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26 REIMAGINING TOMORROW: NEW WORK, AFROFUTURISM AND TECHNOLOGY 29 APRIL – 9 MAY 2026

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WELCOME I am delighted to welcome you to the sixteenth edition of Let’s Dance International Frontiers 2026 (LDIF26). This year the festival explores the theme Reimagining Tomorrow: New Work, Afrofuturism and Technology. The theme is an exploration of the unique aesthetics of dance rooted in the African and African Caribbean Diaspora, celebrating rich movement cultures whilst showcasing the innovation and creativity of the pioneering dance practitioners of today. LDIF26 will feature new work from around the world with over 12 different countries represented including Barbados, Cameroon, Cuba, Gabon, Jamaica, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, Martinique, UK, Uganda and USA. The festival will feature several UK premieres. We celebrate International Dance Day on 29 April with BECOMING by Samwel Japhet. Compagnie Kaméleonite from Martinique present an Océan Brun, a duet of urgency and poignancy reflecting on the impact of environmental change (30 April). New Work: Solos and Duets (1 May) is the inaugural edition of a platform which presents the developing works of emerging artists. Signatures and the Black British Dance Platform (6 May) return to showcase establishing dance practitioners with a mixed bill of UK and international artists. LDIF26 will close with the muchanticipated return of Shamel Pitts | TRIBE and the UK debut of Marks of RED, a multidisciplinary experience that weaves together exquisite performance with bold scenography. Space for discussion is central to this year’s programme. Alongside the Dance Dialogue seminars, in the Annual Conference (5 May) we welcome an esteemed line up of speakers including Brenda Dixon Gottschild, Shamel Pitts, Julie Felix, Kenneth Tharp, Quentin Sledge and Marlene Myrtil. A new addition to LDIF26 is Yesterday and Tomorrow: Roundtable Discussion and Dinner (2 May), offering a unique opportunity to reflect on the development and direction of Black British dance through a shared culinary experience curated by Chef Lauren Wilmott. LDIF26 is an invitation to hope, reclaim, reaffirm and reimagine. We look forward to seeing you there, Let’s Dance! Pawlet Brookes MBE CEO and Artistic Director Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage

Cover Image: FXQuadro, Freepik. Pawlet Brookes MBE, Photograph by Lauryn Pinard

LAUNCH LET’S DANCE INTERNATIONAL FRONTIERS 2026 LAUNCH Wednesday 29 April 7.00pm Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage £20 | £18 Concession To celebrate International Dance Day and the launch of Let’s Dance International Frontiers 2026 (LDIF26), Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage welcomes two powerful new works and an opportunity to find out more about the organisation’s vision for dance over the next decade.

BECOMING

Samwel Japhet (Tanzania) BECOMING: From the Streets to Now is an autobiographical work reflecting on the ten years since Samwel Japhet’s journey from a child on the streets of Tanzania to performing on stages around the world. The work is layered with the complexities of emotion, memory and personal growth by examining what it means to develop in challenging environments, confront societal norms and find a new home. BECOMING is not just a record of Japhet’s tenacity but a testament to overcoming adversity, finding belonging and reclaiming one’s story. Japhet is the co-founder of Nantea Dance Company, presenting intersectional dance that builds artistic relationships between Africa and the rest of the world. As a contributor to BlackInk Issue 1 and online editions of LDIF, Japhet is no stranger to Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage; however, this performance will mark Japhet’s live UK debut.

Sonje

Lauryn Pinard (Haiti/France/UK) An intimate excavation of embodied eloquence. Lauryn Pinard steps deeper into intention, allowing herself to become a portal through which movement speaks and listens. The call is inward, but the answer resounds outward.

Image Credit: Samwel Japhet, photographers La Maison Du Vent and Lauryn Pinard by Lidia Crisafulli

PERFORMANCE

OCÉAN BRUN Compagnie Kaméléonite (Martinique / France) Thursday 30 April 7.30pm Leicester Cathedral £20 | £18 Concession In 2011, the once clear waters of the Caribbean began to change colour, ladened with sargassum. The toxic seaweed has not just turned the ocean brown, but transformed the lives of those who depend on the sea. The work is choreographed by Marlène Myrtil, who drew inspiration from conversations and artistic workshops with people living along the coastlines of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Océan Brun is nourished by imaginary, suspended and contrasted moments illuminated by Fred Lagnau’s dramatic videographic visuals. The unbearable landscape becomes dreamlike, in which the performers’ dance, like an undertow, reclaims vitality and the liberation of language. From the inside out, Océan Brun offers a path of listening and feeling, where the two dancers, Deborah Lary and Francis Saint-Albin, question the body as landscape, the body as matter, expose their fragility and set out to reclaim their own breath. Compagnie Kaméleonite was founded by Marlène Myrtil in 1998 in Paris before transferring to Martinique in 2008. The company’s research and creative processes are rooted in and developed around issues related to heritage, the environment and the impact of post-colonial society.

Image Credit: Océan Brun, photographer Elise Fitte-Duval.

NEW WORK: SOLOS AND DUETS Friday 1 May 7.30pm Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage £18 | £16 Concession New Work: Solos and Duets brings together emerging Black artists from the UK and internationally. Each artist presents a bold new work that challenges form, resists respectability and offers fresh vocabularies of movement. Together, they explore rage, ancestry, vulnerability, voice and communal breath charting a course towards new possibilities in dance and performance.

Family Honour

Kwame Asafo-Adeji | Spoken Movement (UK) Family Honour examines the eponymous concept through the eyes of a young girl trapped in moral codes mandated by her immediate environment, confronting her past ‘sin’ against tradition. Abandoned by her father, she seeks solace from memories resembling her father. Inspired by personal conversations, the performance draws the audience into a world where hip-hop is theatre.

I See You, You See Me

Choreographed by Dak Mashava Performed by Conn Williams and Theo Canham-Spence (UK) I See You, You See Me focuses on the dialogue of a queer relationship and the dynamics within it whilst exploring themes of friendship, rivalry, as well as romance and boundaries. The developing work encapsulates the nuances and complexities of navigating relationships, exploring themes of identity, ownership, fetishisation, masculinity and femininity, sexuality, gender expression, all through the lens of being Black and queer.

Unspoken Queens

Choreographed by Charly Mintya Performed by Claire Nadine Gwem (Cameroon) Women have always been key players in history, but their contribution has often been erased or minimised. Today, in the face of persistent challenges, it is more important than ever to recall the significant impact that women have made as pioneers and leaders and to build a more just and equitable future.

Image Credit: I See You, You See Me, photographer Dak Mashava

NEW WORK: SOLOS AND DUETS EN-CORPS

Faustin Arnauld Ntoutoume Ndong (Gabon) EN-CORPS explores the mobility of the body, its capacity to transform and reinvent itself. EN-CORPS also highlights the constant transformation of the body through its multiple states: fragility and strength, exhaustion and momentum, constraint and liberation. It is a gradual blossoming, a passage from one state to another, a metamorphosis that reveals the infinity of forms and possibilities that the body conceals.

Image Credit: Faustin Arnauld Ntoutoume Ndong, photographer arte fact production. Alexandria Davis, photographer Amaya Skeene.

SIGNATURES AND THE BLACK BRITISH DANCE PLATFORM Wednesday 6 May 7.45pm Curve Studio £20 | £10 Signatures and the Black British Dance Platform are two dynamic launchpads that celebrate the creativity of emerging and established choreographers and dancers in the UK and internationally. Audiences will experience a mixed-bill of bold and original performances, spanning local, national and global perspectives. The programme champions innovation, technique and artistic integrity, showcasing work that pushes the boundaries of dance and engages audiences with fresh ideas and distinctive voices. Signatures and the Black British Dance Platform offer a unique glimpse into the future of dance, spotlighting the talent that will shape tomorrow’s cultural landscape. The platforms are produced by Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage with support from FABRIC and Northern School of Contemporary Dance.

SIGNATURES Quilt CDT Jamaica Choreographed by Renée I McDonald (Jamaica) Quilt explores three connected stories - one of love, trust and abandonment; one of isolation, identity and the journey to self-love; and one of freedom from pent up emotions and energy through divulgence. The trio is choreographed by Jamaican choreographer, Renée I McDonald and takes the audience on an intimate journey of human experiences through modern dance, dynamic music and minimalist lighting.

Sending Up My Timber

Choregraphed by Alexandria Davis (USA) Sending Up My Timber draws from the Black American blues and gospel tradition, referring to the construction of a heavenly home through good deeds, faith and prayer. What technologies of spiritual communion have supported Black communities throughout history, and how might they influence access and the construction of a collective future when material conditions restrict our access to one another?

Firefly

Tebandeke Joseph (Uganda) Firefly is a solo dance performance born from the lived experience of Ugandan artist Tebandeke Joseph, a disabled Black performer navigating the intersection of body, identity and society. Raised in a society that viewed disability as source of shame, Firefly is his personal and political declaration of resilience. It transforms individual pain into collective empowerment, shedding light on the strength and beauty found within us.

SIGNATURES AND THE BLACK BRITISH DANCE PLATFORM SIGNATURES Mares Perspectives Collective Choreographed by Amari Webb-Martin and Roshaan Asare (UK) Emerging from a shared unease and anger at the severe injustices of the world, Mares draws on the word “nightmares” and reimagines the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse through four female-identifying dancers. Their bodies become vessels of urgency and resistance, moving with relentless drive, fierce unisons and intricate musicality. The work navigates the tension between despair and resilience, asking what hope can be carved from today’s darkness.

Image Credit: Tebandeke Joseph at JOMBA 2023. Photographer Val Adamson.

BLACK BRITISH DANCE PLATFORM together Choreographed by Douglas Thorpe (UK) Performed by Imogen Wright and Kadafi Mulula An explosive contemporary duet driven by pulse, urgency and relentless intensity. Two bodies circle each other with animal alertness, testing strength and endurance through dense, highly crafted movement. Visceral and emotionally charged, the choreography shifts between dark humour, exhaustion and fleeting moments of innocence and simplicity. Breath becomes audible, effort exposed, humanity revealed in small gestures. Douglas Thorpe, founder and director, trained at The Place London, and returned to Leeds to build his career. He worked with Phoenix Dance Theatre over three decades, dancing, choreographing and teaching. He has created work for Staatstheater Braunschweig, ACE Dance and Music, Mobius, Phoenix Dance Theatre and Verve.

Image Credit: Imogen Wright, photographer Ely Welford. Kadafi Mulula, photographer Mary Ball.

MARKS OF RED Shamel Pitts | TRIBE (USA) Friday 8 May – Saturday 9 May 7.45pm Curve Studio £22.50 | £18 | £10 Visionary choreographer and MacArthur Fellow Shamel Pitts returns to LDIF with Marks of RED, a powerful Afrofuturistic performance that reimagines memory, embodiment and regeneration through movement, sound and light. Told through the perspectives of six women, Marks of RED is a work of magical realism and the fourth chapter in Pitts’ RED Series. The piece meditates on the “womb space” as a site of memory, rupture and potential, exploring how histories shape our senses, bodies and imaginative possibilities. This multidisciplinary experience weaves together exquisite performance with bold scenography by Mimi Lien, projection and light design by Lucca Del Carlo and original music composition by Sivan Jacobovitz. Together, the artists of TRIBE create a world that is both visceral and transcendent, where Black embodiment and aliveness are explored in all their nuance and multiplicity. Praised by The New York Times “as always visually striking”, Pitts’ work challenges perceptions of identity and space whilst affirming dance as a site of transformation and connection. A meditation on complexity, resilience and human intimacy, Marks of RED is not just a performance — it is an invitation to witness the future of dance.

Image Credit: Shamel Pitts | TRIBE in Marks of RED. Photographer Alex Apt.

YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW: ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION AND DINNER Saturday 2 May 7.00pm Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage £135 LIMITED CAPACITY Yesterday and Tomorrow: Roundtable Discussion and Dinner brings together the intergenerational voices of Angie Amra Anderson, Stewart Avon Arnold, Greta Mendez and Nahum McLean to reflect on the development and direction of Black British dance through a shared culinary experience curated by Chef Lauren Wilmott. Wilmott draws on her Jamaican heritage and fine-dining training to create a menu with each course inspired by a different speaker. This is a space for honest reflection and visionary thinking, inviting guests to consider how Black British dance has travelled, where it stands now and where it must go next.

Angie Amra Anderson

Greta Mendez

Anderson co-founded the awardwinning Ekome National Dance Company and has taught and performed internationally. Her TV and film appearances range from The South Bank Show to Only Fools and Horses and she has performed alongside Peter Gabriel at WOMAD, Fela Kuti and Osibisa.

Mendez is a trailblazing dancer as the first Trinidadian to dance with Scottish Ballet; she was a director and performer at MAAS Movers, one of Britain’s first Black contemporary dance companies. As a Movement Director, Mendez has worked with The National Theatre and Bristol Old Vic and Talawa Theatre Company.

Stewart Avon Arnold

Nahum McLean

Avon Arnold is a pioneer of lyrical contemporary jazz in the UK. He has supported a variety of West End shows including Wayne Sleep’s Song and Dance (as a soloist dancer) and Dance, Dash, The Wiz and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and has worked with Kate Bush, David Grant and Elton John.

A rising talent, McLean has performed with Richard Alston Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Complexions Contemporary Ballet and in Inala – A Zulu Ballet. Alongside Darius Drooh, he is co-founder of BlacBrik.

Chef Lauren Wilmott Wilmott’s culinary journey began at Westminster Kingsway College, where she was named Apprentice of the Year while training with Caprice Holdings and continued in prestigious kitchens such as 34 Mayfair. In 2023, she was a semi-finalist on MasterChef: The Professionals, where she highlighted authentic Jamaican cuisine with a contemporary twist.

CONFERENCE REIMAGINING TOMORROW: NEW WORK, AFROFUTURISM AND TECHNOLOGY Tuesday 5 May 10.00am – 5.00pm Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage £80 | £70 Early Bird* The conference for LDIF26 Reimagining Tomorrow: New Work, Afrofuturism and Technology is inspired by the spirit of Sankofa, a reminder to look back and honour the past to build the future. The conference features the voices of pioneers who have paved the way for Black dance and Black dancers internationally, whether that is through being the first to train, perform, teach or lead within mainstream dance institutions whilst ensuring they are not the last, or through forging new work and new spaces that holistically embrace and define Diaspora dance practice today. Afrofuturism encourages the exploration of the unique aesthetics of the African and African Caribbean Diaspora, celebrating the rich movement culture whilst healing communities and to look towards tomorrow with innovation and creativity. The consideration of technology applies not just to the digital tools that have revolutionised dance practice, but also the codified techniques, somatic praxis and movement pedagogy that have supported both the training of emerging dancers and innovative performative practice whilst honouring history, heritage and legacy. Ultimately, the conference theme is one of hope, a reminder to reclaim, reaffirm and reimagine.

Image Credit: Quentin Sledge. Photographer Scott Robbins, GeekWithALens.

Contributors include:

Pawlet Brookes MBE

Brenda Dixon Gottschild

(UK)

(USA) – Keynote

Brookes is the Founder, CEO and Artistic Director of Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, a Leicester-based organisation committed to championing Black arts, heritage and cultural equity in the UK and internationally. A curator, producer and advocate, Brookes established Let’s Dance International Frontiers, an annual festival bringing global dance practitioners to Leicester, and has spearheaded major initiatives including the Living Archive, preserving Black British arts and heritage for future generations. She has published extensively through Serendipity’s imprint, creating platforms for Black British and international voices across dance, performance and cultural history.

Gottschild is the author of Digging the Africanist Presence in American Performance: Dance and Other Contexts, Waltzing in the Dark: African American Vaudeville and Race Politics in the Swing Era (winner of the 2001 Congress on Research in Dance Award for Outstanding Scholarly Dance Publication), The Black Dancing Body – A Geography from Coon to Cool (winner, 2004 de la Torre Bueno prize for scholarly excellence in dance publication), and Joan Myers Brown and The Audacious Hope of the Black Ballerina: A Biohistory of American Performance.

Brookes is the Chair of the Midlands Area Council of Arts Council England, contributing her expertise to funding policy and sector strategy, and is a regular speaker on equity and representation in the arts. In recognition of her contribution, she was awarded an MBE for services to the Arts and Cultural Diversity in 2022. She was conferred with an Honorary Fellows from Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2023, an Honorary Doctor of Arts from De Montfort University in 2025, and an Honorary Fellowship from Falmouth University in 2025, marking her impact as both a cultural leader and an alumna of UK higher education.

A self-described anti-racist cultural worker utilising dance as her medium, she is a freelance writer, consultant, performer and lecturer; a former consultant and writer for Dance Magazine; and Professor Emerita of dance studies, Temple University. As an artist-scholar she coined the phrase, “choreography for the page”, to describe her embodied, subjunctive approach to research writing.

CONFERENCE REIMAGINING TOMORROW: NEW WORK, AFROFUTURISM AND TECHNOLOGY Julie Felix MBE

Shamel Pitts

Felix was born in Ealing, London. In 1974, she began training at the Rambert Ballet School, where she gained a Diploma in Dance. In 1977, Felix was offered a contract with the renowned Dance Theatre of Harlem in New York City. A highlight of her career was dancing at the closing ceremony of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games alongside Lionel Richie. Returning to the UK in 1987, Felix became company teacher and remedial coach for Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, which later became Birmingham Royal Ballet. In 2002, Felix was appointed Head of Dance at St Martin’s School and her autobiography, Brickbats and Tutus: Britain’s First Professional Black Ballerina was published in 2015. Felix was made an Honorary Fellow of Falmouth University in 2022 and in 2024 she was awarded an MBE in the King’s New Year Honours for her services to Dance.

Pitts, a celebrated Brooklyn-based artist and 2024 Doris Duke Artist Award recipient, embodies the richness of diverse artistic expressions. Trained at LaGuardia High School and The Ailey School, Pitts excelled early, winning the YoungArts National Arts Competition. A Juilliard BFA graduate honoured with the Martha Hill Award, his career soared with Batsheva Dance Company under Ohad Naharin. Pitts’s BLACK Series, crafted with his TRIBE collective, exemplifies his multidisciplinary prowess and has captivated global audiences since 2016. Recognised with accolades including the Princess Grace Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship, Pitts also enriches academia as an adjunct professor at The Julliard School and guest faculty member at Princeton University, New York University and Wesleyan University.

(UK)

Marlène Myrtil

(Martinique/France) Myrtil, a performer since 1991, has a rich tapestry of training in contemporary dance, including with Bill T Jones and the Cunningham School, alongside hip-hop, African dance and instant composition with Julyen Hamilton. Her collaborations with diverse choreographers such as Germaine Acogny and Maurice Béjart have been pivotal in her career. From 2003 to 2014, she co-founded the LMNO collective, a choreographic street theatre, and in 2020 established Kolectif 13 in Martinique. She founded Compagnie Kaméléonite in 1998 and has produced 18 dance pieces reflecting her Caribbean vision. Her work is a dialogue on heritage, ecology and post-colonial impacts, focusing on marginalised communities. Certified in Shiatsu, Vinyasa yoga and Qi gong, she also integrates therapeutic practices into her art.

(USA)

Quentin Sledge (USA)

Sledge is a dancing artist, medium, teacher, writer and intellect grounded in the African cognoscape. A child of the Diaspora, he is heavily influenced by ancestral wisdom and inspired by modernising ancient power. Sledge began his training in 2009 under the watchful eye of Homer Hans Bryant who danced with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. In 2014, he began dancing commercially in Atlanta with Daryl Foster, Cici Kelley, Juel Lane and Stephan Wilson, all while training at Gotta Dance Atlanta. After a year of intense training, he joined the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC) in 2014. He has performed at the Joyce Theatre, the David H. Koch stage in New York City’s Lincoln Center and also the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Sledge was a featured soloist in the 2016 revival of Donald McKayle’s Rainbow ’Round My Shoulder, which was awarded a Bessie for Most Outstanding Revival of a Modern Classic.

SERENDIPITY CONNECT NETWORKING EVENT Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp CBE (UK)

Tharp’s journey in dance began at the London Contemporary Dance School. His illustrious 25-year performing career spans companies such as London Contemporary Dance Theatre and Arc Dance Company. Beyond performance, Tharp has enriched the dance community as a choreographer, teacher and director with institutions such as The Royal Ballet School and National Youth Dance Company. His leadership roles, including Chief Executive of The Place and Director of the Africa Centre, underscore his commitment to fostering cultural understanding and artistic collaboration. Tharp was awarded an OBE in 2003 and a CBE in 2017 in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, celebrating his influence and contributions to dance, championing voices from the African and African Caribbean Diaspora. In September 2023, he joined Haringey Council, London Borough of Culture 2027, where he serves as Director of Culture and Communities.

Tuesday 5 May 5.30pm Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage By Invitation An opportunity for conference delegates and members to join together for an exclusive networking event to meet fellow practitioners, to debate and discuss development in the sector. Serendipity Connect is an international network of artists, arts administrators and academics which opens the door for innovative collaborations, talent development and ideas exchange.

LDIF+ MASTERCLASSES These dynamic masterclasses offer participants the chance to train with leading voices from the African and African Caribbean Diaspora. Each session bridges movement, heritage, innovation and technology, fostering a space where Black dance both honours its roots and imagines new futures.

Embodied Rituals Jamal Callender Wednesday 6 May 10.30am – 12.30pm Curve RR1 £30 Callender’s journey into dance began at New York City’s Ballet Tech and Brooklyn College Preparatory Center for the Performing Arts, culminating in a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Juilliard School. Callender’s illustrious career spans performances with The Ailey II, Atlanta Ballet and Ballet Hispánico. In 2014, he founded the Barbados Dance Project, championing dance education and inclusivity. Callender’s choreographic works, including GLORIA, have resonated globally. His dedication to the arts extends to teaching internationally and his advisory role in MOVE|NYC|. Recently, Callender graced the DIOR SS23 runway in Paris, continuing to inspire through his artistry.

Image Credit: Jamal Callender. Photographer Marina Terechov.

Ballet Foundations, Contemporary Futures Javier Torres Thursday 7 May 10.30am – 12.30pm Curve RR1 £30 Torres is a passionate, innovative and dynamic cultural leader whose career bridges artistic excellence and strategic vision. Born in Cuba, he is considered one of the best Cuban dancers of his generation with a career spanning over 20 years. In addition to his cultural manager role, Torres is a producer, programme curator and advocate for artists. He is the Founder and CEO of We Dance Agency, an organisation dedicated to representing top-tier dancers and choreographers, providing business consultancy and promoting a culture of peace through dance diplomacy. He is also the co-creator, director and promoter of Alafia, the UK’s largest Afro-Cuban Dance Festival, which celebrates and preserves the rich traditions of Afro-Cuban culture. As of 2024, Torres has served as Managing Director of the Carlos Acosta Dance Foundation and the Acosta Dance Centre, where he continues to shape the future of dance through bold programming, visionary leadership and a deep commitment to inclusion and artistic innovation.

Contemporary Expression

Afrofuturism Embodied

Sharon Watson MBE

Shamel Pitts

Friday 8 May 10.30am – 12.30pm Curve RR1 £30

Saturday 9 May 10.30am – 12.00pm Curve RR1 £30

Watson is the CEO and Principal of the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. Prior to this, Watson was the seventh and longest-standing Artistic Director of Phoenix Dance Theatre. Trained at the London School of Contemporary Dance, she was one of the first female Principal Dancers invited to join Phoenix Dance Company, touring with the company from 1989 to 1997 where she choreographed Never Still and Shaded Limits. Having left Phoenix to pursue a number of other ventures including setting up her own company ABCD, Watson returned in 2009 as the new Artistic Director. During her tenure at Phoenix Dance Theatre, Sharon has received a number of awards and accolades. In 2018, Watson was presented with an Honorary Fellowship by Northern School of Contemporary Dance and in 2019 received an Honorary Doctorate from Leeds Beckett University for her contribution to the arts. In 2020, Watson was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire and in 2021 she was awarded an MBE in the Queens New Year’s Honours list.

Pitts, a 2024 MacArthur Fellow and 2024 Doris Duke Artist Award recipient, is a performance artist, choreographer, conceptual artist, dancer, spoken word artist, director and teacher. Born in Brooklyn, NY, Pitts began his dance training at LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts and, simultaneously, at The Ailey School. He is a first prize winner in The National Arts Competition from YoungArts. Pitts went on to receive his BFA in dance from The Juilliard School and was awarded the Martha Hill Award for excellence in dance. He began his dance career in Mikhail Baryshnikov’s Hell’s Kitchen Dance and Ballets Jazz Montréal (BJM). Pitts danced with Batsheva Dance Company for seven years under the artistic direction of Ohad Naharin and is a certified teacher of Gaga movement language. Pitts has created a triptych of award-winning performances, with his multidisciplinary arts collective TRIBE, known as his BLACK Series, as well as their newly emerging RED Series, which has toured extensively to many festivals and performance spaces around the world since 2016.

Image Credit: Sharon Watson by Lauryn Pinard.

DANCE DIALOGUES Dance Dialogues is a conversation with movement at the centre, a series of seminars and lecture-demonstration style presentations, which unearth key research and issues across the sector, led by esteemed international practitioners.

Diaspora in Motion: Tradition, Technology and Transformation

Hybridity and Empowerment: Black Women Reimagining Tomorrow

Christopher Rudd

Sandra Golding

Wednesday 6 May 2.30pm – 4.30pm Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage £15

Thursday 7 May 2.30pm – 4.30pm Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage £15

Rudd is a Jamaican-born dancemaker whose work is informed by his experience as a queer Black man in dance and transverses ballet, contemporary and circus arts. He is a 2019 Guggenheim Choreography Fellow, the inaugural New Victory LabWorks Launch Artist, the creator of the groundbreaking works TOUCHÉ and LIFTED for American Ballet Theatre, a current resident artist for both BAM and Chelsea Factory; he was named one of 2023’s six to watch by American Theater Magazine. As founder of RudduR Dance, he is a two-time Exchange Alumni through the US State Department, having presented his works in the United States, Canada, France, Trinidad and Tobago, Burkina Faso, Ecuador and Italy. Rudd has created works for the Alvin Ailey School, Duke University, and UNC School of the Arts and received residencies from CUNY Dance Initiative, Vendetta Mathea’s La Manufacture, Tofte Lake Center, Kaatsbaan and STREB.

Golding is an African Holistic Dance practitioner, workshop facilitator, community artist, choreographer and performer. Classically and contemporary trained at the London School of Classical Dance and West Street Studios, Golding specialises in African Caribbean dance with over fifteen years as Principal Dancer of Kokuma Dance Theatre Company under the artistic direction of Jackie Guy MBE. In 2009, Golding graduated with an MA Dance and Somatic Wellbeing: Connections to the Living Body at the University of Central Lancaster. She has taught nationally and internationally, choreographed for the Jamaica 50 celebration in 2012 at Birmingham Symphony Hall, and was guest teacher for L’Acadco Dance Company and Ashe Community Arts Company in Jamaica. Golding has delivered African holistic dance workshops for the Spiritual Living Consciousness Awakening retreat and conference in the Centre for Peace, Geneva. She also performed in Dub Qalander, an intercultural collaborative performance of Sufi and roots rock reggae music at Birmingham Symphony Hall.

Jouvay Somatics: A Workshop on Healing with African-Caribbean Movement Sonja Dumas Friday 8 May 2.30pm – 4.30pm Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage £15 Emerging from the festival culture in the times of African enslavement, emancipation and colonialism in the Caribbean, the Trinidad and Tobago, jouvay is a cornerstone of Trinidad and Tobago carnival traditions. On the surface, it is a happy procession of people through the streets in the very early hours of the two main pre- Lenten days of carnival. However, when one looks at the history of jouvay, it is a cultural battlefield between colonial forces and the newly emancipated Africans performing resistance and resilience and seeking agency. It can be viewed as a liberatory practice that uses the technologies of the body with its remembered and re-interpreted movement of West African traditions of cosmology and community to forge healing that is at once collective and individual. Using an African-Caribbean framework that looks at the interrelatedness of body, mind, memory and spirit, the Jouvay Somatics will explore movements that are associated with traditional West and Central West African ways of moving and link them to the contemporary jouvay of Trinidad and Tobago and the acts of liberation that are still evident in the body. Dumas is a performer, choreographer, writer, filmmaker, teacher and arts development consultant. She is the founder of Continuum Dance Project and initiator, co-founder and co-director of COCO Dance Festival, one of the largest annual contemporary dance festivals in the Caribbean. Her aesthetic is rooted in the historical and contemporary phenomena of the region. Dumas has performed with the Astor Johnson Repertory Dance Theatre, Reggie Wilson’s Fist and Heel Performance Group, and other groups. She is also an award-winning filmmaker and investigates the multifaceted cultural landscape of Trinidad and Tobago — in dance, in film and in her writing. Most recently, her chapter on the history of dance in the region was published in the Foundation Readings on the History of Trinidad and Tobago, a publication aimed at enhancing arts education in schools across the country.

Image Credit: Sonja Dumas. Photographer Michele Jorsling.

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF BLACK SOLIDARITY: PEOPLE DANCING Saturday 9 May 2.30pm – 4.30pm Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage £15 People Dancing is the development organisation and membership body for community and participatory dance, driving forward inclusion and excellence through training, qualifications, resources and publications, specialist programmes and networks. Its work supports a global network of 7,500+ members - dancers, teaching artists, community practitioners and organisations - committed to making dance opportunities diverse, equitable and accessible for everyone. 2026 marks People Dancing’s fortieth anniversary and this event will celebrate a rich legacy of driving excellence in community dance practice, supporting practitioners from the African and African Caribbean Diaspora and paving the way for intersectional participatory dance.

Image Credit: Mark Anderson, People Dancing Summer School

DANCE ON FILM Thursday 7 May 7.30pm Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage £15 An evening of short films by trailblazing international dance practitioners and filmmakers inspired by the theme of Reimagining Tomorrow: New Work, Afrofuturism and Technology. Featuring the award-winning On a Sunday at Eleven by Alicia K Harris, a continua – an obituary, a manual for life lived chasing LIFE by the trailblazing nora chipaumire in collaboration with filmmaker ari marcopoulos, and Gestures in Black and Blue by Yewande YoYo Odunubi. The screening will be followed by an in conversation with Yewande YoYo Odunubi, an artist, researcher and cultural producer working in the spaces between movement, research and facilitation.

Image Credit: Still from Sunday at Eleven by Alicia K Harris.

NETWORKING Green Room Networking Monday 4 May 11.00am – 3.00pm Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage A relaxed drop in for artists and festival participants to register, prepare and network at the start of the second week of LDIF26. This is an opportunity to find out more about the festival programme and the participating artists.

Cocktails and Conversation Saturday 9 May 10.00pm By Invitation Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage An exclusive reception to mark the close of Let’s Dance International Frontiers 2026 and 16 years of bringing world renowned dance to Leicester. Celebrate the festival in style with good music, good company and a touch of LDIF magic.

LDIF26 FESTIVAL PASSES Serendipity Connect Members always save more. Join today. Bringing together artists, practitioners, enthusiasts and industry professionals to create an international community of creatives, Serendipity Connect allows members to build and strengthen connections through discussions, experiences and exclusive events, as well as offering professional development, research and networking opportunities.

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New VIP Member

Early Bird

£435

£505

£535

Full Festival Pass: All events 29 April – 9 May 2026

Save £60.50

Includes Annual Insider Membership

Includes Annual VIP Membership

£452

£522

£552

Save £43.50

Includes Annual Insider Membership

Includes Annual VIP Membership

Early Bird

£255

£325

£355

LDIF26 Second Week Pass: All events 5 – 9 May 2026

Save £62.50

Includes Annual Insider Membership

Includes Annual VIP Membership

£272

£342

£372

Save £45.50

Includes Annual Insider Membership

Includes Annual VIP Membership

If booked before 28 February 2026 Full Festival Pass: All events 29 April – 9 May 2026 If booked after 1 March 2026

If booked before 28 February 2026 LDIF26 Second Week Pass: All events 5 – 9 May 2026 If booked after 1 March 2026

Early Bird

£105

Presenters Pass: 5-6 May 2026 If booked before 28 February 2026 Presenters Pass: 5-6 May 2026

£115

If booked after 1 March 2026

The LDIF26 Full Festival Pass provides access to the full festival programme from 29 April – 9 May 2026 and the LDIF26 Second Week Pass provides access to all events from 5 – 9 May 2026 (with an option to attend Marks of RED by Shamel Pitts | TRIBE on either 8 or 9 May). The Presenters Pass is aimed at dance programmers, presenters and touring venues interested in programming new work and provides access to the conference, Dance Dialogues on 6 May and Signatures and the Black British Dance Platform. Limited places available.

Insider Membership £70 per year / £6.50 per month Perfect for students and emerging dance artists wishing to gain insight and opportunities.

VIP Membership £100 per year / £9 per month Designed for industry professionals and arts enthusiasts seeking to be a part of an international network of creatives.

If you would like more information about the Connect Membership Scheme, please email info@serendipity-uk.com or call +44 (0)116 482 1394.

HOW TO BOOK Book online at www.serendipity-uk.com Call Serendipity on +44(0)116 482 1394 Visit Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage at 8 Bowling Green Street, LE1 6AT

ACCOMMODATION The Gresham Aparthotel 36 Market Street Leicester LE1 6DP reservations@thegreshamaparthotel.com +44 (0) 116 243 7666 The Gresham Aparthotel provides luxury accommodation in the heart of Leicester. Its iconic building has been sympathetically renovated to incorporate stylish interiors and a home-from-home environment. During your stay, benefit from all the facilities and services one would expect from a boutique hotel, whilst also enjoying the flexibility and comfort of apartment living. Get 15% off when staying during LDIF26 by contacting Dominique Haines, the Hotel Reservation Manager on dominique@thegreshamaparthotel.com and quoting LDIF26.

Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, Leicester. Serendipity’s mission is to centre perspectives from the African and African Caribbean Diaspora, embedded as part of cultural experiences for all. Serendipity’s programmes include the flagship dance festival, Let’s Dance International Frontiers (LDIF), Black History Month Leicester (BHM) and the Annual Windrush Day Lecture. Serendipity has established a legacy through hosting and growing a living archive, documenting Black arts, heritage and culture, publishing the voices of Black arts practitioners and community activists, nurturing artists to create high quality new work, and mentoring young people.

Mapping Creole Worlds, Diasporic Futures and the Stories Britain Forgot Thursday 5 November 2026 10.00am – 7.00pm Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage £135 | £120 Early Bird* Book Now | serendipity-uk.com

Image Credit: Creole Woman, 00. picryl. Public Domain. *Early Bird End for 28 June 2026

MA in Black British Dance and Performance Begins September 2026

A groundbreaking new Master’s degree, MA Black British Dance and Performance with a key focus on impact, voice and gaze, has officially launched, accredited by Northern School of Contemporary Dance (NSCD) and delivered by Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage. This pioneering programme marks a significant milestone in UK higher education, being the first Master’s degree dedicated to centring Black British dance and performance within academic and professional contexts. It provides a vital platform for artists, cultural leaders and researchers to interrogate identity, representation and heritage through the lens of dance. Participation in the full programme for Let’s Dance International Frontiers 2026 or Black Dance Uncovered: Summer School 2026 may count as a percentage of course credit towards modules for the MA in Black British Dance and Performance. The first cohort set to begin in September 2026.

For further information, please contact info@serendipity-uk.com

Image Credit: Dust Project 7 Starr by Melika Dez

VENUES Curve Rutland Street Leicester LE1 3UL

Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage 8 Bowling Green Street Leicester LE1 6AT

T: +44(0)116 242 3595 W: www.curveonline.co.uk E: tickets@curvetheatre.co.uk

T: +44(0)116 482 1394 W: www.serendipity-uk.com E: info@serendipity-uk.com

Leicester Cathedral Peacock Lane Leicester LE1 5PZ T: +44(0)116 261 5389 W: www.leicestercathedral.org

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Access Information Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage is committed to ensuring that all are welcome to attend events at Let’s Dance International Frontiers. A lift has now been installed, giving greater access to the first floor and events in Studio Box. For further information, including venue layouts, details of events with British Sign Language and Audio Description or for marketing materials in accessible formats, please visit www.serendipity-uk.com, email info@serendipity-uk.com or call +44(0)116 482 1394.

Programme Changes All details were correct at the time of print. Whilst every effort will be made to keep to the announced programme, it may be necessary to make changes without notice and in accordance with current government guidelines. Refunds or exchanges will be made at the venue or organiser’s discretion. Please see terms and conditions for further details.

Concessions Where stated, concessions are available to full-time students (with student ID), state pensioners, people with disabilities, unemployed and children under 16. Please be prepared to provide proof of concessionary status.

Booking Fees A non-refundable booking fee will be added to all new orders where a monetary value is attributed to the ticket price. The booking fee is not included in the advertised ticket price and will be applied to the order at checkout. The booking fee is exempt from any discount, promotion or offer attached to the advertised ticket price and cannot be removed, discounted, amended or refunded and is exempt from any ticket protection purchase made through Curve or Serendipity.

Terms and Conditions All tickets are sold subject to Curve and Serendipity’s respective Terms and Conditions of Sale and Attendance, which includes the booking fee. All tickets are exempt from statutory cancellation rights. This means tickets are non-refundable except in the case of a cancelled or rescheduled event, once your purchase has been made and a contract formed. Please visit www.serendipity-uk.com for full Terms and Conditions.

LET’S DANCE INTERNATIONAL FRONTIERS IS PRODUCED BY SERENDIPITY Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage 8 Bowling Green Street Leicester LE1 6AT Room CL00.14, Clephan Building, De Montfort University, The Gateway Leicester, LE1 9BH

Serendipity Artists Movement Ltd Company Number in England and Wales 07248813 Charity Number in England and Wales 1160035

+44(0)116 482 1394  info@serendipity-uk.com  www.serendipity-uk.com www.ldif.com @LetsDanceFront | @SerendipityInfo LetsDanceFrontiers | SerendipityInstituteUK  @SerendipityInstituteUK

box office

serendipity-uk.com +44(0)116 482 1394 #LDIF26

Event Type

Performance

Roundtable and Dinner

Networking

Conference

Networking

Masterclass

Dance Dialogues

Performance

Masterclass

Dance Dialogues

Masterclass

Dance Dialogues

Performance

Masterclass

Dance Dialogues

Performance

Networking

Date

Wednesday 29 April

Thursday 30 April

Friday 1 May

Saturday 2 May

Monday 4 May

Tuesday 5 May

Wednesday 6 May

Thursday 7 May

Friday 8 May

Saturday 9 May

Cocktails and Conversation

Marks of RED – Shamel Pitts | TRIBE

Celebrating 40 Years of Black Solidarity: People Dancing

Afrofuturism Embodied – Shamel Pitts

Marks of RED – Shamel Pitts | TRIBE

Jouvay Somatics: A Workshop on Healing with African-Caribbean Movement – Sonja Dumas

Contemporary Expression – Sharon Watson MBE

Dance on Film

Hybridity and Empowerment: Black Women Reimagining Tomorrow – Sandra Golding

Ballet Foundations, Contemporary Futures – Javier Torres

Signatures and the Black British Dance Platform

Diaspora in Motion: Tradition, Technology and Transformation – Christopher Rudd

Embodied Rituals – Jamal Callender

Serendipity Connect Networking

Reimagining Tomorrow: New Work, Afrofuturism and Technology

Green Room

Yesterday and Tomorrow: Roundtable Discussion and Dinner

New Work: Solos and Duets

Océan Brun – Compagnie Kaméléonite

LDIF26 Launch

Event

10.00pm

7.45pm

2.30pm – 4.30pm

10.30am – 12.00pm

7.45pm

2.30pm – 4.30pm

10.30am – 12.30pm

7.30pm

2.30pm – 4.30pm

10.30am – 12.30pm

7.45pm

2.30pm – 4.30pm

10.30am – 12.30pm

5.30pm

10.00am – 5.00pm

11.00am – 3.00pm

7.00pm

7.30pm

7.00pm

Time