News Posts
This year we celebrated 10 years since Jukebox Juniors competed in Got to Dance! The success of Jukebox Juniors brought us a global audience, with the show airing in many countries across the world. We loved representing Cardiff on the show, and sharing this video brought back memories for many in our community!
Our annual Academy showcase is the highlight of the year; an exciting, full production that gives students the chance to showcase their projects and celebrate their hard work. Our 2020 showcase saw us do something we’d never done before – hold our celebrations online!
Our students had been working remotely on their end-of-year pieces during lockdown, receiving virtual mentoring and classes from our dedicated tutors and mentors. Students conceptualised and filmed their own pieces with our help, creating beautiful and unique results in a range of mediums – from dance, to spoken word, to visual arts. Many of our students’ pieces were inspired by the political climate and Black Lives Matter movement, resulting in powerful concepts that allowed them to explore their heritage, self-expression and comment on historic events…
On Zoom, we held a private premier for friends and family, followed by a public version of the showcase which was attended by many local creatives and industry professionals. The showcase was a huge success, consisting of live performances and premiers of Academy students’ videos, as well as featuring special guest, local music artist B Written.Throughout the event, the encouraging support was evident in all the comments received by attendees in the chat box and our social media channels. Some of our favourite comments include:
“Congratulate all of your talented bunch on last night’s work. It was really inspiring and the range of artforms was something else.” – Michael Waters, Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
“An amazing evening with Jukebox Collective – you guys are an inspiration! Your work made me smile and cry, so much talent! Loved every second.” – Catherine Young, Dawns i Bawb
Butetown Carnival was first staged in the mid-1960s, celebrating the culture and musical heritage of multicultural Wales. The origins of this iconic event go back to the earlier part of the 20th Century, when seamen from Africa, West Indies and elsewhere led impromptu performances and processions in the streets. This inspired a tradition of cultural and social activities that took shape in the annual Butetown Carnival…
Through parades, performances, workshops and activities, the Carnival represented the community spirit of Butetown, a hub of multiculturalism where people from different backgrounds lived harmoniously despite hostility and racism. Over the next 40 years, the carnival attracted tens of thousands to Cardiff and grew as popular as other UK Afro-Caribbean carnivals Notting Hill & St Paul’s.
Performers at the carnival were a mix of local bands, sound systems, musicians and celebrities, including Aswad, Musical Youth, Bo Diddley, Tipper Ire, Roots & Branches and The Little Butes. To this day, locals talk fondly of memories of Carnival as the highlight of their summers growing up, every year, rain or shine.
After a gap of 16 years, Butetown Carnival was revived by the community in 2014 in response to local demand and is now firmly established as an annual event to celebrate the rich history of African and Carribean culture.
To learn more about Carnival:
Butetown Carnival Documentary: Big Scott Radio & It’s My Shout Productions
Images sourced from BBC Wales, Simon Campbell & Cardiff Music History
Ebony on the road was a six part series presented by Brinsley Forde Aminatta Forna and Martin Shaw, in which Ebony goes out on the road to meet Britain’s Afro-Caribbean communities. This one takes us back to Butown, Cardiff in 1984 and features performances by Welsh bands Bissmillah and Denym as well as interviews with community leaders including Gaynor Legall.
Our favourite segment is the highlight on Mount Stuart Primary School. It features Wales’ First Black Headteacher and Champion of Multiculturalism, Betty Campbell. Born into a working class family in Butetown in 1934, Betty overcame setbacks and racism and made history putting Black culture on her Cardiff curriculum.
Our Academy students spoke to Cardiff TV on how they are continuing to dance and stay creative, despite Covid-19.
They talk about their online highlight; a digital trip to connect with creatives in Ghana. Students got the chance to meet, talk and learn all about the most incredible dance, fashion and global online platforms built by some of the most influential young creatives in West Africa. We partnered with Dance God Lloyd to provide an Afro Dance workshop for our students. Dance God Lloyd founded the “agbelemi” dance as well as his dance collective DWP Academy.
Next up we invited Founder and Creative Director of Free The Youth, Joey Lit. We connected over thirty students for an online Q&A where Joey gave us an insight into launching a creative powerhouse and youth movement that’s empowering the next generation.
Ghana continues to set the pace as an incubator for some of the most innovative creative talents. As part of the British Council’s Wales Arts Mobility Fund, we were successful in receiving funding for a scoping trip to the capital, Accra in April 2021. During our trip we met with over 15 individuals and organisations at the forefront of global youth culture.
We met with DWP Academy at their rehearsal space in Djorwulu where they teach community classes and where they film their viral dance content. Founded by Dance God Lloyd & Afrobeast, the dance collective are at the forefront of Afro-dance with a global online presence and dance challenges.
Next up, we connected with Joey Lit and Kelly, founders of Free The Youth Ghana. This collective is leading the way to engage the diaspora and present an image of Africa that defies stereotypes. Their cult streetwear label has gained local and international attention, and their future plans are taking them on an exciting journey, empowering youth globally.
As risk takers, young artists in Ghana are starting movements without waiting for validation or guidance, but instead using community and online resources to guide one another, share information and create value for their work. Our trip included conversations with creatives Nana Yaw Oduro, visual artist Hakeem Adam, director Nana Akosua Hanson, movement artist Kwame Boafo at Accra (dot) Alt, musician Fuse ODG and artist Kuukua Eshun who co-founded Boxed Kids with Prince Gyasi.
To find out more about the dance scene in Accra we were introduced to dancers Shelly Ohene Nyako, Jeff Washington as well as Incredible Zigi who founded AfroZig and is known for creating the Pilolo.
Other organisations implementing change across the country we exchanged with included The First Creatives and Accra Theatre Workshop.
We’re continuing to connect Black Welsh Creatives with a global network of artists, re-defining Black creativity on a collective scale.
Liara Barussi (Artistic Director) & Lauren Patterson (Strategic Director) in Ghana, April 2019.
As a Black-led organisation based in Butetown, Cardiff, we aim to achieve self-determination for minoritised communities across Wales by recognising and celebrating the beauty of diversity and creating a space where our community can express their passions and achieve success.
Racism is an everyday lived experience for many of the students, tutors and creatives that we work with – from the more obvious racially motivated incidents to the subtle micro-aggressions. We live in a society structured by racial injustice, in Wales this has profound effects on access to social and economic opportunities as well as personal health and well-being. It’s our daily work to create change, both in the creative industries as well as in the individual lives of the young people we mentor. We have and always will stand with our community to fight against historic oppression and systemic racism.
Dismantling systems of oppression takes dedication and commitment – we are here, we support the #blacklivesmatter movement today and for the future. We will continue to put in the work so that the next generation may not face the same discrimination, inequality and injustice that exists today.
To inform and educate our audiences, we’ve collated a growing list of resources including organisations to support, reading materials, podcasts, films and more. Access via Google docs.
In a special collaboration, local grassroots music & events organisations Rotary Club & Blue Honey held an online all-day streaming event to raise funds to support our online classes as well as refugee support charity Oasis Cardiff.
The 11am-11pm event featured a curated selection of DJs such as Esther, Sam Jones, Andy Warphole and more spinning eclectic sounds from the comfort of their own homes. Throughout the day, the music stream was accompanied by performances from Jukebox dancers, such as our class tutor Ramelle Williams cutting shapes from his garden. Huge thanks to Rotary Club & Blue Honey for raising funds to help us continue our online classes throughout lockdown!
#DancePassion was a UK-wide celebration of the flourishing dance scene in collaboration with the BBC and One Dance UK, including exclusive rehearsals and insights from some of the country’s leading practitioners. Jukebox Academy students took the stage with a high energy, Afro-dance inspired performance choreographed by our Artistic Director Liara Barussi.
Watch our full performance here.
The day featured over 20 inspiring live streams from Swansea, Birmingham, Leeds, Belfast & London, showcasing a range of styles from a variety of performers and collectives, such as NDC Wales, Rambert, The National Youth Dance Company and more. As part of the event, the science of dance was explored as Birmingham Royal Ballet conducted a live experiment to demonstrate how 3D motion tracking is being used to push boundaries in choreography, as well as to protect dancers from injury. We’re thrilled to have been a part of such a creative and innovative event at the forefront of the UK dance scene.
In celebration of St David’s Day 2020, Jukebox academy and community class students performed at Wales Millenium Centre in the iconic Donald Gordan Theatre. Hosted by youth-led station Radio Platfform, the day featured performances from local grassroots artists and collectives from a variety of genres to showcase the best and freshest Welsh talent. We kicked things off with a lively performance that set the tone for the show, and our students loved being a part of celebrating St David’s day and Welsh history!
