Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE worked as Creative Consultant with Liverpool Choreographer Grace Goulding on a mass movement dance piece celebrating Knowsley’s rich sporting heritage. The piece formed part of the grand finale of a week-long Sporting Legends Relay, which featured walking, cycling, horse riding, running, and toddling, celebrating both sporting legends and grass-roots sports heroes from the borough.
The final dance piece took place outdoors as the finale of a week-long Sporting Legends Relay and told the borough’s stories through movement, fusing sports and arts, and bringing together local dance schools, sports people, and sporting audiences in a celebration of Knowsley, spearheaded by celebrity and local sports heroes including Katerina Johnson Thompson, John Conteh, and Steve McMahon.
The Knowsley Borough of Culture 2022
Date: Sunday 25th June 2022
Location: Port of Tilbury
Taking place from the 2 – 25 June, T100 People featured a series of events, walks, talks and community celebrations along the Thames Estuary, including the return of The Thank You Dance to Thurrock, a section of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant created by artistic directors and producers Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE from Jeanefer Jean-Charles & Associates and Ali Pretty from Kinetika and featuring Thurrock key workers, volunteers and community members.
T100 People culminated on Sunday 25 June with a spectacular finale at the Port of Tilbury, as The Thank You Dance came home to Thurrock.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles & Associates,
Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE
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
Haus of Kraft: Beneath the Seams was a spectacular sustainable fashion show and the culmination of the Haus of Kraft fashion program.
The programme highlighted the damage that fast fashion does and invited 10 women from Coventry to team up with women from commonwealth countries, to learn and share sustainable fashion skills, and to design their own sustainable clothes, taking them from rags to runway.
These designs were then showcased and brought to life in a fashion show that fused dance, mass movement, music, spoken word, and upcycled design.
The event brought together artists, dancers, and writers from Coventry and beyond, with different professional and community dance groups bringing each design to life.
The show told the incredible stories of the designers, of fast fashion, of hope for the future, and of the threads that connect people all over the planet.
Artistic Director: Jeanefer Jean-Charles
Designer & Collection Design Director: Marsha Roddy
Composer and Sound Designer: DJ Walde
BBC CWR,
City of Culture reporter
Date: 16 October to 17 October 2021
Location: London Borough of Newham
Client: Rosetta Arts
Newham Unlocked Festival: Plaistow and Green Street was a month-long celebration of unity and community with two landmark events on the weekend of October 16 and 17.
The weekend programme included a specially commissioned Mass Movement parade of 60 dancers from six community groups accompanied by a live band and a fun-packed programme on the outdoor stage in Plaistow Park with performances by singers, poets, dancers, DJ’s and more.
The powerful dance parade in the centre of Queen’s Market was inspired by Green Street as a celebration of the local community.
Chief Executive, Rosetta Arts,
Sanaz Amidi
As part of a 2019 exchange project with the city of Norwich and the town of Tilbury, Jeanefer Jean-Charles worked with Norwich City Council and Kinetika to deliver an integrated public engagement programme, culminating in a spectacular procession, part of a city-wide celebration.
People Power Passion was a five month-long programme, part of Luton’s Pilot Year of Culture bringing Luton’s communities and cultures together. This was part of the city’s strategic vision for the arts, culture and creative industries which includes plans to bid for UK City of Culture 2025.
Commissioned by Luton Town Council, Jeanefer Jean-Charles worked as Performance Director for The People’s Launch, an explosive immersive performance outside the Town Hall, looking back on the 1919 riots in Luton.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles was commissioned by the Greater London Authority and The Mayor’s Office, to create a Human Shamrock featuring 200 volunteers in Trafalgar Square. The piece was rehearsed in secret to kick off London’s St. Patrick’s Day 2019 celebrations with Tourism Ireland.
Irish Central
Working as a Creative Partner with Kinetika to oversee the mass movement for a large-scale outdoor event in Tilbury, commemorating The SS Empire Windrush at Tilbury Cruise Terminal. The event was part of an exchange project with the Lord Mayor’s Parade in Norwich and featured a parade with over 300 local artists and young people, showcasing Kinetika’s beautiful carnival costumes.
Jeanefer Jean- Charles was appointed Creative Director for Newcastle’s New Year’s Eve Parade in 2014, an event to celebrate the Rugby World Cup arriving in the city the following year. Together with her carefully selected team, consisting of Assistant Director Vicki Igbokwe and Creative Assistant Helen Wilson, Jeanefer guided a group of local artists, leaving behind a meaningful legacy.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles created the first-ever Big Dance, which took place on Saturday 22nd July 2006 in Trafalgar Square, London. This large-scale dance event was the centrepiece to Big Dance week and an exhilarating finale to BBC One’s Dancing in the Streets.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles & Associates,
Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE
Jeanefer Jean-Charles was appointed Choreographer for the Manchester Day Parade (2015) produced by Walk The Plank in partnership with Dance Manchester.
In 2016, Jeanefer delivered masterclasses with local artists and group leaders, ahead of Manchester Day Parade 2016. Jeanefer shared her methods for approaching mass choreography, preparing and empowering the artists and group leaders to create spectacular parade choreography.
Jeanefer has returned every year since, working as Mass Movement Director for the People’s Parade.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles produced a choreographic framework for a Big Dance commission in Liverpool. Appointed by Merseyside Dance Initiative, Jeanefer collaborated with Lisi Perry, the North West Big Dance Coordinator Mira Balchandran Gokul and 25 artists. This framework was rolled out across Big Dance hubs in the North West of England.
Merseyside Dance Initiative were the North West hub lead for Big Dance 2012, which provided the opportunity to celebrate community dance across the nation.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles was commissioned to produce a spectacular outdoor finale at Coalhouse Fort for Thurrock 100, a unique cultural project produced by Kinetika in 2016.
The Thurrock 100 project aims to strengthen Thurrock’s shared identity, foster pride in its heritage, and create healthier and happier residents, with participants creating their own artworks, and exploring the borough on foot.
Portfolio Holder for Communities,
Cllr Deb Stewart
Jeanefer Jean-Charles was appointed Mass Movement Director for the award-winning Roald Dahl’s City of the Unexpected, a landmark celebration of Wales’ foremost storyteller.
Over the weekend of 17-18 September 2016, Cardiff celebrated the centenary of Roald Dahl with a weekend-long event showcasing both his distinctive voice and the jewels of the city’s buildings, Bute park, and its people.
Jeanefer was delighted to be working alongside one of the world’s leading theatre and large-scale event directors Nigel Jamieson, in creating a spectacular performance with a cast of over 6000. The event was produced by Wales Millennium Centre and National Theatre Wales. National Theatre Wales were winners of the Stage Managers Team of the Year 2016 award for the production.
See below for highlights from the event – a film produced by Rondo Media for BBC Wales.
Images: Dan Green and Farrows Creative
Jeanefer Jean-Charles was invited to choreograph a piece with over 100 dancers as a part of the Coronation Concert in Buckingham Palace in 2013. This was a Big Dance commission produced by East London Dance.
The festival took place in the stunning setting of the gardens of Buckingham Palace. The Gala evening of entertainment was a spectacular celebration of music and dance from the past 60 years.
Big Dance Director,
Jacqueline Rose
Jeanefer Jean-Charles was delighted to work once again with writer Frank Cottrell Boyce. They previously worked together on the 2012 London Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.
Jeanefer was Choreographer for the award-winning The Return of Colmcille, a large-scale public event produced by Walk The Plank as part of the Derry-Londonderry City of Culture 2013.
The Return of Colmcille celebrated both the iconic and fascinating figure of Saint Colmcille and also the City of Derry~Londonderry and its people.
Referencing Derry~Londonderry’s rich heritage and past but very much rooted in the present, The Return of Colmcille was a story told by the people and involved a cast of hundreds.
The production proved to be a major highlight of the City of Culture 2013 programme and a unique opportunity to present an alternative and inspiring view of the city.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles was invited by Swindon Dance to create a mass choreographic piece involving dancers from local youth groups. The performance piece was on the Dance Village stage as part of the Bristol Habour Festival.
Presented in association with East London Dance and Greenwich & Docklands International Festival, Ravel’s “Bolero”, one of the most famous pieces of classical music ever written, provided the inspiration for this contemporary fusion of DJ remixed with live orchestral music and mass choreography presented at Canary Wharf.
Part of Big Dance 2010, sponsored by Docklands Light Railway and hosted by Canary Wharf Arts and Events.
With artistic direction and choreographed from Jeanefer Jean-Charles, the piece involved 100 local dancers from Eastlea Community School, Star Primary School, New Vic, University of East London and C-12 Dance Theatre. This project also featured the New London Orchestra conducted by Ronald Corp and DJ Excalibah.
Sponsored by:
Docklands Light Railway
East London Dance
Newham Welcome the World
Supported by Newham Council, Lend Lease, Tube Lines, Eurostar, National Express.
East London Dance,
Dance To Work