The event will be held in a hybrid format, both in person and online through the Cube streaming server. Book either an online or in person ticket by clicking the Book Tickets button above.

Following on the Bristol-premiere of Ailey, the Society for Dance Research and Kauma Arts would like to invite you to the Cube for a Choreographic Forum. Join us for a lively symposium on the role of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre Company in fostering participation and visibility of Black and African Diaspora communities in the dance industry, its impact in the UK and its resonance with today's dance ecology in Bristol!

Confirmed speakers include Thomas F. DeFrantz, Adesola Akinleye, Cleo Lake, Latisha Cesar, Rachel De Garang, Deborah Baddoo + others to be confirmed...

The event will be chaired by Mercy Nabirye, Director of Kauma Arts, and Sinibaldo De Rosa for the Society for Dance Research.

Schedule:
15.45: Doors open
16.00–17.35: Screening of the film
17.45–18.30: Scholars’ Responses
18.45–19.30: Bristol-based Dance Artists’ Perspectives
19.30–20.30: Open Discussion & Refreshments

All participants are encouraged to watch Alvin Ailey Dance Theater’s masterpiece Revelations ahead of the Forum, for instance available here.

Face Covering Required at all times (unless exempt) in the venue and a proof of negative LFT or Covid Vaccine pass will be required on entry. Short film that explains the Cube Covid approach: https://video.cubecinema.com/play/144

Alvin Ailey was a visionary artist who found salvation through dance. An immersive profile of ground-breaking and influential choreographer Alvin Ailey, founder of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Sensorial and archival-rich, AILEY captures the brilliant and enigmatic man who, when confronted by a world that refused to embrace him, was determined to build one that would.

"A hypnotic, immersive portrait of the visionary choreographer… a moving archive of his most momentous achievements” – Indiewire

★★★★★ "a celebration of the art of dance, those who devote their lives to it, and the power of artistic expression" – The Queer Review