MAC, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham B12 9QH.
Following the highly successful 2014 conference Re:generations – Rethinking the past to reimagine the future, the steering group is pleased to announce Re:generations 4 – Diasporic dance: Legacies of Imagination.
Re:generations 4 builds on the success of the last three conferences in 2010, 2012 and 2014 which have established a distinctive combination of keynote addresses, panel discussions, papers, performances, and workshops focusing on dance and the African diaspora. The central theme of the fourth conference is Diasporic dance: Legacies of Imagination. Legacy here is understood as the impact that the Association of Dance of the African Diaspora created and is now passing on as it merges with other national dance associations to form the new organisation One Dance UK. Beyond that there is also the rich cultural heritage from the Diaspora, as well as heritages and legacies passing between countries – in Africa, the Caribbean, North America, and the UK – as well as between different generations or between practitioners who pass on the potential of different art forms as these develop. Artists continually investigate new aesthetic territories, when fusions emerge, or when they explore their roots. What legacies are we inheriting and how can we make the most of these? What are the different ways in which people from different generations make connections with cultural heritage? The 2016 conference will facilitate discussion and debate about these questions in order to build a positive future for the development of new dance talent in the UK.
Hosted in Birmingham at the MAC (Midlands Art Centre), this conference will be delivered by One Dance UK, IRIE! dance theatre, ACE dance and music, dance Immersion and De Montfort University.One of the conference keynote addresses will be delivered by Hilary Carty, who works internationally as a consultant (NTL UK), facilitator, coach (CIPD), Visiting Professor (Kufstein University of Applied Sciences) and speaker, embracing significant experience in leadership, strategic management and organisational development. There will be high level delegations from the US-based International Association of Blacks in Dance (IABD) and from Canada, Dance Immersion, who will be able to share diverse, international perspectives on the conference’s key concerns.
The conference partners invite proposals for papers, lecture demonstrations and workshops that address the theme of Diasporic dance: legacies of imagination. By offering opportunities to reflect on the heritage, legacies, histories, geographies, places and spaces of dance of the African Diaspora, the conference aims both to celebrate the achievements of elders and foster the talent of a new generation of dance practitioners and of new dance scholars.
We welcome proposals on the following subthemes:
- 1. Youth dance work, training, and intergenerational dialogues.
- 2. Heritage and Digital Arts
- 3. Women and the dance profession, i.e. diasporic or street dance forms
- 4: Health and Wellbeing.
- 5. New approaches to creating histories of Breaking, street, old school and other popular and social forms, the development of African Peoples Dance, histories of interactions between African, Caribbean, and Western contemporary dance.
- 6. International dialogues – with the African Continent, with the Caribbean, with other European countries, with USA and Canada.
We invite submissions of abstracts of no more than 500 words for proposals which address any of the above themes as well as other topics related to its central focus on Diasporic dance: Legacies of Imagination. The programme will include 20 minute papers, panel discussions, lecture demonstrations, performances, films, workshops, or other modes of presentation. Lecture demonstrations and workshops should be 25 and 45 minutes long including time for brief Q&A. As in previous years there will also be opportunities for MA students and PhD students at the start of their research to give five minute presentations about their research topics. Please clearly indicate the nature and length of your presentation together with any technical requirements.
The deadline for submissions is Friday 1st of July 2016. Submissions will be accepted by email only. Please direct emails to , including ‘Re:generations 4’ in the subject line.
About the Re:generations partners
One Dance UK
On 1st April 2016, The Association of Dance of the African Diaspora (ADAD), Dance UK, National Dance Teachers Association and Youth Dance England merged to form a new unified national ‘go-to’ industry body for dance in the UK called One Dance UK. The new organisation represents dancers at all levels of the dance industry, and champions excellence in education and research, youth dance, dance of the African diaspora, performance and art form development, health and well-being, management, leadership and career development. One Dance UK aims to build on past achievements of the four merged organisations and enhance current programmes.
For dance of the African Diaspora (DAD), the programmes include;
The annual Trailblazers Fellowships for professional development and profile raising which has two strands to supports emerging and mid-career artists through a tailored mentorship programme, a bursary and a public showcase. The 36 trailblazers supported to date have had an exponential impact on the development of Dance of the African Diaspora in the UK,demonstrating leadership, creating new initiatives in performance, education, research and professional development.
The Heritage project, ‘Moments’ which was created with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund has made a distinctive contribution to collecting, conserving, interpreting and narrating the history and heritage from 1930s – 1990s that informs the work of Black dancers in contemporary Britain. Launched in October 2006, the exhibition which is currently a photographic exhibition with a complimentary reader Voicing Black Dance, has toured to London, Leicester, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and Manchester and continues to tour nationally and internationally. One Dance UK aims to digitise ‘Moments’ and incorporate it in a new sector wide initiative to reflect the contribution of dance across the sectors in the UK and beyond.
The biennial Bloom National Festival will continue to enhance the regional reach for Dance of the African Diaspora alongside a concentrated programme of work across the UK, celebrating and showcasing local artists working with the dance styles rooted in the African Diaspora.
The international conference Re:generations, an academic and artistic event is delivered with national and international partners biennially, to make a significant contribution to the discourse, development and perspectives for dance.
IRIE! dance theatre
Established in 1985, IRIE! dance theatre is Britain’s leading dance company working in the field of African and Caribbean dance fusion and education. The company delivers and sustains a range of creative, educational and artistic activities, based on the stimuli derived from Africa and the Caribbean. Located in the heart of South East London IRIE! occupies the Moonshot Centre, which houses dance studios, teaching rooms & archive and library facilities; where it continues to run and develop accredited qualifications, research programmes, community engagement and professional development for the dance sector.
The company provides employment, training, support and mentoring for a significant number of young people and professionals working in dance as well as related cultural industries. IRIE!’s collaborations have spanned across the UK and internationally. Established in 2009, IRIE!’s partnership with City & Islington College (Further Education) and London Metropolitan University (Higher Education) continue to deliver a Foundation Degree in Dance, where African, Caribbean and Street dance practice and theory are taught equally alongside contemporary dance.
De Montfort University
De Montfort University has an international reputation for the quality of its research in dance history and theory, pedagogy, and performance-based research. It is has been offering degrees in dance since the late 1970s when it was Leicester Polytechnic. During the 1980s, the Black Dance Development Trust held its first Black Dance Summer School at Leicester Polytechnic. In 2007, it held the Black Britons and Dance conference with Professor Brenda Dixon Gottschild as keynote speaker on her first visit to a British university. From 2012 and 2014 the AHRC-funded research project British Dance and the African Diaspora run by Christy Adair and Ramsay Burt was based at De Montfort with ADAD as a project partner. Highlights of this project include the exhibition British dance: Black routescurated at the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool as well as public events in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and the Royal Festival Hall in London. An edited collection of essays that have come out of this project, titled British dance: Black routes, is being published by Routledge in Autumn 2016.
ACE dance and music
ACE dance and music winner of the ‘Diverse Company of The Year’ in the BEXLIVE 2015 Enterprise Awards, is a national touring dance company founded in 1996 and based in Birmingham UK. We are an internationally recognised leader in the field of Contemporary African and Caribbean Dance. Our signature style is Afro-fusion – dance which is rooted in traditional forms yet expressed through a purely contemporary lens. By combining African & Caribbean movement aesthetics with contemporary techniques we create high quality innovative performance – always combining dance with original music and often using new digital media and techniques from other disciplines including theatre. The company’s reputation has developed through 9 biennial productions touring to small and mid-scale theatres and festivals both across the UK and internationally. Led by Artistic Directors Gail and Ian Parmel, the company works regularly in collaboration with a family of international Artistic Associates. We offer a full range of bespoke education and outreach programmes, deliver in- house studio based dance classes, and play host to ACE Youth – our youth dance company, with its own independent reputation for excellence.
dance Immersion
dance Immersion is a not-for-profit organization that produces, promotes and supports dancers and dances of the African Diaspora. The organization was founded in 1994 by Vivine Scarlett and was established to address the need for additional presentation, skill development, and networking opportunities for dance artists of African descent. During its 22 year history, dance Immersion has experienced considerable success in connecting with dance artists of African Decent throughout Canada and around the world with the services we provide. Our programs offer audiences and participants a variety of activities that evoke diverse artistic expressions.
The Conference Steering Group consists of the Partners together with Judith Palmer, ADAD Chair and Christy Adair, Professor Emerita York St Johns University.