Afro Futures
Introduction
Afro Futures is a programme of work which reflects on where we are as diverse artists and where our future may be within an unsure world. The festival includes work developed within a changing cultural climate and claims about what it is to be British and our collective identity. The programme includes Roshni by Sonia Sabri Company, a work that features Kathak Dance and live music. The festival will also feature The Modern Jazz and Folk Ensemble presenting a cross-cultural retake of modern folk music. The Brownie Club will bring their outrageous cabaret show developed at Soho Theatre to Rich Mix to show a diverse side of late-night Asian drag entertainment. The Future Brown Space is a work that explores the daily work of Blackness and being Black with a creative into the future. Waterside is a production from Nigeria’s Kininso Koncepts and is a play that explores totemism and taboos and the oil industry in Africa. Also featured in the festival will be Okan – a new show by Akeim Toussaint Buck and Ella Mesma which explores salsa dance through the lens of martial arts. This is a new work that will premiere at The Place, London. Oneness presents T21 Alchemy about a British woman of African Caribbean heritage that becomes a mother to a child with special needs.
Wednesday 5 March – TBC (Possible Stratford Youth Hub)
Waterside – Kininso Koncepts. Two friends, Osarume and Oghenovo who grew up under the same roof as brothers have killed a chicken which turns out to be the totem of Pa Barclays, a community elder. The man has died, and his family will stop at nothing until the culprits die of the same fate as their father. Oghenovo’s Mother begs the priest who leaves her with only one choice. Pick one child to live and one to die among the 2 brothers. Growing up in a Christian family, she avoids them from learning the culture. Waterside unravels the culture of totemism and taboos, plagues in the Niger Delta, and the significance of culture, family, memories, and dreams, delving into historical issues of oil exploitation and struggles of Nigerian Youth. It is funny and dark.
Thursday 6 March – Rich Mix 7.30pm
The Modern Jazz and Folk Ensemble (MJAFE) has been established to celebrate two distinct non-mainstream British music genres of Jazz and Folk where black urban culture meets white rural traditions. MJAFE brings together artists, young and old, established and emerging. A critically acclaimed album was released in May. MJAFE have played two successful concerts in London and this new show will showcase this new work. £18/20
Friday 6 March – Rich Mix
The Brownie Club. Led by Jessica Lucia Andrade this is a late night of cabaret, drag, song and sultry entertainment that challenges perceptions of Asian women, culture and performances. With torch songs, dance and DJs to and some outstanding performances. £10/8
Saturday 8 March – Rich Mix 4pm
Oneness Sankara
T-21 Alchemy
T21 Alchemy is about a British woman of African Caribbean heritage that becomes a
mother to a child with special needs. It’s the journey from fear and insecurity to fully
embracing self and all aspects of our diverse community. This story explores why she
and some of her generation chose mature -or as the doctors termed it “geriatric” –
motherhood. It looks at wider societal attitudes towards disability and its stigma
within the Black community alongside love, struggles to conceive and the return of a
powerful ancestral spirit through the birth of a child with T21 (Down syndrome).
This work is semi-autobiographical based on the journey that I have travelled through
as a mother and a woman. At present this tale will be written with a mixture of
spoken word poetry, music and prose with the intent of being performed as a one-woman show and will be a work in progress. £5/4
Saturday 8 March Rich Mix – 7.30 pm
The Future Brown Space – John-Paul Zaccarini presents a work that reflects Blankness – The daily practice of being black or blackened. Because our study is the groove, the taste, the prayer, our scholarship, our moves, our lineage, our perfume, our roots, our looking fine, our laughter – our practice is black, black study, black consciousness, blackity black story and myth and historiography. It’s an “Is this black enuff for you?” ontology, distinct from science’s dodgy divisive methodologies, for anyone, anyone who wishes to appreciate, and join in its significance for a more coalitional less neo-colonial future. £10/8
Sunday 9 March Rich Mix
Sonia Sabri Company – Roshni
Roshni (from the Persian word meaning light or brilliance) is an intimate crafting of dance and live music, inspired by the stories and experiences of everyday people. Made up of three distinctive and engaging dance pieces: The Call, The Light and The Wave, Roshni explores the highs and lows of life today and gives us hope for the future.
The audience is taken on an emotional journey, through wordless storytelling, percussive dance and warm, humorous and upbeat audience interaction. They will be amazed at the different landscapes the musicians can create through an incredible spectrum of global music styles. This feel-good show is a treat for the senses and beautifully demonstrates the connection between music and dance. £15/12
The Place – TBC
Okan – by Ella Mesma and Akeim Toussaint Buck
Okan is a new production with martial dances at its core. Blending Salsa and Wing Chun, Akeim and Ella use these martial dances to explore themes around ‘relating’, while deconstructing notions of gender normativity and the interplay between opposing forces, resulting in a harmonious blend that transcends binaries. The name Okan, meaning Oneness, Conscience, and Heart in Yoruba, was chosen to reflect the Yoruban roots of many of the dance styles used in the piece and their connection to Orixás, the gods of Yoruban traditions.
