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Black History Season is a major feature within
Leicester’s
events and festivals calendar. This year’s season highlights
the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery throughout
the British Empire and this year has a theme of ‘Souls
of Black Folk’. Celebrate the launch of Leicester’s
Black History Season and enjoy a variety of stalls, speakers,
performers, Caribbean cuisine and to open the season, a traditional
libation. For further details, contact the venue (details on
back page).
Tickets: £5.00 / £2.00 or by invitation.
Six single, South African women who treasure African tradition
through dancing and a cappella singing in Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho
and English as well as gospel and jazz. Their performance symbolises
the voice of women in South Africa, with strong and colourful
ethnic features.
Tickets:
£8.00 / £6.00
A distinctive fusion of brilliant character
comedy and satirical stand-up in the latest hilarious and exhilarating
show from the award winning actor and comedian, Felix Dexter.
Felix has appeared in The Real McCoy, The Lenny Henry Show,
The Fast Show, Grumpy Old Men, Absolutely Fabulous and Radio4’s Down The Line
alongside Paul Whitehouse. “Excellent, explosive and exhilarating
performer…watch him bring the house down” The Guardian
Tickets: £12.00 / £10.00
Leicester Community Gospel Choir provide a positive message
through uplifting music and song. Featuring the very best of
local talent, Gospel Meets Motown promises to be an explosion
of contemporary gospel complemented with the sounds of Motown.
Special guest appearances.
Tickets: £10.00 / £8.00
Black Umfolosi have become internationally renowned for their
harmonic a cappella sound and traditional African dance. Based
in Zimbabwe, they have released a number of recordings of Imbube,
Mbaqanga and Township songs. Their dynamic live performances
showcase traditional dancing styles of the Southern African region
as well as their own contemporary moves.
Tickets: £12.00 / £10.00
Diana Braithwaite is a powerful soulful singer, a first rate
songwriter and a Gemini award-winning scriptwriter who grew up
surrounded by a musical family. She started singing gospel and
country blues at the age of five, performing at churches and
hospitals in a trio with her two older brothers. She is a traditionalist
who is not afraid to experiment and writes songs that are authentic
with a focus on social issues.
Tickets: £8.00 / £6.00
A dance piece about six dancers and three musicians on a spiritual
journey across continents.
Tickets: £10.00 / £8.00 / £7.00 (schools)
Alternative, topical, witty and enlightening,
Birmingham’s
Yussef Ahmed is a poet, musician and cultural activist. Performing
urban poetry to an infectious combination of urban grooves, he
makes music to keep your feet moving and your mind working. Yussef
performs with his band MY5.0 making his art form more accessible
to a wider audience. Several of his lyrics have been recorded
by the widely acclaimed group, Zap Mama.
Tickets: £7.00 / £5.00
A dramatic evening of dance, poetry and music celebrating all
that is wonderful about gospel arts.
Tickets: £8.00 / £6.00
‘Whatever’ is a live arts, one-man multimedia performance
about whatever happens to a human being who has been ‘Made
in Malawi’. Anything can happen in this show, which features
Pax Nindi and several of his gadgets, which end up creating more
and more people in whatever world, using whatever life has to
offer.
Tickets £8.00 / £6.00
Ladysmith Black Mambazo have brought the
music and passion of South Africa to the attention of the world
with their thunderous and beautiful harmonies. Headed by charismatic
founder and composer Joseph Shabalala, Ladysmith Black Mambazo
is Africa’s number
one selling recording group. With nearly 40 CD releases and sales
approaching 10 million, Mambazo’s captivating Zulu harmonies
are a proud, strong homage to the jubilance, power and beauty
of indigenous music.
Tickets: £25.00
Fresh from success at the Edinburgh Fringe
and Melbourne International Comedy Festivals, Stephen K Amos
brings his unique brand of confessional, heart warming comedy
to The Y. Supremely warm and wickedly funny, Amos is renowned
for his chatty delivery, energy and his ability to become the
characters he is talking about. “Amos’s
show is packed with well-observed material, performed hilariously…an
all-singing, all-dancing party to which everyone is invited”
Sunday Times
Tickets: £10.00 / £8.00
Aswad is Britain’s most prolific reggae
ensemble known for their infectious, danceable rhythms as well
as their creative and commercial success. This is a rare chance
to enjoy some of their trademark rich melodies and compelling
harmonies, woven over hard rhythm tracks and inspired horn
riffs. Includes a wealth of new material.
Tickets: £15.00 / £12.00 (advance) £17.50 (on
the door)
London Shakespeare Workshop presents a new
musical celebrating the life and lyrics of Paul Laurence Dunbar.
We are backstage - immediately after Dunbar’s last UK recital in 1897, part
of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. This
celebrated writer, who will later die at 33, recalls: ‘It
was both the height and the end’. Lifting the Mask celebrates
the lyrics of the first African-American to gain international
eminence as a verse maker. Inspired by Dunbar’s life and
works, LSW honours themes ranging from love and loneliness to
slavery and the outcome of its historic mindset. “LSW works
at the highest level. What is impressive is the commitment of
the entire company and its rare passion for language.” The
Guardian
Tickets: £11.00 / £9.00. Special school price £5.00
LSW is offering a schools workshop to accompany the show, suitable
for age 16+. Telephone 01509 634913 for further details.
Philip Herbert (piano), Angela Caesar (soprano), Christopher
Rogers (violin).
Tickets: £6.00 / £5.00
UK premier of a Ghanaian play about our shared legacy of slavery,
written by Ama Ata Aidoo.
Tickets: £9.00 / £7.00 / £6.00 (schools)
The consequences of the slave trade are brought to life through
the actual testimonials of American slaves, their music and passion
for life. Drawn from interviews with former slaves, this powerful
drama combines personal testimony with Negro spirituals to create
a remarkable sense of this dark time in history. Winner of the
2002 John Cauble short play award.
Tickets: £8.00 / £6.00
WORD, Leicester’s open floor performance poetry and spoken
word event and Leicester Libraries present the fabulous Malika
Booker, one of the UK’s greatest poet talents. Writer,
spoken word and multidisciplinary artist, Malika Booker’s
work spans literature, education and cross-arts. She was one
of the touring poets with Bittersweet in 1999 / 2000 and has
featured in Modern Love and in Kin at the Barbican in 2004. There
will be a master class for poets, writers and spoken word artists
with Malika Booker on the afternoon of the performance. Contact
Damien Walter for details: 0116 252 7347 / damien.walter@leicester.gov.uk
Three explosive new pieces of Hip-Hop theatre.
Tickets: £9.00 / £7.00 / £6.00 (schools)
Cameron Pierre is without doubt one of the
most original guitar voices on the British scene today whose
music encompasses a fiesta of world music and jazz. Influences
range from jazz to calypso, through to stateside R‘n’B. “A keen ear for
a killer hook” Jazzwise
Tickets: £8.00 / £6.00
The Four Tops and The Temptations epitomise
the Motown sound. Between them over several decades they have
amassed scores of timeless hits - Reach Out (I’ll be there), I Can’t
Help Myself, It’s All In The Game from The Four Tops and
My Girl, I’m Gonna Make You Love Me and Just My Imagination
from The Temptations. Don’t miss these two fantastic bands
live in concert.
Tickets: £32.50 / £29.50
A 21st anniversary double bill of dance from the
Union Dance Company.
Tickets: £10.00 / £8.00 / £7.00 (schools)
Charismatic singer / songwriter Eska Mtungwazi
has a unique vocal sound that moves effortlessly between jazz,
hip-hop, soul and dance styles. Highly respected amongst her
musical peers, she has performed with a diverse range of artists
including UK rapper Ty, Nitin Sawhney, Soweto Kinch, Julie
Dexter, Courtney Pine and Denys Baptiste. Eska’s performance
will be followed by an open mic improvisation session, providing
musicians and vocalists the opportunity to jam with her.
Tickets: £7.00 / £5.00 / £3.50 (musicians & vocalists)
Rising new guitar star from Mali with his band. Plus support.
Tickets: £15.00 / £13.00
Music and storytelling based upon documentary evidence of a
19th century slave.
Tickets: £5.00 (one free with every ten purchased)
For further information on this event, including the venue,
contact Kaine on 0116 261 6840
info@kainemanagement.org.uk or visit:
www.kainemanagement.org.uk
During slavery in the USA, there was a systematic
effort to de-Africanise the captive Black workforce. As they
were unable to express themselves freely in ways that were
spiritually meaningful to them, enslaved Africans often held
secret religious services. Worshippers engaged in African religious
spirituals and crafted the impromptu musical expression of
field songs into the intricate, multi-part harmonies of struggle.
Join Kainé Gospel choir
and friends for an evening celebrating Negro Spirituals to mark
the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade. Songs featured
include The Gospel Train, Wade in the Water and Swing Low Sweet
Chariot.
Tickets: £6.00 / £4.00
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