Beyond the Ballroom

Beyond The Ballroom, on Sunday 19th July @ Cargo in Shoreditch London was a tribute to underground UK jazz dance – a mainly working class movement that emerged from the suburban soul scene of the South and post-Blackpool Mecca club-land in the North. Catch a Vibe attended the event to find out how the scene made its mark.

Among the live artists were Dilanga performing Cuban street rumba and Mighty Jeddo providing post-millennium freedom jazz dance. Meanwhile, DJs Snowboy and Gilles Peterson took the audience further along the journey of jazz dance. Alongside the music was a book signing, record stalls, a sprung dance floor and the London premiere of Dick Jewell’s classic film The Jazz Room. While paying homage to the roots of the UK jazz dance scene, the event also looked towards the future.

Like the funky house kids of 2009 who deliver their dance moves on YouTube, UK jazz dancers honed their art in bedrooms, but tested it in battle on the dancefloor. It’s about a young black and white Britain, united by music and dance…

(c) Denise Arthur