ba(ME) sheds light on an intertwined journey
of being both an immigrant in the UK and
a minority artist in the dance industry.
The short film explores situational experiences of being a 'model immigrant / minority', and adds to a dynamic conversation on immigration and diversity in the arts.
Upcoming Talks & Discussions
GENERATIVE DANCING #7 – Music, Rhythm, Ritual and Dance: Honouring ancestral practices & re-imagining ceremony
Guest Speakers: Lamine Sonko, Noriko Tadano and Kialea-Nadine Williams with facilitation by Julie Ann Minaai and Kialea-Nadine Williams
A roundtable / panel talk exploring music, rhythm, ritual, and dance through embodied practices, sacred ceremonies, and cultural traditions. Featuring interdisciplinary artist and Guewel (hereditary cultural role) from Senegal, Lamine Sonko, Japanese shamisen virtuoso Noriko Tadano, award-winning British-born Jamaican dance artist Kialea-Nadine Williams, and Japanese dance artist Julie Ann Minaai, this conversation delves into cultural and embodied knowledges from both traditional and diasporic perspectives—honouring ancestral practices, returning to cultural roots, reimagining ceremony, and weaving diasporic experiences.
16 September 2025, 6pm
GENERATIVE DANCING #6 – Sekinin (Responsibility)
Guest Speakers: Gracieuse Amah, Irihipeti Waretini and Jackie Sheppard with facilitation by Julie Ann Minaai
Sekinin in Japanese means responsibility – It is taking care of self and others, fulfilling obligations, contributing to the community and building a better world.
A roundtable / panel talk featuring Beninese, Togolese, and French community leader and choreographer Gracieuse Amah, Māori artist Irihipeti Waretini, and First Nations interdisciplinary artist Jackie Sheppard. This discussion offers insights into rituals, cultural and community practices across the arts, community spaces, ecologies, and embodied traditions. Grounded in the lived experiences and artistic work of these established leaders, the dialogue explores how such practices interweave to sustain cultural lineage, support revival and return, and navigate diasporic journeys.
6pm, Tuesday 9 September 2025
Generative Dancing Roundtable Series
Dr. Elena Benthaus @tiny_office_dances from the PopMoves community and Julie Minaai are facilitating a roundtable / podcast live recording session as part of the Generative Dancing Roundtable series organised by @vca.dance and @dancehouse.melb on “Glocal Street Dance Cultures in Australia” with incredible guest speakers
💥 Efren Pamilacan @ef__ founder of City Sessions and Cofounder of Cypher Culture
💥 Bgirl Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn @raygun_aus of ‘Vanguards of Style' and '143 Liverpool Street Familia'
💥 Amelia Doung @in.trospectionist from Destructive Steps Dance Association
For this session, we are interested in thinking through what it means to belong to, practice, be part of local Street Dance / Hip Hop cultures, or Street Dance / Hip Hop scenes in Australia. The questions we are pondering are about how a dance culture that emerged from the particularities of the African-American and Puerto-Rican experience of youth in a disenfranchised socio-political context has been globalised, and when taken up in different places around the globe, like Australia, been in turn localised into the specific context of the new locale. What is the generational, generative, and generous pull Street Dance / Hip Hop cultures have on a global scale? How can we think about the relationship between the (g)localised dance culture and its black cultural roots? What place does it occupy within Australia or within different cities in Australia? How does it afford its practitioners a sense of belonging to a local as well as global dance community? What are the challenges and tensions inherent in this dynamic?
Event info: Wednesday, April 19 2023 from 6:30pm-7:30pm AEST in Studio 221, Building 864 Dance Building 234 St Kilda Road Southbank, VIC 3006
The event is free, but you have to register via Eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/generative-dancing-glocal-street-dance-cultures-in-australia-tickets-570281476247?aff=odcleoeventsincollection&keep_tld=1
Image credit: JNY Photography @photography.jny
AT HOME: RETHINKING INTERNATIONALISM I
The first of our online conversations brings together industry professionals to discuss the experience of being an international artist as part of our Refuge series.
Join us for the first of a two-part discussion Rethinking Internationalism, exploring what it really means to be an international artist working in the UK today. How have recent events shaped what we consider internationalism to be and who has the privilege of being considered ‘international’? The discussion will be chaired by Dr Idil Akinci-Perez, with choreographer Julie Ann Minaai, Maria Aberg, director of Projekt Europa, theatre-maker Yasmeen Audisho Ghrawi and producer Taghrid Choucair-Vizoso.
As part of Refuge, artists, practitioners, academics and community leaders from across the globe come together in conversation, offering their perspectives on themes of internationalism, migration, displacement, inclusion and climate justice.
The Refuge series is supported by British Council, Edinburgh Futures Institute at the University of Edinburgh and Claire and Mark Urquhart. Made possible through the PLACE programme