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
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2024 TOUR DATES
SUN 2 JUN, 1.30PM - Taliesin Dance Days Festival (Swansea)
SAT 13 JUL, 2.15PM - National Theatre River Stage part of Greenwich+Docklands International Festival (London)
FRI 26 JUL, 12.50PM & 5.05PM - Latitude Festival - The Waterfront Stage (Suffolk)
SAT 14 SEPT, 1PM & 5PM - Streets of Cov - Coventry Cathedral (Coventry, West Midlands)
SUN 29 SEPT, 12.30PM - Journeys Festival of Dance (The De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-On-Sea)
SAT 26 OCT, 11.30AM & 1:30PM - Braithwaite Hall (Croydon)
SUN 27 OCT, 11.45AM & 3:25PM - Braithwaite Hall (Croydon)
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)
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)
2021 TOUR DATES
29 MAY - Brighton Festival
30 & 31 MAY – Salisbury (Wiltshire Creative)
27 JUN - 101 Outdoor Arts
3 & 4 JUL - Hat Fair (Winchester)
24 & 25 JUL – Milton Keynes International Festival
31 AUG – 2 SEPT - City Of London
10 & 11 SEPT – Greenwich+Docklands International Festival
25 & 26 SEPT - Birmingham Dance International Festival
Cast & Creative Team
Artistic Director and Choreographer: Jeanefer Jean-Charles
Producer: Alison Holder
Designer: Marsha Roddy
Composer: Danilo DJ Walde
Poet: Anthony Anaxagorou
Rehearsal Director: Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster, Cherilyn Albert
Dramaturg: Hassan Mahamdallie
Creative Consultant: Martha Stylianou
Stage Manager: Cynthia Chika Franklin
Creative Dance Artists: Melissa Bravo, Dani Harris-Walters, Oluwaseun Olayiwola, Nosiphiwo Samente, Duja Sinada
Reserve Dance Artists: 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.
