Change Tempo returns to Brixton House in 2024 to introduce London to two international artists whose transformational works blur the line between dance and visual art.  

Sweden-based Adam Seid Tahir and Amina Seid Tahir draw inspiration from literature on Black feminism and marine mammals for their latest production – several attempts at braiding my way home, a show born out of longing for a space that celebrates and holds their multiplicities as queer Afro-Nordic siblings. 

Solo performer Adam begins the show by removing their braids and attaching them to a sculpture of a weave that is suspended at the back of the stage. Like real hair, the weave grows with each performance, storing memories and emotions, creating a timeline that carries the history of the piece. 

Set to a pulsating score, several attempts at braiding my way home is a meditation on how it feels to have a place in which to dream, and to truly call home. 

Presented by Dance Umbrella and Brixton House. Supported by Kulturrådet, Helge Ax:son Johnsons stiftelse, MARC, Riksteaterns Produktionsresidens för dans 2021 

Photo: Amina Seid Tahir

Change Tempo returns to Brixton House in 2024 to introduce London to two international artists whose transformational works blur the line between dance and visual art.  

Sweden-based Adam Seid Tahir and Amina Seid Tahir draw inspiration from literature on Black feminism and marine mammals for their latest production – several attempts at braiding my way home, a show born out of longing for a space that celebrates and holds their multiplicities as queer Afro-Nordic siblings. 

Solo performer Adam begins the show by removing their braids and attaching them to a sculpture of a weave that is suspended at the back of the stage. Like real hair, the weave grows with each performance, storing memories and emotions, creating a timeline that carries the history of the piece. 

Set to a pulsating score, several attempts at braiding my way home is a meditation on how it feels to have a place in which to dream, and to truly call home. 

Presented by Dance Umbrella and Brixton House. Supported by Kulturrådet, Helge Ax:son Johnsons stiftelse, MARC, Riksteaterns Produktionsresidens för dans 2021 

Photo: Amina Seid Tahir

Contemporary dance and physical theatre collective POCKetART’s latest work Fairy Tales, featuring eight female dancers and two musicians, comes to the UK for the first time. 

Exploring the intersection of femininity, identity and self-discovery, Fairy Tales aims to connect us to our past by revisiting childhood experiences. By taking on different roles from fairy tales or every day real-life figures, the dancers envision new fantasies that reimagine how we see our happy endings. 

POCKetART’s work is characterised by tackling topics that go beyond the personal experience of the individual, touching on global societal issues. With striking visuals, melodic sound and virtuosic dance performance, Fairy Tales invites us to playfully reconsider our own identities. 

A Big Pulse Dance Alliance co-production. Presented by Dance Umbrella and The Place. 

Photo: Martí Albesa - Festival Sismògraf

Contemporary dance and physical theatre collective POCKETART’s latest work Fairy Tales, featuring eight female dancers and two musicians, comes to the UK for the first time. 

Exploring the intersection of femininity, identity and self-discovery, Fairy Tales aims to connect us to our past by revisiting childhood experiences. By taking on different roles from fairy tales or every day real-life figures, the dancers envision new fantasies that reimagine how we see our happy endings. 

POCKETART’s work is characterised by tackling topics that go beyond the personal experience of the individual, touching on global societal issues. With striking visuals, melodic sound and virtuosic dance performance, Fairy Tales invites us to playfully reconsider our own identities. 

A Big Pulse Dance Alliance co-production. Presented by Dance Umbrella and The Place. 

Photo: Martí Albesa - Festival Sismògraf

Join Dance Umbrella’s distinguished panel of experts – Polly Bennett (Saltburn, Elvis, The Crown) Yukiko Masui (SAY, Romeo and Juliet, The Effect) and Shelley Maxwell (Get Up Stand Up, Shifters, Macbeth), for a discussion about the growing demand for the role of movement director in theatre.

Chaired by Shakespeare’s Globe CEO Stella Kanu, the panellists will delve into conversations around how movement direction differs from the role of choreographer, demystifying the process. We’ll talk about how movement direction has evolved in recent years and how it is more in demand than ever. We will also discuss how roles for movement directors have developed on film, television and commercial projects and what the future of choreography and movement direction might look like.

Hurtling onto the stage with explosive physicality, six performers challenge their physical and mental limits in a genre-bending new work named one of New York Times’ ‘Best Dance Performances of 2022.’

Drawing influences from street dance, synchronised swimming, post-modern dance, tap, football, martial arts and contemporary African forms; Radioactive Practice from award-winning American choreographer Abby Zbikowski and crew, shatters movement expectations and explores our instincts for survival.

With audiences seated on multiple sides, this powerful piece incorporates the work of Sengalese dance artist Momar Ndiaye as dramaturge to interrogate the complexities of contemporary living.

Abby Zbikowski and her company Abby Z and the New Utility create contemporary dance works that pay homage to the effort of living. Zbikowski’s rigorous training in African and Afro-diasporic forms, playing sports and performing manual labour informs her craft.

In 2018 Zbikowski was nominated by Stephen Petronio as a ‘Choreographer of the Future’ for Dance Umbrella’s Four by Four commission. Following the global pandemic, Radioactive Practice now makes its European premiere at Sadler’s Wells as part of Dance Umbrella Festival 2024.

Photo: Maria Barinova

Hurtling onto the stage with explosive physicality, six performers challenge their physical and mental limits in a genre-bending new work named one of New York Times’ ‘Best Dance Performances of 2022.’

Drawing influences from street dance, synchronised swimming, post-modern dance, tap, football, martial arts and contemporary African forms; Radioactive Practice from award-winning American choreographer Abby Zbikowski and crew, shatters movement expectations and explores our instincts for survival.

With audiences seated on multiple sides, this powerful piece incorporates the work of Sengalese dance artist Momar Ndiaye as dramaturge to interrogate the complexities of contemporary living.

Abby Zbikowski and her company Abby Z and the New Utility create contemporary dance works that pay homage to the effort of living. Zbikowski’s rigorous training in African and Afro-diasporic forms, playing sports and performing manual labour informs her craft.

In 2018 Zbikowski was nominated by Stephen Petronio as a ‘Choreographer of the Future’ for Dance Umbrella’s Four by Four commission. Following the global pandemic, Radioactive Practice now makes its European premiere at Sadler’s Wells as part of Dance Umbrella Festival 2024.

Photo: Maria Barinova

In her earlier work, dancer, choreographer and acrobat Diana Niepce explored her journey of self-recovery following a spinal cord injury from a trapeze accident. Since then, she has sought innovative ways to express herself, aiming to integrate the disabled body into mainstream dance. This effort challenges audiences to reconsider conventional aesthetics of the body. 

In her solo piece, The Other Side of Dance, Diana delves into dance’s past and the hierarchical principles driving movement. She rigorously tests her own body, using minimal staging and occasional cutting sarcasm to present the non-normative body as revolutionary rather than victimised. 

Recognised as a compelling figure in Portuguese dance, Diana describes her piece as "a survey of the invisible in dance history". Drawing inspiration from artists like Bill Shannon, Claire Cunningham and David Toole, she redefines the laws of movement. She is joined on stage by three 'performer assistants' who support her through this intense exploration of an alternative dance history.  

The performance will be followed by an extended discussion with the choreographer, delving into the themes of the work. 

Presented by Dance Umbrella and Southbank Centre

Photo: Paolo Pimenta

Artist Encounters is a professional development talk with a guest artist, focusing on cultivating practical skills, sharing knowledge and asking questions that resonate.   

This year, Artist Encounters will be led by choreographer Lea Anderson, who is celebrating the 40th anniversary of her company The Cholmondeleys with the publication of two new books focusing on her work. Using these as a jumping off point, Lea, alongside author Mary Kate Connolly, will offer a window into a unique choreographic world. 

In addition to revealing Lea’s unusual modes of collaboration with some of the UK’s leading creatives, they will explore the ways in which her works live on today via their rich archive of costumes and performance ephemera. From the earliest Cholmondeleys days of dancing in Doc Martens on beer-strewn gig platforms, to the rigour of sleek chorus lines for the theatre stage, and the precision of performed gallery exhibitions, Lea Anderson and her dancers have forged a unique path.

Glimpses of a vast notebook collection, short films, archival images and costume objects will allow for an intimate look at her way of working, and the legacy of her companies. This encounter will also unpick the ways in which collaborations between artist and scholar can ignite new after-lives for archival remnants and sustain both legacy and ongoing artistic practice. 

Internationally renowned choreographer Mamela Nyamza makes her Barbican debut, assembling 10 dancers, an opera singer and an African traditional multi-instrumentalist to perform the UK premiere of HATCHED ENSEMBLE, her urgent and subtly spectacular work. 

Clad in costumes covered in clothes pegs and balanced timidly en pointe while Camille Saint-Saëns’ The Swan plays, the dancers challenge gender norms while juxtaposing references to Western classical dance and music, and South African vocals. 

Mamela Nyamza has won many accolades for her activism-focused creations. HATCHED ENSEMBLE continues her work which unapologetically demystifies and deconstructs the history of dance, interrogating the accepted norms of the classics. 

Presented by Dance Umbrella and Barbican. Supported by British Council, Cockayne Foundation and the Edwin Fox Foundation. 

Photo: Mark Wessels

In his first appearance at the Barbican, acclaimed visual artist and filmmaker Hetain Patel returns to the stage with a preview performance of his latest solo Mathroo Basha (Mother Tongue in Gujarati). Following the passing of a number of first-generation immigrants in his family, British-born Hetain reflects on what is lost and what is transformed, revisiting rituals rooted in his family’s working-class Brit-Gujarati experience.  

Responding physically to audio interviews of women from his family speaking in Gujarati about inheritance, loss and the future, Hetain delves into the emotional realities of generational change through personal movement explorations where his body becomes the conduit.  

London-based artist Hetain has shown films, paintings, sculptures, photographs and performance work in galleries, theatres and iconic public screens around the world. 

Presented by Dance Umbrella and Barbican. Supported by Cockayne Foundation and Fabric International 

Photo: Camilla Greenwell

Internationally renowned choreographer Mamela Nyamza makes her Barbican debut, assembling 10 dancers, an opera singer and an African traditional multi-instrumentalist to perform the UK premiere of HATCHED ENSEMBLE, her urgent and subtly spectacular work. 

Clad in costumes covered in clothes pegs and balanced timidly en pointe while Camille Saint-Saëns’ The Swan plays, the dancers challenge gender norms while juxtaposing references to Western classical dance and music, and South African vocals. 

Mamela Nyamza has won many accolades for her activism-focused creations. HATCHED ENSEMBLE continues her work which unapologetically demystifies and deconstructs the history of dance, interrogating the accepted norms of the classics. 

Presented by Dance Umbrella and Barbican. Supported by British Council, Cockayne Foundation and the Edwin Fox Foundation. 

Photo: Mark Wessels

In his first appearance at the Barbican, acclaimed visual artist and filmmaker Hetain Patel returns to the stage with a preview performance of his latest solo Mathroo Basha (Mother Tongue in Gujarati). Following the passing of a number of first-generation immigrants in his family, British-born Hetain reflects on what is lost and what is transformed, revisiting rituals rooted in his family’s working-class Brit-Gujarati experience.  

Responding physically to audio interviews of women from his family speaking in Gujarati about inheritance, loss and the future, Hetain delves into the emotional realities of generational change through personal movement explorations where his body becomes the conduit.  

London-based artist Hetain has shown films, paintings, sculptures, photographs and performance work in galleries, theatres and iconic public screens around the world. 

Presented by Dance Umbrella and Barbican. Supported by Cockayne Foundation and Fabric International 

Photo: Camilla Greenwell

Internationally renowned choreographer Mamela Nyamza makes her Barbican debut, assembling 10 dancers, an opera singer and an African traditional multi-instrumentalist to perform the UK premiere of HATCHED ENSEMBLE, her urgent and subtly spectacular work. 

Clad in costumes covered in clothes pegs and balanced timidly en pointe while Camille Saint-Saëns’ The Swan plays, the dancers challenge gender norms while juxtaposing references to Western classical dance and music, and South African vocals. 

Mamela Nyamza has won many accolades for her activism-focused creations. HATCHED ENSEMBLE continues her work which unapologetically demystifies and deconstructs the history of dance, interrogating the accepted norms of the classics. 

Presented by Dance Umbrella and Barbican. Supported by British Council, Cockayne Foundation and the Edwin Fox Foundation. 

Photo: Mark Wessels

Internationally renowned choreographer Mamela Nyamza makes her Barbican debut, assembling 10 dancers, an opera singer and an African traditional multi-instrumentalist to perform the UK premiere of HATCHED ENSEMBLE, her urgent and subtly spectacular work. 

Clad in costumes covered in clothes pegs and balanced timidly en pointe while Camille Saint-Saëns’ The Swan plays, the dancers challenge gender norms while juxtaposing references to Western classical dance and music, and South African vocals. 

Mamela Nyamza has won many accolades for her activism-focused creations. HATCHED ENSEMBLE continues her work which unapologetically demystifies and deconstructs the history of dance, interrogating the accepted norms of the classics. 

Presented by Dance Umbrella and Barbican. Supported by British Council, Cockayne Foundation and the Edwin Fox Foundation. 

Photo: Mark Wessels

Join Dance Umbrella for a panel discussion, designed to interrogate and move forward discussions around the body, its politics and movement practices, and the current discourse with colonial history. 

Facilitated by author, journalist and Bernie Grant Arts Centre Artistic Director & CEO Azieb Pool, the panel will include author, actress, director and public speaker Kelechi Okafor, who is the host of the Say Your Mind podcast, as well as being a highly skilled pole and twerk fitness instructor.  

They will be joined by choreographer Mamela Nyamza whose autobiographical work, which will be shown at the Barbican for four nights, addresses social injustice. She seeks to show the significance and particularity of each dancer’s movement that have been moulded by many diverse contexts and backgrounds through their history as classically trained dancers, permeated with embodiments of personal, public and political experiences as artists in South Africa. 

Returning for a second triumphant year, London Battle takes over Somerset House’s iconic open-air courtyard with a day of dance and breaking showcases, workshops, live DJs and a big outdoor party, all culminating in a head-to-head dance battle between the four corners of London.  

Celebrating breaking’s inaugural appearance at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024, Somerset House and Dance Umbrella are bringing together some of the most exciting talent from the four corners of London to go head-to-head across a diverse range of styles.     

Curated by choreographer Jade Hackett, who has performed with some of the UK’s leading hip hop dance theatre companies, including Boy Blue and ZooNation, you’ll be the judge, deciding which neighbourhood of our global city brings the best dance flavour on the day. Who will be crowned champion? Will it be north, south, east or west London that takes the honours?  

Teams to be announced. 

Intoxicating expression and pulsating rhythms combine as the award-winning South African dance company Via Katlehong returns to Dance Umbrella, to debut on Sadler’s Wells stage.

Bringing together choreography from two sought-after dance creatives, Via Injabulo is a celebration of global movement styles.

Mixing house dance and top rock with pantsula, a South African township dance, Marco da Silva Ferreira’s (Portugal) førm inførms examines the idea of collective identity. In Emaphakathini, Amala Dianor (Senegal/France) seeks to break down borders with a feast of rousing beats from live on-stage DJing, drawing on traditional dance techniques to explore the individual personalities within the Via Katlehong company.

Intoxicating expression and pulsating rhythms combine as the award-winning South African dance company Via Katlehong returns to Dance Umbrella, to debut on Sadler’s Wells stage.

Bringing together choreography from two sought-after dance creatives, Via Injabulo is a celebration of global movement styles.

Mixing house dance and top rock with pantsula, a South African township dance, Marco da Silva Ferreira’s (Portugal) førm inførms examines the idea of collective identity. In Emaphakathini, Amala Dianor (Senegal/France) seeks to break down borders with a feast of rousing beats from live on-stage DJing, drawing on traditional dance techniques to explore the individual personalities within the Via Katlehong company.

One Drop, a new performance by Sonya Lindfors & working group, is a speculative summoning, a decolonial dream, an autopsy of the Western stage and an operetta.

Defying definition and belonging to multiple categories, the work dives into the poetics and politics of relations, creating a performance that reignites connections lost or forgotten.

The title of the work refers to two separate concepts – the one drop rhythm which is a reggae style drum beat as well as to the one drop rule of the Race Separation Act, created in the United States in the early 1900s, according to which a single drop of “Black blood” made a person “Black” despite their appearance. Through its multiple starting points, the work interrogates the ghosts of the Western stage and its entanglements and relationships to capitalism, coloniality and modernity.

Award winning Cameroonian-Finnish choreographer and artistic director, Sonya Lindfors creates important work exploring power, representation and Black body politics. She is the Artistic Director and founding member of UrbanApa, an interdisciplinary and counter hegemonic arts community that offers a platform for new ideas and feminist art practices.

One Drop, a new performance by Sonya Lindfors & working group, is a speculative summoning, a decolonial dream, an autopsy of the Western stage and an operetta.

Defying definition and belonging to multiple categories, the work dives into the poetics and politics of relations, creating a performance that reignites connections lost or forgotten.

The title of the work refers to two separate concepts – the one drop rhythm which is a reggae style drum beat as well as to the one drop rule of the Race Separation Act, created in the United States in the early 1900s, according to which a single drop of “Black blood” made a person “Black” despite their appearance. Through its multiple starting points, the work interrogates the ghosts of the Western stage and its entanglements and relationships to capitalism, coloniality and modernity.

Award winning Cameroonian-Finnish choreographer and artistic director, Sonya Lindfors creates important work exploring power, representation and Black body politics. She is the Artistic Director and founding member of UrbanApa, an interdisciplinary and counter hegemonic arts community that offers a platform for new ideas and feminist art practices.

Change Tempo returns for 2023 to introduce London to two international artists whose transformational works blur the line between dance and visual art, challenging cultural biases.

SU PinWen’s performance art piece Girl’s Notes interrogates notions of gender, drawing inspiration from the traditional views set out in a Taiwanese text which directs girls in the ‘correct’ way to be a woman. Featuring live on-stage pianist LIN Mai-ke, this captivating work explores the intentions behind our everyday actions.

In Comme un symbole, French visual artist and choreographer Alexandre Fandard embodies the image of the marginalised youth, bursting onto the stage to portray a figure as despised as it is eroticised. The work subverts this stereotype in a way that is both deeply compelling and ultimately surprising.

London Battle will take over Somerset House’s iconic outdoor courtyard for a day packed with showcases, workshops, cyphers, live DJs and a big outdoor party.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip hop culture and with Breaking set to be the highlight of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Dance Umbrella and Somerset House are bringing together some of the most exciting talent from the four corners of London to go head-to head across a diverse range of styles.

Curated by choreographer Jade Hackett, who has performed with some of the UK’s leading hip hop dance theatre companies including Boy Blue and ZooNation, you will help the judges to decide which part of our global city brings the best dance flavour – north, south, east or west.

Change Tempo returns for 2023 to introduce London to two international artists whose transformational works blur the line between dance and visual art, challenging cultural biases.

SU PinWen’s performance art piece Girl’s Notes interrogates notions of gender, drawing inspiration from the traditional views set out in a Taiwanese text which directs girls in the ‘correct’ way to be a woman. Featuring live on-stage pianist LIN Mai-ke, this captivating work explores the intentions behind our everyday actions.

In Comme un symbole, French visual artist and choreographer Alexandre Fandard embodies the image of the marginalised youth, bursting onto the stage to portray a figure as despised as it is eroticised. The work subverts this stereotype in a way that is both deeply compelling and ultimately surprising.