"I don't do Politics"
I have spoken to artists who say they "don't do politics", which is a statement that I find almost absurd. Art, involved with then? In a time of such massive conflict, coercion and censorship, artists voices and platforms must engage with the precarity of such a state. If you are employed in the arts, funded, paid, sponsored, if you perform in venues, if you spend your time working to get the work, you are a part of that political economy, to ignore that is to bury ones head in the sand. It often appears to be a case of "I'm alright Jack" or "Don't bite the hand that feeds you", which is what the system aims to do by individualising people as if they are unique. But, the fact is they/we are not if we just roll along in that system, it is a strategy aimed at the homogeneity of precarity: designed to fracture communitas, artistic or otherwise.
“An artists duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times”
Gucci Pre-Fall Campaign 2017 - Northern Soul
Choreographer - Paul Sadot
Creative Director & Styled by Alessandro Michele
Photographer - Glen Luchford
Art Director - Christopher Simmonds
http://www.refinery29.uk/2017/04/149844/gucci-pre-fall-2017-soul-scene-campaign-all-black-models
Theorising the Popular Conference at Liverpool Hope University
I am looking forward to sharing my work and a paper at this event.
‘Moving Politically: A turbulent approach’ - Paul Sadot
June 21st - 22nd 2017
“The funding of gatekeeping institutions in UK arts is directly linked to Conservative government prerogatives that are explicitly “increasing investment to organisations that produce and present art of international significance, and that also contribute to tourism and the local economy” (Hill, 2014). It can be argued that these artistic policies, driven by the globalised, corporate economisation of the arts, produce a simulacrum of culture and democracy. In doing so they raise concerns for artists making work in the UK regarding issues of agency and mobility. My practice research focusses on one of these enclaves, hip hop dancers in the space of UK contemporary dance/theatre”
Spoken Movement presents 'Obibini' (London June 6th, 2017)
http://redbridgedramacentre.co.uk/RedbridgeDramaCentre.dll/WhatsOn?Programme=281358
Spoken Movement presents
Obibini
“Obibini tackles the concept of identity within black culture and how its influences exist in our time and space. Experience the block of work and how its sense of evolution is evoked into today’s modern day society.”
Spoken Movement is a company that have taken the elements of street dance and contemporary dance to create their own vocabulary in movement. Using different genres of music, Spoken Movement look to push boundaries by undertaking concepts, issues and day to day life experiences, to create thought provoking pieces of work.
MBE's, honours awards and surrendering agency.
Personally, I am always bemused and disappointed when artists accept these so called 'honours', which are in fact, the antithesis of art and agency. Surrendering to memories of a brutal empire..............
“The whole honours system stinks of class privilege and social snobbery […] It is a relic of feudalism, with a taint of nepotism and corruption. […] In addition, too many honours have imperial titles, such as Member of the British Empire. The Empire is rightly long gone. When it existed, hundreds of millions of people in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Pacific were colonised by Britain, ruled against their will, enslaved, exploited as cheap labour and had their lands stripped of natural resources. This sordid imperial history is not something worthy of commemoration with honours such as MBEs, OBEs and CBEs.”
(Tatchell, 2016).
Gentrification, displacement, social loss, and the kinesthetic cypher
A 2015 performance project created by Paul Sadot in collaboration with the dancers, a writer and a scenographer. Exploring issues of gentrification, displacement and social loss. Mobility, (im)mobility and the kinesthetic nature of the cypher.
UK Artists using Hip Hop elements: Spoken Movement
Spoken Movement: https://www.spokenmovement.org/single-post/2017/03/15/Wisdom-Wednesday-UK-Artists-using-Hip-Hop-Elements
"Wisdom Wednesday" UK Artists using Hip-Hop Elements
March 15, 2017
Photos: Benji Reid Jonathan Burrows
“In the UK there is a small group of artists using elements of hip hop in the creation of dance/theatre who I describe as marginal figures. They dance the precarity of our times, as they search for a new performance alchemy. Their work seeks to evade stylistic boxes, responding instead to a powerful, unstoppable, need to question the sociocultural and political environment in which they live. They seek a new voice, a new state of movement and another way of doing things. Kwame Asafo-Adjei is one such artist. ”
(Paul Sadot, 2017)
Artists 4 Growth........exchanging ideas.
Some interesting intensives happening with this network...... Alternative voices
Music, music, music......
The Magnificent Tape Band, Ohad Fishof, Foehn, Tenderlonious, Mounika, Zeroh...........and more
Askance? Oblique Conference 2017: A Critical Inquiry into practice-based Research
A call for proposals for this conference:
Sheffield Hallam University, UK
31st March 2017
Visibility within practice-based research and artistic practice is an emergent discourse. It is central to the shaping of political, ethical and socio-economic concerns, in culture and within the subcultures it informs. Visibility within practice-based research can expose and question visual hierarchies, authority, authorship, the politics of technology, balances of power and representation or prompt dissent. Here, visibility is a concept that we have adapted and extended from the philosophies of Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze, where it shifts from a quality; of visibility, to an entity; the visibility. The concept of visibility generates a dual arrangement: of what can be seen operating with what cannot be seen. Our understanding of visibility provides a broad contemporary framework founded in the histories of post-colonialism and feminism.
We will examine the many dialogues which incorporate themes of visibility within art, visual practice and participatory practice to prompt a discussion between multiple disciplines. Artwork that incorporates documentation expands the making process into one that could involve broader considerations, such as gaining access, subject matter, permissions, negotiating authorship, representation and use of technology or technique. This dynamic thematic will enable new perspectives on the conditions of practice based research.
Details can be found here: https://visibilityconference.carbonmade.com/projects/6327184
Joseph Toonga seeks dancers for 'Daughter, Daughter'
Exciting opportunity to be PART of Artistic Director Joseph Toonga new piece of work: 'Daughter, Daughter'.
Apply now and be part of this new Epic Journey!! it's going to be HARDBODIED!!!
Deadline: Friday 13th January.
Breaking Rare records onto the Northern Soul scene
A rare 45 that I introduced to the Northern Soul scene and was re-released due to its extreme rarity so that others can enjoy it. See the full story on the link below:
http://cree-records.com/portfolio_page/john-harris-the-soul-sayers-hangin-in/
Wanted- Northern Soul dancers.
http://niccitopping.com/northern-soul/
If you don't know the style you can take a look here:
Northern Soul on Channel 4: December 23rd 2016
I was one of the acting coaches, and the choreographer on this film. Three years of intense work with a great team.
A chance to see it this month on Channel 4!
Botis Seva's new work - Woman of Sun
Nov 24 at 7:30 PM to Nov 25 at 7:30 PM (SOLD OUT)
Trinity Laban, King Charles Court, SE8 3D London, United Kingdom
Excited to make the journey down and support this new piece of work from one of the UK's new breed of fearless artists and performance collectives.
HIP HOP IN MY HOUSE - Event with Prof. Thomas F. DeFrantz
Hip Hop in My House: Popular Dance, Identity Politics, and Postracial Physics, a presentation by Prof. Thomas F. DeFrantz UEL - University Square Stratford Studio 1 (USS3.29), Thursday, 17 Nov, 2016 2:00 to 5 pm
How did Hip Hop and House emerge as separate sorts of dance cultures among African Americans and Latino Americans, and how have they reconciled in contemporary global circumstances? What sorts of post-racial spaces are available within these dance forms and their cultures? What are some of the ways that identity still functions in considerations of hip hop and house dance? This talk will explore the important interstices of hip hop and house in academic discourses. In particular, we will consider the implications of race in the articulations of popular dance cultures and their circulations.
Event to be held at the following time, date and location:
Thursday, 17 November 2016 from 02:00 to 05:00 (GMT)
University of East London,
University Square Stratford
1 Salway Rd
E15 1NF London
United Kingdom
Dance, Theatre, Hip Hop - Artists 4 Artists event.
Support, watch, debate, move, question......
Artists 4 Artists - Friday 14th
“It is necessary to preserve a space where new formations germinate, to avoid assimilation and co-optation of the energies and demands that issue from social movements, to refuse to unsee what difference difference makes in the world”
“Creativity is designated by current modes of biopolitical power, as a site for implementing job creation and, more significantly, labour reform; it is a matter of managing a key sector of the youthful population by turning culture into an instrument of both competition and labour discipline. The word culture fades into the background and is replaced by creativity. (…) It is a matter of putting creativity to work. (…) The social stage where this creativity is played out is also a site of multiple anxieties.”
“...a system that sees and values only those aspects that mimic familiar white Western artistic traditions”
I am honoured to have been invited to talk at this event, and inspired that UK Hip Hop artists are organising themselves to debate the complex space of UK dance and theatre in which they move.
The event runs for three days 13th, 14th & 15th and you can see the full programme by following the link below. Meanwhile here is the schedule for the day I am sharing my research : Unsteady State: Hip Hop Dancers in the Space of UK Theatre.
Friday 14th October 10.30am-6.30pm
Work in progress sharings from early career hip hop artists and discussions/debates from industry experts led by Ivan Blackstock.
10.30am-12pm Studio Sharing led by Ivan Blackstock
12.30 - 1.30pm Presentation from Paul Sadot with Q&A led by Robert Hylton
2.30-4.-00pm 3 x Work In Progress Sharings
4.30-6.00pm Discussion led by Ivan Blackstock
Tickets
Full festival pass £40
Day passes £25
Day Passes and Full Festival Passes only available to book by calling our box office on: 020 8708 8803
‘Artists 4 Artists’ is pioneering artist lead network that want to promote change within the dance sector by upskilling & profiling hip hop artists.
Over 3 days ‘Artists 4 Artists’ are launching a weekender of discussions, workshops, & performances from some of the UK’s leading & emerging hip hop theatre artists.
Whether you want to voice your opinions about the UK hip hop dance scene, develop skills in hip hop theatre or watch ground-breaking performances, there is something for everyone…
http://redbridgedramacentre.co.uk/RedbridgeDramaCentre.dll/WhatsOn?Programme=159628