we give a lead to britain

we give a lead to britain is a queering of the ‘No Colour Bar Dance’ that took place at Lambeth Town Hall in 1955. The aim of the ‘No Colour Bar Dance’ was to encourage and support the integration and cross-pollination of West-Indian and British culture. 180 Black people and 180 white people danced together with a hope to set an example to the rest of Britain, a Britain that was becoming irresistibly mixed race. Conceptually, this event draws on the different strands that make up my practice (dance, music, migration, integration and mixed-race Britannia), marrying them into one evening, one moment. I am a product of moments like these - a crosspollination of British and west-Indian culture, colour and class. So, I needed to dance there, in order to chat… to shout.