ADAD News
New Staff
Since the last edition of Hotfoot, the ADAD Office has been bustling with activity. In June of this year, ADAD has appointed a new Director-Jeanette Bain and a new Communications Officer-Dora Jejey. They both received support and a well organised handover from the outgoing ADAD Programme Manager, Pamela Zigomo and ADAD Administrator Sarah Gorton. Coming into ADAD, Jeanette and Dora have been engaged in a lot talks and networking in the hope of taking ADAD to greater achievements and continued success.
ADAD is growing
ADAD has a rich history of initiatives that have made a significant impact over past 13 years. The new ADAD staff will be working over the next few months to make improvements in the organisation that will see us fulfilling our mission more effectively. At the moment, we are working on a 3-year business plan for April 2008 �" March 2011. Partners and friends of ADAD will be kept informed of changes through Hotfoot, the ADAD website, the e-group and a regular e-newsletter which will be coming out shortly…
Trailblazers
The selection panel for Trailblazers 2007/08 was made up of Judith Palmer (ADAD Steering Committee); Adesola Akinleye (Immediate past Trailblazer) and Jeanette Bain (ADAD Director). The successful applicants are as follows:
Imani Jendai (based in Manchester) �" Developing an urban tap solo dance piece
Donna Lettman �" Research and filming in Nigeria for a film about Orisa Dance (based in Luton)
Victoria Igbokwe �" Development of personal choreographic style, with focus on House Dance
Sean Graham �" Studio-based development of hip-hop dance pieces, experimenting with cross art-form collaborations.
Projects and Activities
Photographic Exhibition
ADAD’s historic exhibition ‘Black Dance in Britain 1930s-1990s: Moments’ is currently at the Peepul Centre in Leicester. ADAD is looking forward to touring the exhibition further in the new year.
Voicing Black Dance
As part of ADAD’s Heritage project, we have produced a booklet entitled: Voicing Black Dance: The British Experience 1930s to 1990s. The booklet contains articles and interviews of key figures and pioneers and their contributions to the dance sector of Britain. It will be distributed free of charge to various educational institutions as a means of addressing the lack of information and resources available to students about the history of ‘Black’ dance within the British experience. The booklet will be launched on 4th December at the Southbank Centre
Dancing Across at Woking Dance Festival
ADAD has partnered with Woking Dance Festival to host a one-day professional development workshop called Dancing Across. The day focused on International Dance Collaborations and was led by Woking Artist in Residence Saju Hari and Kenyan visiting artist Kebaya Moturi. The day was be attended by 8 professional DAD artists who are involved or interested in International collaborations.
Upcoming events/partnerships
‘H’ Patten Lecture Demonstration at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre
ADAD is partnering with the Bernie Grant Arts Centre in presenting a new piece by choreographer, ‘H’ Patten called The Cotton Tree. The event will take place at BGAC on November 30th , 2007 at 8 p.m. and will be preceded by a reception hosted by ADAD.
Cultural Exchanges at De Montfort University
ADAD will also be hosting a lecture demonstration by ‘H’ Patten of his new piece The Cotton Tree during the ‘Cultural Exchanges’ festival, which is hosted at De Montfort University in late February 2008..
Move It! Dance Exhibition
ADAD has been offered the opportunity to host a mini-showcase on the main stage at the Move It! Dance Exhibition on March 8th, 2008. The showcase will be billed ADAD Presents and will feature short works by past and present Trailblazers Jane Sekonya, Zela Gayle, Chrissie Adesina and Sean Graham. This is the first of many up-coming opportunities for ADAD Trailblazers (past and present) to showcase their work. ADAD will also share an exhibition stall with Dance UK throughout the event.
BDE
ADAD will take part in the British Dance Edition trade fair on February 2nd, 2008 at St. George’s Hall in Liverpool. If you’re in the region, this will be a good opportunity to learn more about how we support the practice and appreciation of dance of the African Diaspora across the UK.
Opportunities for involvement
Online directory
ADAD would like to invite practitioners to put their details on ADAD’s online Directory. ADAD are currently receiving a large volume of requests from a variety of organisations (e.g. corporate) that are looking for practitioners of dance of the African Diaspora for a variety of opportunities- from corporate events to workshops and classes. In addition to this, ADAD website is growing, obtaining 2000+ new visitors every month. It is free to list your details and will provide added exposure to work.
If you wish to be included and for further information, please e-mail [email protected]
Hotfoot
ADAD would like to know what your thoughts are on any of the articles presented in this edition of Hotfoot. Please send your comments to [email protected]
Work Experience at ADAD
Are you looking for work experience in a dance organisation? ADAD can provide placements of varying lengths. We offer opportunities to work in the areas of Administration, Project management and Communications with a specific focus on dance of the African Diaspora. As part of the network of support organisations for dance in the UK, we offer an insight into a wide variety of dance-related activities. If you are interested in discussing a work placement, please contact Jeanette Bain at [email protected].
