Black Victorians

Black Victorians

Duration: 35 minutes 

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.

“Inspired by formal portrait photography of black Victorian Britons, Jeanefer Jean-Charles’s sensual dance work restores life and humanity to its forgotten subjects.”

The Guardian

Sanjoy Roy

2023 TOUR DATES

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)

Two performances of Black Victorians will be take place at the British Museum on 4 November 2023, one at 1:30pm to 2pm and another at 3:30pm to 4pm.

2022 TOUR DATES

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)

Cast & Creative Team

Designer: Marsha Roddy

Producer: Alison Holder

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 Franklin

Creative Dance Artists: Melissa Bravo, Dani Harris-Walter, Oluwaseun Olayiwola, Nosiphiwo Samente, Duja Sinada, Rudzani Moleya, Stefano Addea

Supported by

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.

Black Victorians is available for touring in 2024.

For more information and bookings, contact alison@festival.org

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