OF US
Jukebox Collective’s short film uses dance to evoke feelings of hope and resilience
Words
BLESSING BORODE
Water is revered as a sacred element for the sustenance of daily life and community vitality in many African and Caribbean traditions. Through storytelling, sound and memory, it harbours the ancestral legacies that followed in the wake of the forced movements of Africans across the Atlantic Ocean. Directed by Liara Barussi from Jukebox Collective, short film Of Us uses dance to retrace that history in relation to the Afro-Caribbean communities in Tiger Bay, South Wales. Originally commissioned by Dr Aleema Gray for the British Library’s ‘Beyond the Bassline’ exhibition, Barussi’s work has become symbolic of the Black Welsh experience.
“Of Us journeys into the whispers of our seas, intertwining stories of migration with the universal symbolism of water,” Barussi shares. “Echoing concepts of the Black Aquatic and Tidalectics, the film juxtaposes the fluid and fixed. Through it, we pay tribute to the heritage of the movements passed on and we remember the resilience of our ancestors.”
From the outset, viewers are drawn to Wales’ magnificent coastline and the joyful dancing of the students from Jukebox Academy’s multi-disciplinary arts programme. In spite of the history of trauma held within water, Barussi wanted to invoke feelings of hope and resilience by centring aspects of play within the narrative. “Play is at the core of rhythm and your natural way of moving,” she observes.
Barussi’s research pulled her into the rich histories of communities whose daily rituals revolve around water. The choreography honours this tapestry of cultures, from the Baka people of Cameroon who practise Liquindi (a technique that explores water drumming as a form of communication and meditation) to the Ring Games of Jamaica and the Takai Dance of Dagomba, Northern Ghana. Throughout the filming process, the cast were encouraged to explore their surroundings through this perspective, creating a familial bond that celebrates the ties between each member’s heritage.
The dancers’ sweeping movements are also responding to a soundscape by producers Felix Taylor and Melo-Zed. The duo, as part of South London collective Touching Bass, narrate a sonic piece that hopes to communicate the scale of information that bodies of water carry within them. The waves take listeners on a journey between different touch points of the Black experience and the part that music plays in the diaspora's earliest ancestral memories.‘Omi’, the seven-minute composition, was a living thread across the entire British Library exhibition, which Burassi used as a framework for her own direction, expanding the dialogue around water as a container for sacred folklore amongst the African diaspora.
Of Us marked an incredible debut for Jukebox Collective into the gallery and exhibition space. Barussi’s dedication to fostering young talent led to it receiving funding from Arts Council Wales – the first Black-led organisation to ever do so. “We’re based in Butetown, originally known as Tiger Bay and is one of the areas with the oldest multicultural communities in the UK so it’s symbolic being there,” Barussi says.
Alongside strategic director Lauren Patterson, who produced Of Us, Barussi has expanded into artist development, curation and consultancy. Yet the duo’s core mission to empower marginalised communities and equip diverse talent for creative futures remains steadfast. “Our academy programme offers free bursaries for people to join. People explore dance, music, drama and fashion and we help them nurture their interests,” she adds. “With Of Us, our students had that learning experience and then got to see themselves represented in an exhibition, held at an iconic space that they wouldn’t usually enter. It was great that they were involved from the beginning.”
The film has showcased on Nowness, and Barussi and Patterson are continuing to curate a series of screenings and performance workshops in partnership with organisations such as Bozar Centre for Fine Arts in Belgium, that will further push conversations on identity and belonging. They are focussed on expanding their collaborative pool in the months to come. “Having a global network that can all work together allows for more visibility for Black Welsh creatives beyond Wales. Of Us was a big moment and an opportunity to really show what we can create.”
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Words BLESSING BORODE
A Jukebox Collective Production
Commissioned by Dr Aleema Gray & The British Library
Film and movement direction LIARA BARUSSI
Production LAUREN PATTERSON
Director of Photography NATHAN O’KELLY
Sound design An excerpt of ‘Omi’ created by FELIX TAYLOR and MELO-ZED commissioned TOUCHING BASS
Music supervision ALEX RITA, TAYO RAPOPORT
Styling LAUREN ANNE GROVES
Creative consulting by LEYMAN LAHCINE
Starring the Jukebox Academy GUI PINTO, VENICE WILLIAMS, MONET WILLIAMS, TEAGHAN SCANLON, KARIM MOHAMED, FATIMA JARJU, AYOOLA WONDER, ELIZABETH OREDOLA, PEREZ RODRIQUES, RIO RODRIQUES, QUINCY CHAMBERS, AKEYLAH HINTON, BLESSING OREDOLA, SHEIGHLEY-SKY
Movement assistance DARNELL WILLIAMS, NAOMI FERNE, PATRIK GABCO, MILLIE CAMPION
Hair TRENT JACKSON
Barbering ISAAC OMOYIBO
