Hip-Hop Nights with The Doctor’s Orders

London’s Premier Hip-Hop promopters, The Doctor’s Orders organise a number of club nights: Sampled at Bar Music Hall, On The Real at East Village, Subsoul at The Social, as well as live music events.

Check out their website for update info and mixes.

Global Sounds With Sun Bailante

Sun Bailante DJ’s will bring the hottest Tropical and Global sounds: Reggaeton, Salsa, Latin House, Soca, Dancehall, Baile Funk, Cumbia, Samba and more are played at their parties.

Live Jazz & Soul Music in London

 Check out these venues & promoters for the freshest soul and jazz music gigs in the city!

Jazz Cafe: Legendary music venue in Camden with an impressive line-up: Eric Benet, Julie Dexter, Raheem De Vaughn, Andreya Triana,  Jose James, Angie Stone, Roy Ayers, Leela James, Dwele… They’ve all played there.

O2 Academy Brixton: Another favourite venue for Black musicians such as D’Angelo, Jill Scott and Erykah Badu

Koko: Events are a bit more left-field, good for urban/alternative black music (Flying Lotus, Emeli Sande, Ghospoet…)

Jazz Re:freshed: Weekly live music residency, covering jazz and jazz-influenced music:  Julie Dexter, Kaidi Tatham, Fertile Ground, Azymuth, , Xan Blacq, Jason Yarde, Kissey Asplund, Mark de Clive Lowe, Muhsinah, etc…

Aesthetic Sounds: Live soul music night hosted by Sarah Fonteyne. Past guests include Jaguar Wright, Glen Lewis, Jesse Boykins, J*Davey…

The Vortex: Intimate Jazz venue in Dalston

London Jazz Festival: Every Year in November. The biggest jazz event in the calendar.

Black Films Screenings in London

Mainstream studio and cinemas are more and more reluctant to produce and distribute black films in the UK. Thankfully, the organisations listed below are doing a great work of bringing Afro-American films to London and supporting homemade productions.

Black History Walks: Past films screened include: Jumping the Broom, The Story of Lovers Rock, Besouro, Miracle at St Anna. They also curate the monthly African Odysseys at the Southbank Centre.

Rapture Film Club: They promote Afro-American films with Christian values. Past screenings include The Help, Black Power Mixtape, The Interrupters and For Colored Girls.

Rio Cinema: Cinema in the heart of Dalston, with a diverse programmation.

Ritzy Brixton: Given its location, you’d expect the venue to include more movies from the African and Caribbean diaspora. This said, they did accomodate the Film Africa in 2011 and were one of the rare cinemas to screen the Congolese hit movie Viva Riva. Hopefully we’ll see more of this type of events in the future.

Frontline Club: An organisation that champions independent journalism and screens riveting documentaries and on issues.

Tricycle Cinema: They host of the Images of Black Women Film Festival; their programmation is eclectic and always interesting

Black Community Organisations in London

The following organisations promote cohesion and learning within the black community through events and workshops. Check their websites and lend them your support.

Black History Walks: Walking tours of London, as well as talks and film screenings.

100 Black Men of London: An organisation of professional African British men who help the youth and their community.

Black History Studies: Provide a wide range of courses and activities to promote the learning of black history within the community and for anyone who is interested in the subject.

Inspirational You: Social enterprise that promotes entrepreneurship in women and young people in the UK.

British Black Music: Provide information about the music industry with a bias towards British and black music. Seminars, talks and workshops are held throughout the year.

The Knowledge Fountain: A resource for African and Caribbean Black Businesses with a magazine and regular networking events.

Precious Awards: Awards highlighting the work accomplished by female entrepreneurs of colour. Also an online magazine and a networking group. The editor of Catch a Vibe received the Precious Blogger of the Year award in 2010.

Black Theatre and Comedy in London

Check out these venues & organisations for the latest black theatre and comedy productions:

Talawa: Founded 25 years ago, Talawa is one of the most successful black theatre companies in the UK. They also promote new writing through schemes such as Flipping the Script and Talawa Writers Group.

Tiata Fahodzi: Founded by Femi Elufowoju , jr in 1997 (he also served as Artistic Director until 2010), Tiata Fahodzi is the UK’s premier African-British theatre company. Each year, their festival Tiata Delights puts the spotlight on emerging writers.

Nitro: Black Music Theatre company with a unique repertoire

Hackney Empire: Hackney is a very diverse borough and so is the programmation of this venue. A special mention to their comedy line-up.

Broadway Theatre: Supporters of black comedy and black theatre

Albany Theatre: Performance arts venue that features a lot of work depicting the black experience. With numerous productions for young people.

Royal Court Theatre: Mainstream London theatre but with an inclusive and cutting-edge programmation

Cottons Islington: They run a weekly comedy night, on Wednesdays

 

Check out our Archives section for black theatre features, interviews and reviews

Dance Companies

Ballet Black: A professional ballet company for international dancers of Black and Asian descent. Their shows (at the Royal Opera House, Bernie Grant Centre, or Arts Depot) always sell out.

ADAD: The Association of Dance of the African Diaspora support and promote dance of the African Diaspora through events such as the Bloom Festival, dance conferences and development programmes.

East London Dance: Inclusive dance organisation for communities and artists across and beyond East London. They organise events and workshops all through the year.

Zoonation: A resident company at Sadler’s Wells theatre, Zoonation creates hip-hop dance narrative theatre such as the award-winning West-End show Into The Hoods. Their latest show Some Like It Hip-Hop (2011) was nominated for two awards.

Vocab Dance Company: Dance theatre company led by Alesandra Seutin. Read our interview with Alesandra here

• 
• 
• 
•