HIP 2003: Black British dance festival that will bowl you over
>
> 18th - 30th November 2003
>
> Following two highly successful years, Hip hits the London stage again
> this November with a dynamic two-week event of black dance, workshops and
> talks. Its eclectic line up turns the spotlight on African, Caribbean and
> Black British dance to capture the coolness, the inventiveness, the energy
> - in short, the hipness - of its practitioners. Artistic Director Brenda
> Edwards was the first black woman to dance with the English National
> Ballet, and she continues to break boundaries and confound expectation
> with a programme that displays the diverse range of Black British and
> international dance today. Hip artists fuse concept and choreography to
> present new work that moves with ease between African, Caribbean,
> contemporary and balletic styles. In doing so their work forms a new
> vocabulary that accepts no limitations and soars above the restrictions
> that racial politics have placed on dance with style, humour, grace and
> imagination.
>
> Hip - one of the few Black dance festivals in the UK - has successfully
> opened up the debate about Black British dance since its inception. Now
> making its third appearance, Hip opens with Homage - a long-overdue
> tribute to 1940s Black British dance pioneers, Les Ballets Negres. The
> performance will include a rendition of the late William Louther's work,
> performed by Stuart Thomas and Namron, a founder member of London
> Contemporary Dance Theatre. The evening will continue with The 70's
> Company Mass Movers, Carol Straker and Leon Robinson, Archivist and
> Director of Positive Steps. In this way Homage will explore the beauty of
> British dance both past and present. This is followed by Two's Company -
> an international pairing of two exhilarating solo artists. South African
> born, London-based dancer and choreographer Jane Sekonya will present The
> Period Piece, a work commissioned by Hip, while award winning South
> African performer and choreographer Boyzie Cekwana will present The (re)
> definition of. This emotive work evolved from an improvisation process
> that investigated a re-definition of identity, place, context space and
> gender.
>
> The second Two's Company event pairs Colin Poole and Ballet Soul. Poole
> will present his second solo commissioned by Hip The Box Office after his
> popular Cool Memories launched the 2001 Festival. He will also be
> presenting his dark and humoured work Bad Faith. Ballet Soul is a new
> performing dance company that was launched by Benjamin Love and Beverley
> Mason to develop and produce new repertoire showcasing young, gifted
> ballet dancers who capture the imagination of a growing and vital audience
> for dance. The company's unique profile is fundamentally rooted in and
> reflective of Britain's cultural heritage. Completing the first week's
> programme, Hipstars will feature premieres by two of the most exciting
> choreographers working today. David Brown (former Monte/Brown Dance, USA)
> will re-create an existing work, Labess and Maquette, as well as creating
> a new work for a company of UK-based dancers. Barcelona-born Rafael
> Bonachela will present highlights from a new work that will receive its
> full premiere at the Purcell Room in 2004. He has worked in dance, music
> and film and is best known for his work with Kylie Minogue - including her
> 2002 award winning Fever world tour. He is currently a member of Rambert
> Dance Company and was appointed as Associate Choreographer in April 2003.
>
> As one of the highlights of this year's Festival award-winning New
> York-based performer and choreographer Ronald K. Brown will make his UK
> debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall before touring to Manchester's Royal
> Northern College of Music. Widely considered to be one of the most
> exciting talents in the USA today, Brown's unique style blends traditional
> African-American dances with edgy, contemporary urban hip-hop dance styles
> and spoken word. Hip audiences will have the opportunity to see Evidence,
> featuring some of his most groundbreaking work.
>
> Week two of the programme will be kick started by three performers with
> attitude. The Three Graces are Juliet Ellis, Nejla Y Yatkins and Greta
> Mendez. Be warned: these x-rated and satirical dance and live art
> performances are not for the lighthearted. Following this, Trans - Fusions
> will focus on exciting new solo performers, groups and companies,
> including Boy Blue, Maxine Bunting and Diane Mitchell. Eyeland will see a
> cast of solo performers from the Caribbean presenting their unique fusion
> of traditional dance styles, resulting in an edgy, creative, contemporary
> world dance feel. The programme will include Christopher Walker (Jamaica),
> Neila Ebanks (Jamaica), Tania Isaac (St. Lucia) and Celia Grannum
> (Barbados).
>
> Hip closes with 12 x 1 - a line up of twelve highly individual dancers
> each performing a short solo. Jazz, contemporary, African and Caribbean
> dance are all represented in a line up featuring some of the most
> influential figures in Black British dance. The performance will feature
> soloist dancers, such as Jason Piper Bawren Tava, Robert Hylton, Andrew
> Obaka, Alan Miller, Noel Wallace, and Francis Angol, Yvette Campbell, Jane
> Sekonya and Godiva Marshall.
>
> For further information, images and press tickets contact -
>
> Jane Hanson 0208 937 4355 mobile 07932 411623 -
>
> email Hanson@amcbbc.demon.co.uk <mailto:Hanson@amcbbc.demon.co.uk>
>
> For all additional performances and talks information contact The Place
> Box Office on 020 7387 0031.
>
> Hip Performances: The Place (Robin Howard Dance Theatre)
>
> Tues 18 Nov - Homage
>
> Wed 19 Nov - Two's Company Pt 1 - Jane Sekonya/Boyzie Cekwana
>
> Thurs 20 Nov - Two's Company Pt 2 - Colin Pool/Ballet Soul
>
> Fri 21&22 Nov - Hipsters David Brown/Rafael Bonachela
>
> Mon 24 Nov - The Three Graces Juliet Ellis,Nejla Yatkins,Greta Mendez
>
> Wed 26 Nov - Trans-Fusion (inc) Maxine Bunting, Boy Blue,
>
> Thurs 27 Nov - Eyelands International soloist from the Caribbean
>
> Fri 28&29 Nov - 12 x 1 Diverse British performers
>
> QEH - 0207 960 4201
>
> 25&26 Nov Ronald K Brown/Evidence
>
> Derby Dance Centre- 01332 970911
>
> 28 Nov Eyelands 'Taste the Spice'
>
> RNCM - 01619075555
>
> 29 Nov Ronald K Brown/Evidence
>
>
>
>
>
> Supported by The Place, South Bank Centre, Contact Theatre, Royal Northern
> College of Music, The Tabernacle Derby Dance Centre, Arts Council England,
> Visiting Arts and Regional Arts Lottery Programme.
>
> Participation of Ron K Brown/Evidence at the Hip Festival has been made
> possible in part through support from the fund for US Artists at
> International Festivals and Exhibitions, a public/private partnership of
> the US Department of State, the National Endowment of the Arts, the
> Rockefeller Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Additional support
> has been provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and administered
> by Arts International.
>
>
>
> Brenda Edwards in Brief
>
> Brenda Edwards is an Independent Artist/Teacher consultant and producer
> Her Artistic professional career spans over 19 years has a professional
> dancer and choreographer. She has been nominated twice for The
> Cosmopolitan Woman of the year and for her outstanding achievement in
> Dance. Brenda Edwards worked as an Associate Producer at Nottingham
> Playhouse and later became the Producer for African/Caribbean Arts before
> going on to develop Hip. In recent times she has been the consultant on
> innervision in Swindon, Assistant Creative producer of Cultureshock the
> Commonwealth Games Arts Programme for the North West. Edwards has an
> expanded the role as an active performer and producer She has worked with
> English National Ballet as a soloist under the Artistic Directorship of
> Peter Schaufuss where she became one of a few women to dance the leading
> role in Maurice Bejart's Bolero and a History maker in becoming the first
> black female dancer to dance in a classical dance company, London
> Contemporary Dance Theatre under Robert Cohen Directorship and Martha
> Graham Dance Company New York. She often work's in France with Hungarian
> Born dancer Eszter Salamon where she is able to explore her artistic
> craft. She is an accomplished dance teacher in many dance discipline as
> well as a choreographer and Arts Consultant. As well as Hip she is
> currently working with several dancers in both Manchester and Birmingham
> to produce a regional dance platform for young dancers.
>

Click to Ronald K. Brown thread .

I saw Brown for the first time in New York last Saturday. Well worth a trip when he makes his debut in London at the QEH for HIP.

Written on the body
New York’s Ronald K Brown makes his London debut this month, with his
troupe, Evidence. He tells DONALD HUTERA, for the South Bank Magazine, about his love of story-telling.

I see my work as folklore and creative protest,’ choreographer
Ronald K Brown once said,‘offered by a simple sinner learning
how to be a servant.’ The words of this Brooklyn native shed
light on the physical strength and spiritual resilience imbuing Evidence,
the dance company he founded nearly 20 years ago at the tender age of 19.

click for more

Hip
The Place
Ronald K Brown, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

Hip, but true cool takes more time
By Zoe Anderson
27 November 2003

more...

Ronald K Brown
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

Judith Mackrell
Friday November 28, 2003
The Guardian

more..

Hip, hot and happening
The Hip Festival is a celebration of black dance that has been growing in size and quality, year after year. Founder Brenda Edwards speaks to Diana Evans about what originally inspired her. From The Stage:

Two years ago London witnessed the genesis of an exciting new dance festival. Hip arrived at The Place with a diverse and provocative array of black dance talent, ranging from traditional African and Caribbean dance to classical ballet, from jazz to contemporary, from body popping to live art.

click for more

Review from The Guardian.

MORE

Ronald K Brown – Evidence
By John Percival for The Stage

Ronald K Brown does not hog the limelight in the programme his company has brought from Brooklyn to the Hip Festival of black dance. The solo he dances in High Life shows a lively manner, jogging around with jumps that are impressive, especially when you consider his bulk and that he looks a little older than the other cast members.

click for more

Ron K Brown is an African-American dancer/choreographer who describes his work as ‘contemporary African’. This is a problematic term, covering a huge range of dance which conciously incorporates African traditions/theories/movements/choreographic tools and presents them in the way of modern dance. I refer to these African-derived elements as Africanisms.

I find the best analytical perspective for works such as these is to locate and investigate the Africanisms, (which can be applied to most dance styles) and then to merit the work on its use of/affect on/development of/intigration with these Africanisms alongside the theatrically derived or modern dance rudiments which may, or may not have been utilised.

Brown has an incredibly acute sense of identity, both in terms of his own life experiences, and his ancestry. He also has the gift of translation through movement: narrative gestures are unobtrusive; the choreography develops steadily; the subject matter remains implicit, yet clear.

His codified technique, which utilises Traditional African, Caribbean, Savoy Jazz, Ballet and Modern dance is strongly grounded and highly comprehensive. The themes of the evening focused on the different contexts in which people of the African Diaspora dance. From slavery, to migration to the northern USA, to Christian Gospel praise both in America and Africa. The music was also centred on the many strands of Jazz, Swing, Gospel church and African chant in various languages, including English.

All the works are riddled with Africanisms; inextricable links between the movement and the dance, the presence of the ‘cool’ aesthetic, polyrythmical structures in groups/solos performing at the same time, the articulation of the spine and shoulders, a feeling – particularly in Come Ye - that the dance is a social tool all contribute a my analysis of the performance as highly Africanist.

In addition, the modern dance tools Brown used in the theatricality of his works were yeilded with considerable skill. The balance between the Africanist perspective and the modernist production was spot on. The 3 works formed a highly accessible evening, incorprating meaning without adding so much wieght that the audience is exhausted - that wouldn't be very Africanist would it?

However, maybe this is where Brown's natural progression will take him. With his talent for comprehensive movement language and his strong sense of self, Brown could easily use these same issues and make bold statements. I'd like to see him drop some of the traditional theories in favour of a stronger political hold.

Hi Jeni and welcome to CriticalDance. Sadly, this was yet another good dance programme that I missed, but it was good to read your comments about the event.

Will you go to see "Moving Africa" at the Barbican?