Description:From 'Les Ballets Nègres' onwards, black dance companies have had an important place on both the stage and in the community in Britain. During the 1980s many dance companies using traditional African dance sprang up in the Midlands including the Birmingham-based Kokuma, Dance de l'Afrique and Wolverhampton-based Lanzel. Another- the Black Dance Development Trust- was formed in 1985 in Birmingham by Bob Ramdhanie, the Trust's first Director.
Among the Trust’s objectives were:
To foster and promote the maintenance, improvement and development of choreographic knowledge, understanding and appreciation of Afrikan people's dance
To provide access to international choreographers of Afrikan people's dance; and
To provide and develop support for a dance summer school providing training at various levels in Afrikan people's music and dance.
The international black dance summer schools began in 1985 and took place in Leicester and subsequently Wolverhampton. Summer schools provided an opportunity for students to work with professional tutors and experience the richness of dance traditions from many countries including Gambia, Nigeria, Ghana, Jamaica and Senegal (B.A.D News Autumn 1988.)
The Black Dance Development Trust produced a quarterly newsletter- Bulletin of Afrikan Dance or B.A.D News which aimed to promote black arts, especially music and dance. Copies of this publication along with photographs of one of the summer schools in Leicester can be found in the Vanley Burke archive (MS 2192.)