British-Caribbean choreographer Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE reawakens the unwritten language of St.Lucian Patois, telling a story of culture, lost languages, longing and belonging. Of the movement of people across continents and the dialect which is at risk of being lost forever.
Blending captivating traditional folk dance with exhilarating contemporary choreography and an original musical score, Patois celebrates cultures, stories and generations of the past.
Without Walls,
Ralph Kennedy
SUN 12 MAY, 11.30AM & 2PM - NORFOLK & NORWICH FESTIVAL (Norwich)
SAT 18 & SUN 19 MAY, 1PM & 3.15PM - BRIGHTON FESTIVAL (Brighton)
SAT 6 JUL, 4PM & 6.15PM - HAT FAIR (Winchester)
SAT 13 JUL, 5.45PM - NATIONAL THEATRE RIVER STAGE (South Bank, London) - Hosted by Greenwich+Docklands International Festival (GDIF)
SAT 24 AUG, 1PM & 3.30PM - GREENWICH+DOCKLANDS INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL (GDIF) (Cutty Sark Gardens, Greenwich)
THURS 29 AUG, 1PM & 3.30PM - GREENWICH+DOCKLANDS INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL (GDIF) (General Gordon Square, Woolwich)
SUN 1 SEPT, 1PM & 3.30PM - GREENWICH+DOCKLANDS INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL (GDIF) (Abbey Wood Park Playground, Abbey Wood)
SAT 7 SEPT, 2.45PM & 5PM - GREENWICH+DOCKLANDS INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL (GDIF) - as part of Dancing City (Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, BBC Waterfront, Stratford)
SAT 12 OCT, 1PM & 3PM - BELL SQUARE 2024 (Hounslow High Street, London)
Choreographer: Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE
Producer: Alison Holder
Composer: Danilo DJ Walde
Designer: Marsha Roddy
Dramaturg: Hassan Mahamdallie
Creative Consultant: Martha Stylianou
Rehearsal Director: Cherilyn Albert
St.Lucia & Patois Consultant: Pearl Jordan
Stage Manager: Cynthia Chika Franklin
Saint Lucian Voices: Auntie Jane, Uncle John, Mr Remy
Songwriter & Vocalist: Lorna Jean-Charles
Costume Assistant: Yunhye Choi
Runner: Lauren Schofield
Creative Dance Artists: Melissa Bravo, Dani Harris-Walter, Oluwaseun Olayiwola, Nosiphiwo Samente, Duja Sinada, David Bennie
Photo credit: Claire Leach
Patois is supported by Without Walls and commissioned by Greenwich+Docklands International Festival (GDIF), Norfolk & Norwich Festival and Brighton Festival.
Date: Monday 1st May 2023
Location: Thomas Steers Way, Chavasse Park, Liverpool, UK
On 1st May 2023 1,000 volunteers came together to celebrate Eurovision, Ukraine and Liverpool.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE from Jeanefer Jean-Charles & Associates and local choreographers; Lisi Perry and Grace Goulding invited local communities from across Merseyside and beyond to come together to create a vast human artwork - a giant Ukrainian flag and the iconic Eurovision heart, right in the centre of Liverpool at Chavasse Park documenting an unforgettable moment in Liverpool’s history.
Edward Morgan, Executive Director, and Alison Grist, Broadcast Director from Northern Town Film company, captured this mass spectacle using drones and up close cameras to create a 2-minute film which forms part of EuroFestival - celebrating Liverpool as the host city for Eurovision 2023.
With a specially commissioned soundtrack by DJ Walde, and lyrics by Pete Wylie - the message is bold and simple; by standing together in the heart of Liverpool, we welcome the world to the Eurovision Festival 2023.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles & Associates
Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE
Photo credit: David Edwards
Paul Doyle - Co-Choreographer
Kirsten Peters Roebuck - Recruitment Manager
Natasha Khamjani - Show Support
Chloe Robinson - Assistant Dance Artist
Tomo (Christopher) Tomlinson - Movement Assistant
Daz Scott - Jeanefer's Projects Assistant
Julie Karlsen - LIPA Movement Volunteer
Kathryn McEvilly - Movement Volunteer
Mary Lamb - Design Consultant
Molly Lacey Davies - Design Consultant Assistant
Along with 500 individuals from all over the UK, 22 local groups took part in the film, including:
OOMOO - Open Door Charity
The Choir with No Name Liverpool
Men!Dancing! & 50 Moves
Gods Dance Group (Growing Older Disgracefully)
Daisy Inclusive UK
Anchor Women’s Club
The Hammond Dance School Powered by Hip Hop (UC Crew)
Barbara Johnston Stage School
LIPA 6th Form Dance & Musical Theatre
The Dance Depot Theatre School
Batala Mersey
Merseyside Polonia
Jan Williams Theatre School & Christopher Linzie School of Dance
Gateacre School
Create Dance Wirral
7th Liverpool Boys Brigade and Girls Association
Stagecoach Wilmslow
Natalie Green School of Dance
Off The Ground Youth Theatre
George Ferguson School of Irish Dance
LIPA Core Group
For further information about EuroFestival please visit the EuroFestival website.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles & Associates
Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE
Written and directed by Julie McNamara and Hassan Mahamdallie, Quiet Rebels is based on the true life but forgotten stories of white working-class women who fell in love with men of the Windrush generation. A drama-noir, with film, music and movement, set in a dystopian, authoritarian state England where people who marry across the race lines are considered traitors.
The cast included Lottie Bell, Joe Conteh, Deni Francis, and Fiona Whitelaw.
Quiet Rebels premiered at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry on 10 September and completed its run at The Albany in London on 11 November.
For more information, please click here.
Simon Kenny, Designer
Gabriel Finn, Lighting Designer
Stephen Rudder, Filmmaker / Visuals
Mohammed Ali, Digital Artist
Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE, Movement Director
Awate Abdalla, Composer / Sound Designer
Troi Lee, Deaf Rave
Paul Burgess, Creative Captions Designer
The Reviews Hub
Anna Ambelez
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, September 2022. Photos by © Rehan Jamil.
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
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.
The Guardian
Sanjoy Roy
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)
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)
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)
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
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-Walter, Oluwaseun Olayiwola, Nosiphiwo Samente, Duja Sinada
Reserve Dance Artists: Rudzani Moleya, Stefano Addea
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.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles worked alongside long-term collaborator Walk The Plank as Mass Movement Director for the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games opening ceremony in the Isle of Man. Following a series of workshops leading up to the event, Jeanefer visited the Isle of Man to direct the mass choreography, which included a cast of over 300 dancers and 20 parkour artists.
Isle of Man 2011 Opening Ceremony,
HRH Prince Edward, Vice-Patron
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
‘How do you find work and how do you navigate your way through the wilderness?’
Jeanefer Jean-Charles's talk was focused specifically for freelance choreographers and dance artists and Jeanefer ensured there was an opportunity for the attendees to discuss and reflect on this engaging and highly relevant question.
In March 2018 Jeanefer Jean-Charles stood once again alongside the Paralympic flame, this time as Performance Director for the Paralympics Flame Ceremony in Stoke Mandeville.
Working as part of the Walk the Plank team, Jeanefer coordinated the performance that accompanied the iconic moment the flame was passed from Stoke Mandeville to Seoul in Korea.
This experience built on Jeanefer's previous role as Mass Movement Coordinator for the Opening Ceremony at the London 2012 Olympics.
See a video of Channel 4's coverage of the event.
- Walk The Plank
In February 2018, Jeanefer Jean-Charles held a creative development day for local artists from Norwich and Great Yarmouth. The embryonic development workshop was essential ahead of the celebration surrounding 250 years of circus in the UK and culminated in a carnival extravaganza in June and July 2018 with events in both Great Yarmouth and Norwich.
. 
Jeanefer Jean-Charles was invited to speak at Out Door Arts UK (formally ISAN) Making Waves: Critical Mass 2017 National Outdoor Arts Conference, a two day event in Milton Keynes.
Her presentation explored the impact of her involvement in Outdoor Arts with a particular focus on the Manchester Day Parade, which Jeanefer has worked on for several years, with Walk the Plank and Dance Manchester.
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 Mass Movement Director for a new musical theatre production, The Silk Road in Beijing, China, October 2017. It was produced by UKCI, and was a training & performance project attached to the Beijing University, featuring 100 schoolchildren.
CEO - UKCI,
Ian Kellgren
Jeanefer Jean-Charles was invited to lead a training session on pitching in 2017, part of OffSite - an Outdoor Arts development programme produced by Déda. Artists gained support in both verbal and written pitching. Other guest speakers were Phil Hargreaves, Creative Producer for Déda and a freelance producer and Graham Callister, Director of Creative Programmes at Birmingham Hippodrome.
Jeanefer led a successful follow up session in March 2018 at the New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles choreographed the original and iconic handshake featured in the 1998 Walt Disney film, The Parent Trap. Jeanefer worked with a young Lindsay Lohan and actor Simon Kunz who played Martin, the family butler.
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 Movement Director and Co-director for Dancing Voices, a public art commission produced by East London Dance in partnership with Westfield Stratford City.
Dancing Voices captures the multitude of dance ‘languages’ set against a backdrop of iconic East London locations, celebrating the changing landscape of the area and featuring over 100 local dancers.
Film Maker: Jevan Chowdhury
Music: danbeats
Assistant Artists: Martha Wilkinson and Franqui Radford-Mathurin
Creative Projects Manager: Emma Kerr
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.
As Creative Consultant, Jeanefer Jean-Charles facilitated a Dance to Health Review Day with Aesop (Arts Enterprise with a Social Purpose).
As the sole representative of the Arts industry, Jeanefer was invited to respond publicly to the ideas proposed in BOP Consulting and Aesop's first joint paper, 'Active Ingredients'. The event took place at King's College London in September 2018 to mark the launch of the paper. The aim of the Active Ingredient's report, is to deepen the understanding of the ways in which arts interventions in health and social contexts actually work - and to improve the ways these are designed and their impacts measured.
Dance to Health has been developed as a sustainable social enterprise. Six pilots in London, Cheshire and Oxfordshire have been underway in partnership with dance organisations and Age UK, health and wellbeing centres, housing associations and Jewish Care. An evaluation team is studying the process, quality assurance, health/artistic/social outcomes, health economics, and the best social enterprise model for Dance to Health to grow successfully.
Dance to Health Project Manager - Aesop,
Karen Hamilton
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.
Artistic Director Sonya Moorhead and outdoor arts experts Walk the Plank, presented a collaboration with Mr Wilson's Second Liners - New Orleans meets 90s club classics rave band.
Drawing upon a rich tapestry of cultural references, Voodoo Rising is a euphoric fusion of music, movement, fire and pyrotechnics; inspired by the Louisiana Bayou and hedonism of 90’s clubland.
As Choreographic Consultant, Jeanefer Jean-Charles joined the team for the R&D period, which included a spectacular performance at Arts by the Sea Festival in Bournemouth, October 2016.
Voodoo Rising was designed by world-renowned designer Dan Potra and Graham Massey - Pioneer of Electronic Music for the first phase of the R&D, supported by Arts Council England.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles is delighted to be Creative Consultant for Tavaziva, a national touring dance company and National Portfolio Organisation led by Bawren Tavaziva. His choreography is a unique synthesis of Contemporary, African and Ballet.
Jeanefer has delivered ongoing consultancy, advising on the strategic planning of Tavaziva's Learning and Participation Projects, specifically their boys dance programme. She has delivered training days for their teaching team and joined Bawren in leading the recruitment of a new cohort of male dance artists.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles was appointed Creative Consultant, 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 for the Dance Enterprise Ideas Summit with East London Dance.
The Dance Enterprise Ideas Fund was established in 2015 to enable dance creatives to research, test and/or launch new artistic and entrepreneurial ideas.
Jeanefer collaborated with Cultural and Creative Consultant Anamaria Wills for the first year of the programme and continued for the Ideas Summit in March 2018.
Jeanefer and Anamaria guided applicants through practice pitches and feedback before their projects were pitched to a panel of dance experts.
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
As the choreographer for Indepen-dance, Jeanefer Jean-Charles created an immersive piece with the full cast of the Indepen-dance Performance Company. This piece opened 'Gathered Together 2016', Scotland's inclusive dance festival at the Tramway, Glasgow in 2016.
This high-energy piece was set in a nightclub in Harlem, New York, during the 1930-40’s and was accompanied by live vocals from the Swingcats and Karen MacIver on piano. Working with Dramaturge Julie Brown was a key highlight for Jeanefer.
Review:
Lorna Irvine
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 Mass Movement Director for the pre-match entertainment ahead of the FA Cup Final between Manchester United and Crystal Palace at Wembley Stadium in May 2016. The performance included 100 military personnel, the Welsh Military Band, and the NHS Choir along with over 100 young people and Colour Guard flag bearers who performed alongside Tinie Tempah.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles worked alongside Director Jevan Chowdhury of Moving Cities, to produce 'Engineering Happiness', a film for the Institution of Civil Engineers.
The civil engineers behind some of London's most iconic infrastructure projects put on their dancing shoes to showcase the diverse and exciting careers within engineering available to young people through choosing maths and science. The film features some of London’s world-class infrastructure projects and the teams behind them including Crossrail, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the Thames Barrier, London Underground, Walton Bridge, Kings Cross Station, and the Hammersmith Flyover.
Movement Director – Jeanefer Jean-Charles
Director – Jevan Chowdhury, Wind & Foster
Producer – Miranda Housden, Director, ICE London
Director of Photography - Michael Osaer
Jeanefer Jean-Charles was Mass Movement Co-ordinator for all four of the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremonies.
Her work involved auditioning, casting, hosting rehearsals, and coordinating the thousands of volunteers involved in the ceremonies.
Jeanefer's favourite moment was when the torch was revealed, something she will never forget.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE
Jeanefer Jean-Charles was Artistic Director for the Rugby League World Cup 2013 Opening Ceremony. She was commissioned by Grand Visionary Solutions to direct over 500 dancers from local communities in Wales and England as part of a £1 million project part-funded by Arts Council England and Arts Council Wales, and supported by the charity Wooden Spoon.
The dance performance Opening Ceremony featured presenter Gethin Jones and Martin Offiah doing the Jive with their original Strictly Come Dancing partners, Camilla Dallerup and Erin Boag.
The ceremony took place at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales on October 26, 2013.
Jeanefer-Jean Charles was the choreographer for the film Mass Bolero (2014), a tribute to Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean, which marked 30 years since their Olympic triumph in Sarajevo
Jeanefer worked with hundreds of local people from Nottingham and Nottinghamshire to create a mass choreographed version of the Bolero.
Featuring cameo appearances from Chris and Jayne themselves, the Mass Bolero film was conceived and directed by Fiona Buffini, Associate Director of Nottingham Playhouse, in partnership with Dance4, Confetti Media Group, and Spool.
The film was premiered at Nottingham Playhouse and broadcast on the new Nottingham TV Channel.
Following the success of the film Mass Bolero, Jeanefer returned to Nottingham to create a Live Bolero performance in 2014.
Jeanefer worked with professional dancers and hundreds of people from all walks of life, including bus drivers, gym enthusiasts, and office workers, harnessing their communal passion for dance.
The live performance took place during the Big Dance weekend, transforming Nottingham's iconic Market Square into an unexpected stage for this spectacular tribute to Bolero.
To reach a wider demographic, the team also created an online tutorial film to engage a global audience, enabling viewers from across the world to learn the routine and take part.
Director of Playing On Theatre Company,
Jim Pope
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.
Jeanefer has delivered a number of youth dance commissions for Dance East in Ipswich. Her choreography Sacred Gestures in 2011, was performed as part of the students end of year production.
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
Jeanefer Jean-Charles created a brand new piece of dance theatre for State of Emergency, which put male relationships under the microscope, studying classic role models, exploring the male perspective. From the emotional bond between father and son, to the solidarity and relaxed approach to friendship, five spectacular male dancers presented snapshots of young men in the 21st Century.
It's A Boy was created in response to the many reports of gun and knife crimes. While the piece did not involve guns or knives, it looked at how a simple moment or accident can escalate into a violent reaction.
Working creatively with contemporary dance and flavours of House Dance, Jeanefer choreographed a punchy, non-narrative, symbolic piece, inspired by the uncertainty surrounding a moment when two men accidentally bump into each other.
Choreography: Jeanefer Jean-Charles
Street Dance Material: Vicky Igbokwe
Dancers: The Company - State of Emergency
Music edited and mixed: DJ Walde
Thanks to: June Gamble, Pearl Jordan, Ann Mitchell, Katie Pearson and Martha Stylianou
Produced by State of Emergency, Rosa Moments was a fluid, energetic piece of dance theatre created on six contemporary dancers. Working creatively across dance genres particularly street dance and the musicality of jazz dance, Jeanefer Jean-Charles delivered a punchy, non-narrative, symbolic piece, taking as inspiration, the seminal moment on December 1st, 1955 when a lone woman refused to give up her seat on the bus - the moment that started the American Civil Rights Movement.
By investigating five key moments in Rosa Parks' life on the lead-up to that historic day, Jeanefer generated a powerful and emotional depiction of standing up for one’s rights, albeit in this case, around the innocuous scenario of forfeiting a seat on a bus.
Music arranged by: Danilo (DJ) Walde
Music: An interview with Rosa Parks, Neville Brothers, Aja Addy, Sam Bell & Dan Brown, Ayub Ogada.
Street Dance Material by: Vicki Igbokwe
Company Dancers: Graham Adey, Darrell Aldridge, Marcia Edwards, Amanda Lewis, Kate Mason, Kate Mummery
The Guardian
Jeanefer Jean-Charles was the choreographer for this work at the Young Vic Theatre Company.
A Raisin in the Sun, tells the story of Walter Lee Younger, who dreams of making his own way in life and owning a liquor store. All seems possible when his mother receives a $10,000 insurance payment. But she has other plans. Is this the end of his dream - or the start of a new one?
The Young Vic's production of Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 groundbreaking, classic play was an unmissable take on the twists and turns of the black American dream.
TimeOut