Leicester LET'S DANCE Festival Will Kick Off This Month

LET'S DANCE INTERNATIONAL FRONTIERS – LDIF26 - is the critically-acclaimed, hugely popular annual Leicester-based dance festival which launches every year on April 29th, International Dance Day. 

Produced by Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, the festival celebrates dance, cultural diversity, and artistic innovation through live performances, workshops, and conferences.  LDIF was founded 16 years ago by its dynamic Artistic Director, Pawlet Brookes MBE, who is also CEO of Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, the producers of the festival.

“I’m very excited for LDIF26,” says Pawlet.  “We have some thrilling live performances which I think will entertain as much as challenge our ever-growing audiences. There are dozens of opportunities for festival attendees to access masterclasses, workshops, and discussions run by experienced professionals. 

"I’m delighted that we’ll be showing work by Leicester-born, West End performer Dak Mashava who is currently in the cast of ‘Cabaret'.  Dak has also just become Associate Artist at Curve Leicester and we’re presenting his first choreographic work, ‘I See You, You See Me’, on Friday May 1st as part of our New Work: Solos and Duets programme which will take place at our performance space at Serendipity in the heart of the city.  Our other programmes of new work are Signatures and the Black British Dance Platform (6 May) which will showcase establishing dance practitioners from the UK and abroad.”

'I See You, You See Me' focuses on the dialogue of a queer relationship and the dynamics within it while exploring themes of friendship, rivalry as well as romance and boundaries.  It's danced by Conn Williams and Theo Canham-Spence and choreographed by Dak Masava in his choreographic debut.

A dazzling array of new work will be on show by dancers and choreographers from the UK as well as Barbados, Cameroon, Cuba, Gabon, Jamaica, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, Martinique, Uganda, and the USA.  UK premieres include Becoming by Tanzanian dancer and artist, Samwel Japhet who will open the festival on 29 April, and Océan Brun, a duet of urgency reflecting on the impact of environmental change (30 April) which will be performed by Martinique’s radical Compagnie Kaméléonite.

LDIF26 will close with the much-anticipated return of the New York based collective, Shamel Pitts|TRIBE and the UK debut of Marks of RED, a multi-disciplinary performance experience that weaves together exquisite performance with bold scenography. (photograph by Alex Apt)

As founder, CEO and Artistic Director of Leicester-based Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, Pawlet Brookes MBE (left) launched Let’s Dance International Frontiers in 2011 to showcase high quality dance that celebrates diversity, to centre perspectives from the African and African Caribbean Diaspora and present them as cultural experiences for all audiences. 

LDIF 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.

LDIF is a crucial platform for the arts, showcasing over 340 artists and dance companies including 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.