The Museum of Colour (MoC) is a digital collection of resources that celebrate the achievements of people of colour in film, television, and arts over the last 250 years. They are currently running an exhibition called ‘A Very British Rhythm'which focuses on spotlighting the legacy of dancers and choreographers from African, Asian, and Latin descent.

MoC has recently expanded their exhibition to include the Moving Histories project which teaches young people about the contributions people of colour have made to the creative industries in the UK. The project aims to make learning about heritage and culture engaging, collaborative, and fun for the next generation.

Our funding has been used to support a group of students from one of our Trustee schools – Stepney All Saints – to learn about performance artists who have a similar heritage and culture as themselves. The young people will learn about the contributions dancers of colour have made to the creative industries and create a stop-motion film about inspiring artists such as Ram Gopal.

[Image description: A black and white illustration of Ram Gopal dancing. Photo credits go to Naki Narh whose work can be viewed here.]

Moving Histories combines theatrical storytelling with stop-motion animation to help young people develop a wide range of important skills. Through the workshops, young people will be able to build on their teamwork, storytelling, and public speaking skills.

Young people will be given the confidence to explore their own creative journeys by learning about dancers who come from similar cultural backgrounds as themselves. This is an important part of the project because it means the workshop will resonate and with the students.

The first few workshops have been designed to transform students understanding of historical dancers of colour. They will then be given the chance to create stop-motion films about the contributions made by some of the artists and performers.

[Image description: A head shot of Akram Khan in a dark room moving two lights in a circular motion. Due to the long exposure, the light creates two overlapping circles. The photograph was taken by Hope Sandati whose work can be found here.]

In total, ten workshops will take place at the Stepney All Saints School which is situated in the diverse borough of Tower Hamlets. Widening representation in the arts will empower young people to be proud of their heritage and give them a platform to share their identity with others.

MoC puts artistic participation at the heart of their workshops to make sure as many young people as possible can learn about performers of colour. Because the project uses different mediums to explore the biography of dancers, it means that the projects is inclusive to all young people even if they do not have English as a first language.

Alongside learning more about their culture and heritage, young people can contribute to making history more visible and inclusive. As such, Moving Histories can be seen to strengthen the legacy of creatives of colour by giving young people an active voice and supportive platform.

[Image description: The group facilitator, Germma Orleans-Thompson, is crouched in the center of a room at Marble Hill House leading a group of young people. Photo credits go to Alistair Veryard Photography.]

We’re really excited for the students at Stepney All Saints School to start learning about performance artists who have a similar heritage and culture as themselves.

We can’t wait to watch the final stop motions film that is created about Ram Gopal and some of the inspiring choreographers and dancers of colour!

Interested in finding out more? Click here.