Akademi Heritage Project
Inspiring through our heritage
In 2020, we will be unearthing and celebrating Akademi’s vital contribution in establishing the dynamic south Asian dance sector that exists in the UK today.
In archiving key documents, digitising rare footage, teaching oral history skills, and collecting testimonials, this project will connect our present to our past and then to our future. Look out for new events, workshops and performances that celebrate Akademi’s history and inspire through our heritage.
#AkademiChronicles
Generously supported by:
Project Strands
Oral History Project
A pioneering initiative that draws upon both the practices of choreography and oral history.
More than 30 pupils from across Krishna Avanti Primary School (Harrow), Pagrav Dance Company and Sanskruti School of Dance are taking part in a multi-layered project with an oral historian and a dance artist. Participants will collect precious oral testimonies from elderly family and community members, and use this experience to devise a choreographic response, drawing upon themes of diaspora, migration and identity. Read more here.
Heritage Performance Commission
In a time when live performance is precious, Akademi is excited about pioneering a new initiative that sits at the intersection of choreography, community and performance.
This commission involves responding to an Akademi heritage object through a choreographic solo, and through a workshop plan aimed at Key Stage 2 pupils. The three artists are working together as a new team to deliver their solos and workshops at a number of primary schools in 2021. Read more here.
Blog
A deep dive into benefits of South Asian Dance in Education and Community settings
Heritage Project volunteer, Rebecca Price, explores some of our Learning & Participation projects where Akademi used South Asian dance to bring communities together and improve the health and wellbeing of different groups.
The Versatility of Performance Archives
Akademi Heritage Project volunteer Kate Smith explores the versatility of performance archives through 3 innovative ways in which archival material can be used for outreach.
Get involved
Merchandise
Contribute
Do you have documents, images, posters or other items that could enrich the Akademi archives? As we curate an archive of originals and copies for donation to the V&A Museum, we are seeking important ephemera from our community. Please email Shivaangee@akademi.co.uk if you have something that you think would be valuable to us.
Heritage Postcards
If you’re a fan of vintage artwork, don’t miss our new and exclusive set of gift postcards that feature rarely-seen posters and photographs from our archives. Perfect for gifting or collecting!
Price: £1 for one, £5 for a set of 10. All proceeds go towards our Reach Out and Reveal Project in SEN settings.
News and Press
Oral History Project Sharing
To wrap up our Oral History Project, students from Pagrav Dance Company and Sanskruti Cambridge shared their working process and movement responses with an audience of invited guests over Zoom.
Akademi’s Oral History Project featured in Pulse Magazine
Chamu Kuppuswamy joined the final sessions of the Oral History part of the project in December for Pulse Magazine and captured the essence of this experience in this wonderful article.