Let's Dance International Frontiers
LET’S DANCE INTERNATIONAL FRONTIERS 2026
REIMAGINING TOMORROW: NEW WORK, AFROFUTURISM AND TECHNOLOGY
29 APRIL – 9 MAY 2026
LEICESTER, UK
Let’s Dance International Frontiers (LDIF) is a vibrant and dynamic annual dance festival that launches each year on 29 April, coinciding with International Dance Day. At its core, LDIF is dedicated to celebrating the art of dance while also pushing the boundaries of artistic expression and cultural discourse. The festival offers a diverse and innovative programme that encapsulates the rich international tapestry of Leicester, featuring an array of performances, engaging discussion seminars, hands-on masterclasses, and an insightful annual conference.
Over the past sixteen years, LDIF has emerged as a crucial platform for the arts, showcasing over 340 artists and dance companies. This includes an impressive tally of 92 UK premieres and 49 world premieres, highlighting its role as a launchpad for new works and talent in the dance community. In addition, LDIF has prioritised the development of emerging artists through various initiatives such as Signatures, the Black British Dance Platform, all in partnership with FABRIC. The festival also features masterclasses, discussions, film and local, national and international networking.
These efforts have positioned LDIF as a pioneering force in international dance programming and commissioning across the UK, attracting numerous artists to present their work for the first time in the UK. Notable past participants include acclaimed companies and choreographers such as Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion from the USA, Urban Bush Women, PHILADANCO, Senegal’s Germaine Acogny, Maya Taylor from the USA, Shamel Pitts/TRIBE and the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica.
LDIF26 explores the theme Reimaging Tomorrow: New Work, Afrofuturism and Technology.
Image Credit: I see you, you see me – dak mashava (6)
New Work: Solos and Duets brings together emerging Black artists from the UK and internationally. Each artist presents a bold new work that challenges form, resists respectability and offers fresh vocabularies of movement. Together, they explore rage, ancestry, vulnerability, voice and communal breath charting a course towards new possibilities in dance and performance.
Family Honour
Kwame Asafo-Adeji | Spoken Movement (UK)
Family Honour examines the eponymous concept through the eyes of a young girl trapped in moral codes mandated by her immediate environment, confronting her past ‘sin’ against tradition. Abandoned by her father, she seeks solace from memories resembling her father. Inspired by personal conversations, the performance draws the audience into a world where hip-hop is theatre.
I See You, You See Me
Choreographed by Dak Mashava
Performed by Conn Williams and Theo Canham-Spence (UK)
I See You, You See Me focuses on the dialogue of a queer relationship and the dynamics within it whilst exploring themes of friendship, rivalry, as well as romance and boundaries. The developing work encapsulates the nuances and complexities of navigating relationships, exploring themes of identity, ownership, fetishisation, masculinity and femininity, sexuality, gender expression, all through the lens of being Black and queer.
Unspoken Queens
Choreographed by Charly Mintya
Performed by Claire Nadine Gwem (Cameroon)
Women have always been key players in history, but their contribution has often been erased or minimised. Today, in the face of persistent challenges, it is more important than ever to recall the significant impact that women have made as pioneers and leaders and to build a more just and equitable future.
EN-CORPS
Faustin Arnauld Ntoutoume Ndong (Gabon)
EN-CORPS explores the mobility of the body, its capacity to transform and reinvent itself. EN-CORPS also highlights the constant transformation of the body through its multiple states: fragility and strength, exhaustion and momentum, constraint and liberation. It is a gradual blossoming, a passage from one state to another, a metamorphosis that reveals the infinity of forms and possibilities that the body conceals
DETAILS:
Date: 1 May 2026
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Cost: £18.00/£16.00
Tickets: https://www.serendipity-uk.com/event/new-work-solos-and-duets/ or call 0116 482 1394
Event Categories: Let’s Dance International Frontiers, Performance
Event Tags: LDIF26
ORGANISER:
Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage
Phone: 0116 482 1394
Email: info@serendipity-uk.com
VENUE:
Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage
8 Bowling Green Street
Leicester, LE1 6AT
Phone: 0116 482 1394
Image Credit: Kadafi Mulula, photographer Mary Ball.
Signatures and the Black British Dance Platform
Signatures and the Black British Dance Platform are two dynamic launchpads that celebrate the creativity of emerging and established choreographers and dancers in the UK and internationally.
Audiences will experience a mixed-bill of bold and original performances, spanning local, national and global perspectives. The programme champions innovation, technique and artistic integrity, showcasing work that pushes the boundaries of dance and engages audiences with fresh ideas and distinctive voices.
Signatures and the Black British Dance Platform offer a unique glimpse into the future of dance, spotlighting the talent that will shape tomorrow’s cultural landscape. The platforms are produced by Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage with support from FABRIC and Northern School of Contemporary Dance.
SIGNATURES
Quilt
CDT Jamaica Choreographed by Renée I McDonald (Jamaica)
Quilt explores three connected stories – one of love, trust and abandonment; one of isolation, identity and the journey to self-love; and one of freedom from pent up emotions and energy through divulgence. The trio is choreographed by Jamaican choreographer, Renée I McDonald and takes the audience on an intimate journey of human experiences through modern dance, dynamic music and minimalist lighting.
Sending Up My Timber
Choreographed by Alexandria Davis (USA)
Sending Up My Timber draws from the Black American blues and gospel tradition, referring to the construction of a heavenly home through good deeds, faith and prayer. What technologies of spiritual communion have supported Black communities throughout history, and how might they influence access and the construction of a collective future when material conditions restrict our access to one another?
Firefly
Tebandeke Joseph (Uganda)
Firefly is a solo dance performance born from the lived experience of Ugandan artist Tebandeke Joseph, a disabled Black performer navigating the intersection of body, identity and society. Raised in a society that viewed disability as source of shame, Firefly is his personal and political declaration of resilience. It transforms individual pain into collective empowerment, shedding light on the strength and beauty found within us.
Mares
Perspectives Collective Choreographed by Amari Webb-Martin and Roshaan Asare (UK)
Emerging from a shared unease and anger at the severe injustices of the world, Mares draws on the word “nightmares” and reimagines the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse through four female-identifying dancers. Their bodies become vessels of urgency and resistance, moving with relentless drive, fierce unisons and intricate musicality. The work navigates the tension between despair and resilience, asking what hope can be carved from today’s darkness.
BLACK BRITISH DANCE PLATFORM
together
Choreographed by Douglas Thorpe (UK) Performed by Imogen Wright and Kadafi Mulula
An explosive contemporary duet driven by pulse, urgency and relentless intensity. Two bodies circle each other with animal alertness, testing strength and endurance through dense, highly crafted movement. Visceral and emotionally charged, the choreography shifts between dark humour, exhaustion and fleeting moments of innocence and simplicity. Breath becomes audible, effort exposed, humanity revealed in small gestures.
Douglas Thorpe, founder and director, trained at The Place London, and returned to Leeds to build his career. He worked with Phoenix Dance Theatre over three decades, dancing, choreographing and teaching. He has created work for Staatstheater Braunschweig, ACE Dance and Music, Mobius, Phoenix Dance Theatre and Verve.
DETAILS:
Date: 6 May
Time: 7:45 pm - 10:00 pm
Cost: £16
Tickets: https://www.curveonline.co.uk/whats-on/shows/signatures-and-the-black-british-dance-platform-2/
Event Category: Let’s Dance International Frontiers
Event Tags: LDIF26
ORGANISER:
Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage
Phone: 0116 482 1394
Email: info@serendipity-uk.com
VENUE:
Curve
60 Rutland Street
Leicester, LE1 1SB
Phone: 0116 242 3595
