable to invite any managers that you are interested in working with to any showings or performances that you may be presenting. The other organisation that can provide guidance is The Place Artist Development. If you are a subscriber, you are currently eligible for one free 1:1 session a year, as well as receiving Juice, a monthly listing magazine where you can also advertise for a manager. In addition, they also have a Dance Manager's Database of freelance Managers and the Self-Managed Artist Scheme, which provides successful applicants with a management advisor for four meetings a year. For details contact: [email protected]

Finally, I am not personally planning to manage any new companies; however, I do offer the four meeting a year option on a private basis and currently work with artists and companies including Robert Hylton, Hofesh Shechter, Fleur Darkin, Martin Robinson, State of Emergency, Gelede, and Biserk.

Whether you are fortunate or unfortunate in your search for a manager, you need to ask yourself "am I ready to manage my own company"?

In conclusion, I have to confess to being a manager, mother and mentor. However, I would prefer to be referred to now as a Life and Business Coach!

32 June is a freelance Arts Manager and Consultant and a qualified Life and Business Coach. Until 23 years old June trained as a dancer in Bridport, Plymouth and London.

Her first Arts Management job was in 1989 at Adzido Pan African Dance Ensemble. In 1990 June moved on to work with Pan African Arts Management who managed Les Ballets Africains (national dance company of Guinea in West Africa), the Pan African Orchestra, Femi Kuti & other African artists.

She is currently is an Executive Committee member of the Independent Dance Managers' Network, Development Coordinator for Sankalpam. Her consultancy and training clients include Robert Hylton, Martin Robinson, Menelva Harry, IDMN, Dance South West, Swindon Dance, East London Dance, Dance North West and The Place Artist Development |June if a former member of the standing committee of ADAD and worked as the Co- ordinator for 3 years. June is also on the Board of Directors of Plymouth-based iDC (integrated dance company).

33 Interview

“Making Big Things”

Alistair Spalding,

artistic director and chief executive of Sadler’s Well’s Theatre In conversation with Jeannette Brooks

Jeannette Brooks (JB) Who are you and how did you arrive in your new role?

Alistair Spalding (AS) I am the principal decision maker at Sadler’s Wells. I took up the position in October 2004. My path here follows an unpredictable career line. I started as a teacher in Primary schools in Liverpool.My instinct is still that of an educator. Later in my career I found myself at Crawley Connection working on outdoor space presentations. It was then that I had my first contact with dance work from the Diaspora.

(JB) You have a strong relationship with dance…

(AS) I took to dance later in life but it is the main area of my work. An old flame took me to see Merce Cunningham and I was captivated. I think there is an honestly about dance. There is a ‘must be able to do it’ about this art form. It is not fakable. It’s the most open; performers are out there for all to see. Funnily enough I saw Highland Fling, by Adventure’s in Motion Pictures back then in Crawley at the Hawth Theatre and now we are working with Matthew Bourne on the new version.

34 (JB) What are your plans for Sadler’s Wells?

(AS) I want big things to happen here. I have three main ambitions for the Theatre.

1. To get the maximum use of the whole venue. The dance studios, studio theatre, the stages etc. This is being done with the introduction of resident and associate companies. Jonzi D and Still Brok Productions are resident now. The relationship should be about more than just presenting dances. The venue should be a creative centre with solid educational links. We will co-produce, commission and focus on British artists. 2. To become a National Studio for dance. Meaning we will invite application for artists to do research here with the view that these experiments might be commissioned pieces later on. 3. To invest in the audience by giving them the greatest quality experience or newest work. We must continuously examine on a weekly basis, what has gone on, on stage.

At the moment audience numbers are increasing. I put it down to their hunger for new and ‘good’ dance. It creates a snowball of excitement and word of mouth picks up.

35 (JB) How does or can your work engage with Dance of the African Diaspora?

(AS) We have a plan to initiate more small scale ideas and low key opportunities. This could mean time for artists to use the Lylian Baylis Theatre, to research in a studio lab atmosphere.

The growing relationship with Jonzi D is also critical. The way we have developed Breakin’ Convention highlights our commitment to cultural diversity. Our programming also includes Garth Fagin, Dance Theatre of Harlem and Alvin Ailey. I must remain committed to running a large scale venue and finding companies that can fill the stage. Never the less our principle is inclusion not exclusion and that is the artists, their work plus the audiences.

(JB) What is your key to wanting to present a dance or company?

(AS) The integrity of the work. I am not talking about production values. It’s more about the substance of the vision. I believe in the proportion or balance of the work too and that there is sense and intention at its heart. I look at talent and the craft of choreography, because it’s not about size and that applies to small or large works alike.

36 New Item

With the desire to commutate comes the necessity for language. That language; written, danced, signed, sung or painted needs understanding and appreciation so, with that in mind, ADAD is pleased to introduce Part 1 of the ADAD glossary of Dance of the African Diaspora.

The piece –written and researched by Thea Barnes, is not meant to be a finite, complete or definitive work. It is, however, (as is this magazine) a piece to stimulate debate and support the enjoyment of dance.

ADAD Glossary 2005-2006

By Thea Nerissa Barnes

This glossary contains words that allude to specific cultural practices and/or political stances that precipitate dance making or characterise aesthetic preferences for performing and enjoying Dance of the African Diaspora.

Part 1: A –I A

Aficionado \ A fervent admirer; derives from Spanish aficionar, "to induce a liking for," from afición, "a liking for."; an amateur; lovers of the dance, the arts, etc. who are themselves not necessarily professionally trained.

AfroCubanismo \ In Cuba African and African-based aesthetic preferences in music and dance in Cuban culture.

37 Arará \ Having West African ethnic group genealogy this major dance/music tradition complete with religious system is practiced in Cuba and has distinctive shoulder movements and cylindrical drums that characterise its various dances.

Àshe \ Yoruba spiritual command; power to create and destroy; metaphysical force that encourages, summons or enforces attainment of creative perfection in art and life; spirit invoking, creative benevolence literally means “So be it”, “May it happen”.

B

Bata \ Nigeria-Yoruba; spread to Cuba, Bahia in South America, Caribbean and America with Atlantic slave trade; is a distinct technique of movement and sound that in its sacred form is specifically for the appeasement of Yoruba king and deity, Shàngó.

Batty \ Jamaican patois for buttocks; elicits a gendered, sexually charged discourse about the female buttocks and the “black bottom” in particular in dance making, performance and also daily life.

C

Call and response \ antiphony; interaction between two voices expressed through music, verbally, non verbally or movement with the interaction between the voices reacting to each other in a conversation like exchange of statements one being a “call” and the other a “response”.

Chutney \ popular dance and music of Trinidadians and Guyanese with ancestry of the Indian subcontinent; movement is mostly wining (hip gyrating dance) but may contain Indian hand gestures or other Indian or Middle Eastern influences.

Conga \ a Cuban processional dance form performed during provincial and national carnivals particularly Day of the Kings celebration on 6th January; also known as comparsa; barrel-shaped drums of Congo-Angolan heritage.

Creole, Creolization \ meanings found in historical intertexts within discourses of racist-purist, racist-hybridist beliefs and négritude but currently used in post colonial discourses as a synonym of 'hybridity' and 'syncretism' to indicate mixtures amongst societies in an age of migration and telecommunications; artistically indicates hybrid Creole (Euro/African) aesthetic.

38 D

Dunham Technique \ Katherine Dunham’s anthropological research between1935- 1936 provided her with knowledge of Haitian and Jamaican sacred and secular dance practices. To choreograph dance works inspired by this knowledge, Dunham developed a technique that utilises an amalgamation of skills gleaned from her Caribbean research and her European classical ballet and modern dance experiences. Technical practice includes a range of experiences examples being isolations (the ability to move parts of the body in isolation from the rest, i.e. hip or shoulder rolls), pliés, prances, and leg extensions to refining movement rhythm and dynamics most associated with Vodun sacred practices like Damballah and Yanvalou.

Dougla, Douglarization \ in Trinidad/Tobago originally meaning bastard or illegitimate this word functions in Caribbean discourses as a code-word for assimilation and racial “dilution”; is currently a post colonial political stance and identity to unmask power and symbolically re-establish legitimacy of Africanist/Indian aesthetically hybrid expressions in music and dance.

Dinkimini \ indigenous Jamaican dance form derived from African practices; a celebration of death with sacred and secular elements intended to “cheer up” the bereaved with songs and movement especially performed to protect against evil forces.

E

Ephebism \ An Africanist aesthetic characteristic in dance; from the Greek word for youth, ephebe, kinesthetic intensity that privileges feeling as sensation rather than emotion, moving with suppleness and flexibility rather than restraining movement for alignment; also rhythmic speed, sharpness or abrupt changes in dynamics, force and attack.

Etu \ indigenous Jamaican though Yoruba-based rite with specific movement technique for sacred and secular practices.

39 F

Fanga \ West African welcome dance with distinct rhythm in feet and drum; Fanga means Welcome in Yoruba and this dance was performed to greet new neighbours and visitors.

Fusion \ an action; a compositional device; a dance maker’s strategy to transliterate or amalgamate the technical or performance skills of diverse movement vocabularies. The combination of dance styles, merger, or resulting blend of dance styles or elements from more than one tradition, e.g. Afro Caribbean and contemporary.

G

Griot \ Mali and Senegal, traditional keeper of cultural traditions and history of the Mandeng people of West Africa passed through generations kept in form of music and dance, recitations and metaphorical statements. Usually the music form begins slow with singing and becomes fast with dance.

H

Hip Hop culture \ As a counterculture that nurtures itself with the reclamation and revitalisation of Afro-Caribbean/Afro-American musical, oral, visual, dance forms and practices, Hip Hop culture and its associated art practices are creativity bourn out of consequence. Its main art practices, break dancing (breakin), rap (rhythmic accented poetry) music and graffiti evolved in relation to one another. The dance practices of Hip Hop culture are just over thirty years old and commenced on both coasts of the States around 1969. Jamaican dub of the late 1960’swas as influential as DJ’s of the 1970’s disco who sustained the beat for dancers to do the Hustle. The vogue of the Hustle became the freeze of break dance; an improvised move that “broke the beat”. B-boy or B-girl is dancers who performed when the DJ broke the beat. The earliest pioneers danced upright called top rockin. Possibly martial art films in the 70’s incited the addition of freezes, poses on the ground requiring extraordinary acrobatic skill and footwork that incorporated a skittering motion transferring the weight to hands to “make a space” for more aggressive movements or a kind of mock fighting where the intention was not to touch your opponent; a philosophy and form reminiscent of Brazilian Capoeira.

40 James Brown with his cut “Get on the Good Foot”, Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Kings pioneered the mock combat Uprock, Rock Steady Crew and members of Zulu Nation evolved power moves, spinning on head, hands, back, influenced acrobatics of the form. Boogalo Sam and his group the Electric Boogaloos originated popping, locking, and boogaloo moves that came out of the funk movement in the 1970’s in California which are distinct from breakin. Hip Hop culture came to Britain in early 80’s inspiring crews like Kaliphz from Manchester. The form known currently as street dance taught in dance studios catering to dancers for the current crop of films and music videos also gets its creative juice from Hip Hop culture.

I

Itutu \ Yoruba, itutu or coolness is certainty of truth and an assuredness that permeates a person’s spirit demonstrating gentleness and eloquence. Coolness is an attitude in movement, in disposition combining composure with vitality; in dance or music; the detached, mask-like coolness in the face of the performer whose body or energy may be working fast, hard, and hot.

Ingoma \ In Zulu literally means ‘song’and is a grouping of male group dances ex: isikhuze, isicathulo, ukukomika, isiZulu, isiBhaca, umzansi, and isishameni representative of the complex interaction of traditional dance forms, intermingling of rural and urban song/dance experiences, labour migration and missionization; began as militant, suppressed form of popular culture appearing as early as the 1880’s that by 1939 transformed into urbanised competition activities, urban gang activities and ritualized conflicts to channel group rivalry. Its multiple forms afforded song and dance activities that strengthened Zulu cultural identity for the expelled, dehumanized and dispossessed African masses. Commonly known as a step dance or gumboot dance, the kinesthetic patterns of ingoma are linked to choral songs in call and response structure and illustrate complexity of dance and song in Zulu performance culture.

Thea Nerissa Barnes is Resident Dance Supervisor for The Lion King in London’s West End. She has had a distinguished performing career with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company and Martha Graham Dance Company.

Thea holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance from the Juilliard School, New York; a Master’s Degree in Dance Education from Columbia Teachers College, New York; and a Master of Philosophy degree from City University, London.

41 ADAD News Trust

Trust is important in a relationship and one of the most important relationships for a dance professional is the one between the artist and the funder. Trust works both ways; it requires transparency and effective 2 way communication.

With this in mind, ADAD’s last forum was organised to bring these two parties together. Issues discussed Saturday 11 of June were those affecting the relationship between artists and Arts Council England. The focus was on dispelling the myths surrounding funding and sponsorship, and gave practical advice on the best ways to tackle future applications. Although there was no fairy tale ending with all problems resolved, the afternoon’s dialogue made significant steps to building on the trust between artists and funders.

Trailblazers

It’s that time of the year when we say farewell to our outgoing fellows and welcome the next year’s intake. Each year ADAD provides four fellowships of £2,000 to dance artists working with dance forms of the African Diaspora to develop their careers.

The bursaries can be used to contribute to dance classes, training, equipment, research trips and other professional development needs. Fellows are also assigned a mentor and follow a self-directed programme of professional development for a period of one year.

42 Last years’ fellows found that being a Trailblazer, not only offered financial support for their individual projects, but also gave them the confidence and motivation to continue striving to reach their artistic goals.

‘The Trailblazers Fellowship has allowed me to begin my journey as a Choreographer and a director with confidence. Without Trailblazers my Project would have not come true’. Maria Ghoumrassi.

2005 Trailblazer Applications Applications for the 2005/6 Trailblazers have been announced and the deadline was 4pm Monday 3 October 2005. The announcements of this year’s fellows were made on Monday 10 October 2005.

Trailblazers Alumni Launch ADAD will be looking into enhancing the Trailblazers programme to extend the connection with fellows longer than the 12 month programme which should prove to be more beneficial to the emerging artists and the sector as a whole. We hope to do this by launching the Trailblazers Alumni in December 2005; the alumni will form a network of all the fellows and allow the formation of a platform of peer support and continuing professional development.

ADAD in Black History Month Preserving our work, preserving our bodies - Archiving seminar and ADAD forum

On Saturday 15 October 2005, we will be holding a forum and seminar at Stratford Theatre Royal on archiving and healthy dance practice under the title –‘Preserving our bodies, preserving our work’. We believe that setting up archives will promote the dance practices of the African Diaspora as a valuable and distinct part of British dance culture.

Preservation of our work not only helps provide a record of its evolution over time but also provides a valuable resource for the younger generation of practitioners looking for role models as well as the general public who

43 increasingly want to know more about their heritage. The morning’s seminar will focus on presentations on the progress that has been made in preserving our heritage by key contributors such as Beverly Glean of Irie! Dance Theatre, Leon Robinson, Positive Steps, Rufus Orisayomi and Ralph Cox, Laban.

In the afternoon we will link the day’s discussions on preservation of our work with a practical session on injury prevention as practitioners of dance of forms of the Diaspora. With the help of Physiotherapist Caroline Marsh we will explore preventative measures to ensure long-lasting and healthy careers as dancers and choreographers.

We hope to see as many of you as possible at the forum as you all have such a crucial role to play in the preservation of our rich dance heritage as artists creating valuable work and as researchers and historians with an interest in the resources available on dance forms of the African Diaspora. Please make sure you book your place and confirm any access and dietary requirements as refreshments will be served.

Forging paths; breaking ground Against all odds –Oral History evening

On Friday 21 October 2005, ADAD will be playing its part in Black History month in a bid to honour the many artists who pioneered the way for Black dance in Britain over the past 50 years. ADAD will hold an oral history evening titled ‘Against all Odds’ at the Theatre Museum, Covent Garden, London from 6.00pm –8.30pm.

This evening will be the first in a series of tributes to those who forged new pathways and broke new ground as black dancers in Britain in the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s. We will also be celebrating the work of other distinguished artists such as Namron, Carl Cambell and Jackie Guy and companies such as Lanzel, Ekome, Adzido, Phoenix, Kokuma, Jiving Lindy Hoppers, Irie!, Shikisha, Union dance, Dagarti Arts and Badejo Arts to name a few. There will also be opportunities for you to share how these artists have inspired you with their work.

44 ADAD in Manchester and Bristol in 2005

ADAD will be collaborating on two regional events in the busy month of October. The first will be with Dance Initiative Greater Manchester on the 7 of October and the second with Kuumba and Dance Bristol on the 29 of October. Both events will be forum type events that will enable artists working with dance forms of the African Diaspora to network and interact, and discuss issues around gaining respect for their work and developing the dance forms in their regions.

ADAD will be making links with artists in the regions to try and develop a regional network of volunteer dance advocates whom will work together to raise the profile of their specific dance forms that fall under the DAD umbrella.

ADAD Website

ADAD will be launching its website in November 2005. The website will include the ADAD Directory of dancers and choreographers who are working and teaching using dance forms and techniques developed within African or Caribbean cultures and other communities within the Diaspora.

Changes at Dance UK

There have been some changes at Dance UK since the last issue of our magazine. Following the departure of Dance UK director Ian Bramley; project manager, Adrienn Szabo and finance manager Fiona Mills. Sian Kendall has stepped in as the acting director; Katy Spicer is the interim general manager and Mubeen Hashmat is the new finance officer.

Wanted –Reviewers

ADAD needs budding journalists who would like to write for the next Hotfoot magazine due out in January 2006. Please get in touch if you want to review any of the companies form the Diaspora touring this autumn. Your time and expenses will be paid and full support given in the writing of a 500 –1,000 word article. Call Pamela at ADAD for details.

45 Vote Now! Dance UK Industry Award

Now in its third year, the Dance UK Industry Award aims to highlight the many important but often unacknowledged contributions that make a real difference to how dance is created, supported and seen. Do you know of someone who goes above and beyond the call of duty to move dance forward and enable the dance art form to thrive? If so, please let us know.

This special award will honour an individual working in dance that has made an outstanding contribution to the art form. The person could be a dance manager, a designer, a critic –in fact anyone –who, through their knowledge, skill and generosity, has made a significant contribution to dance beyond the scope of their usual role.

To nominate someone for the award, please send a few lines on why that person should be awarded to: Dance UK Industry Award, c/o Dance UK, Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TN or email [email protected]. by 28 October 2005.

46 Fit to Dance 2 Report of the second national inquiry into dancers’ health and injury in the UK

Findings of the second national survey of dancers’ health and injury in the UK were released at a launch event at Sadler’s Wells, London, on 8September 2005.

Fit to Dance 2 follows on from the ground-breaking 1996 publication Fit to Dance?, instigated by Dr Peter Brinson and Dance UK. Research presented in Fit to Dance? highlighted the causes and consequences of the high injury rate among dancers, and called for better understanding and support of dancers’ healthcare. The 1996 report gave impetusto the national programme of education and awareness-raising led by Dance UK’s Healthier Dancer Programme. Fit to Dance 2 presents and compares the health and injury status of dancers now with that nearly 10 years ago, celebrating the positive steps that have been taken in the provision of dancers’ healthcare and highlighting the areas that still require action.

80% of dancers experience at least one injury that affects their ability to perform each year. In this latest Dance UK survey professional dancers had an average of 11.5 days off class, 7.9 days off rehearsal and 6.6 days off performance due to injury in the previous year, equating to a potential cost of approximately £1,100 per dancer (over £1 million to the subsidised dance sector) in lost time alone.

Dance demands a similar level of physical fitness and mental robustness to that of an Olympic athlete, alongside great artistry and expression. Dancers therefore need access to specialist healthcare and information if they are to remain fit and able to perform at their peak.

47 Fit to Dance 2 gives the clearest picture of what provision exists for dancers’ health and prevention of injury today following interviews with a broad cross section of UK dance companies and vocational dance schools, which put questionnaire findings into context. Updated recommendations for the dance profession based on these findings pave the way for a better future for dance.

Essential reading for dancers, dance teachers, choreographers, managers, artistic directors, policy makers, dance scientists, medical practitioners and funding bodies, this publication provides evidence to support the argument for improved healthcare for all dancers, and continued research, education and understanding of the relationships between dance training, psychology, health, injury and performance. The production of Fit to Dance 2 has been made possible by the Jerwood Charity and is available from Dance UK. Full price £8.50 plus p&p, Dance UK members price £7.50 plus p&p, discounts available for bulk purchase.

ADAD in Bloom

It looks like ADAD will be in bloom all year as we have another new addition in the nursery. ADAD would like to congratulate Hotfoot Editor Jeanette Brooks who had a baby girl in June 2005.

Hotfoot Edition 2 credits and notes:

Hotfoot Logo: Photo Credit: Anthony Crickmay Image: dancer John Akoto Annan of Adzido Thanks to: Clarie Middleton and Adzido

Photos: Wild Roots Collective: Hot Pepper Designs Irvin Lewis: Jamie Kelly

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