Date: Sunday 5th June 2022
Location: Westminster and along The Mall past Buckingham Palace, London, UK
Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE from Jeanefer Jean-Charles & Associates and Ali Pretty from arts organisation Kinetika were commissioned to create a section for the Queens Platinum Jubilee Pageant.
The Platinum Jubilee Pageant, as part of an extended Bank Holiday Weekend, took place on Sunday 5th June 2022. It provided an opportunity for everyone to celebrate this historic milestone of Her Majesty the Queen as the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee with 70 years of service.
The Thank You Dance was a spectacular, visually stunning and animated movement section beautifully adorned with the designs by Ali Pretty, artistic director at Kinetika and danced to the amazing composition by DJ Walde (composer, musician, consultant, DJ and performer).
It featured over 250 performers drawn from across generations in Thurrock, London and Milton Keynes adorned in silk.
The Thank You Dance was the finale of Act III: Let’s Celebrate.
The section took inspiration from the work of:
*Our key workers – and the essential role they have played throughout the pandemic
*Our volunteers who have stepped up with kindness to look after their neighbours
*Our young people who are actively taking responsibility for the future of our planet
The Thank You Dance joined The Pageant which wound through the streets of Westminster and along The Mall past Buckingham Palace telling the story of Her Majesty’s record reign and our transforming society over this period.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles & Associates,
Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE
Photo credit: Matt Crossick/PA Wire
There was a huge and dedicated team behind the Thank You Dance, including artists, costume makers, partners including IF: Milton Keynes and The Stables MK alongside associate choreographers working with performing arts groups from Thurrock (South Essex College) and Milton Keynes (Arts One), as well as dancers from Impact Dance.
Kloe Dean – Associate Choreographer with Jeanefer Jean-Charles for the Thank You Dance
Charlene Low – Associate Choreographer and Assistant with Jeanefer Jean-Charles
Melanie Joseph – Associate Choreographer and Assistant with Jeanefer Jean-Charles
Hakeem Onibudo – Choreographer for Impact Dance and Associate Choreographer with Jeanefer Jean-Charles
Kate Taylor – Lead Choreographer for Milton Keynes and Associate Choreographer with Jeanefer Jean-Charles
Lucy Heale – Lead Choreographer for Thurrock and Associate Choreographer with Jeanefer Jean-Charles
For further information about The Queens Platinum Jubilee Pageant please visit the Pageant website.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles & Associates
Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE
This powerful and moving dance performance by Artistic Director and Choreographer Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE is inspired by nineteenth-century studio photographs of black men, women, and children. Exploring a complex, but often forgotten black presence in pre-Windrush Britain, this performance calls attention to previously hidden figures and challenges historical and contemporary perceptions.
The Guardian
Sanjoy Roy
SUN 2 JUN, 1.30PM - Taliesin Dance Days Festival (Swansea)
SAT 13 JUL, 2.15PM - National Theatre River Stage part of Greenwich+Docklands International Festival (London)
FRI 26 JUL, 12.50PM & 5.05PM - Latitude Festival - The Waterfront Stage (Suffolk)
FRI 14 JUL - SUN 16 JUL - Festival Dos Canais (Portugal)
THURS 27 JUL - SUN 30 JUL – Gratis Festival (Antwerp)
SAT 12 AUG – Kensington + Chelsea Festival (Kensington, London)
SAT 30 SEPT – SUN 1 OCT – Bournemouth Arts By The Sea Festival (Bournemouth, Dorset)
SAT 4 NOV - The British Museum (Great Court, London)
FRI 24 JUN - SUN 26 JUN, VARIOUS TIMES - Birmingham International Dance Festival
SAT 2ND JUL - SUN 3RD JUL, VARIOUS TIMES - Handsworth Park (North Birmingham)
SAT 30 - SUN 31 JUL - Merchant City Festival (Glasgow)
SAT 13 - SUN 14 AUG - Kensington and Chelsea Festival (London)
FRI 26 AUG - The Big Feast (Stoke-On-Trent)
SAT 27 AUG, 2.15PM & 6.15PM - Greenwich & Docklands International Festival 2022 (London)
SUN 18 SEPT, 2PM & 4PM - Lancashire Encounter (Preston)
SAT 24 SEPT 12.45PM & 3.30PM - Derby Festé 2022 (Derby)
SUN 16 OCT, 1PM & 3PM - Wilderness Street (Ilford)
29 MAY - Brighton Festival
30 & 31 MAY – Salisbury (Wiltshire Creative)
27 JUN - 101 Outdoor Arts
3 & 4 JUL - Hat Fair (Winchester)
24 & 25 JUL – Milton Keynes International Festival
31 AUG – 2 SEPT - City Of London
10 & 11 SEPT – Greenwich+Docklands International Festival
25 & 26 SEPT - Birmingham Dance International Festival
Artistic Director and Choreographer: Jeanefer Jean-Charles
Producer: Alison Holder
Designer: Marsha Roddy
Composer: Danilo DJ Walde
Poet: Anthony Anaxagorou
Rehearsal Director: Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster, Cherilyn Albert
Writer: Hassan Mahamdallie
Creative Consultant: Martha Stylianou
Stage Manager: Cynthia Chika Franklin
Creative Dance Artists: Melissa Bravo, Dani Harris-Walter, Oluwaseun Olayiwola, Nosiphiwo Samente, Duja Sinada
Reserve Dance Artists: Rudzani Moleya, Stefano Addea
Black Victorians is produced and co-commissioned by FESTIVAL.ORG, Brighton Festival, Hatfair and Without Walls and is currently touring across the UK.
Black Victorians is inspired by Black Chronicles – The Missing Chapter, an ongoing archive research programme led by Autograph focused on unearthing nineteenth-century photographs of black presences in Britain.
Black Victorians is accompanied by a display of the Black Chronicles’ Exhibition In A Box presented in association with Autograph, London.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles worked alongside long-term collaborator Walk The Plank as Mass Movement Director for the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games opening ceremony in the Isle of Man. Following a series of workshops leading up to the event, Jeanefer visited the Isle of Man to direct the mass choreography, which included a cast of over 300 dancers and 20 parkour artists.
Isle of Man 2011 Opening Ceremony,
HRH Prince Edward, Vice-Patron
Jeanefer Jean-Charles & Associates and arts organisation Kinetika were commissioned to create a section for the Queens Platinum Jubilee Pageant.
The Platinum Jubilee Pageant, which was part of an extended Bank Holiday Weekend, took place on Sunday 5th June 2022.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles & Associates and Kinetika presented The Thank You Dance in the Pageant - a visually arresting spectacle made up of over 200 performers drawn from across generations covered in hand-painted silks and holding vibrant flags designed and made by community groups.
Inspiration was taken from Her Majesty to thank key workers and the essential role they have played throughout the pandemic, volunteers who have stepped up with kindness to look after their neighbours and young people who are actively taking responsibility for the future of our planet.
The Thank You Dance as part of The Pageant wound through the streets of Westminster and along The Mall past Buckingham Palace telling the story of these incredible people who have transformed lives through their kindness.
Photo credit: Matt Crossick/PA Wire