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Exploring how the state of being re-active is used as a theme in Black British performance art, not only as an act of agency and resistance but additionally as a creative catalyst in the form, process, intention and legacy of the works created.
The research group is led by Sabrina Henry (Assistant Curator, CCA Glasgow) and Ashanti Harris (Lecturer in Contemporary Performance, Royal Conservatoire Scotland).
Led by Ashanti Harris and Sabrina Henry, The Re-Action of Black Performance examines how reactivity—both as resistance and creative force—shapes Black British performance art. This research investigates reactivity not just as an act of agency but as a generative force in the creation and legacy of performance works. Drawing from Fred Moten’s notion of call-and-response and Dr. Fu-Kiau Bunseki’s Kongo cosmogram, our inquiry probes the complex interactions of Black British artists with the legacies of colonialism, performance, and diaspora.
Our inquiry began with interviews with key figures including Mele Broomes, Makini, and Elaine Mitchener, delving into the importance of reactivity within their practices. This led to a realisation: Black British cultural production is intrinsically linked to global diasporic conversations, and understanding this interconnectedness is key to reimagining performance. Building on these conversations, the research then transitioned into collective practice, organising workshops and discussions where participants could engage with and embody the themes explored.
A significant moment in the project occurred during The Ignorant Art School in late 2023, where we responded to The Otolith Group’s film Infinity Minus Infinity (2019). Drawing on thinkers such as Una Marson, Édouard Glissant, and Denise Ferreira da Silva, the film critiques racial capitalist structures and the hostile environment policies targeting Afro-Caribbean migrants. It confronts the compounded timelines of slavery’s afterlife through a black feminist lens, envisioning a cosmos of mathematical nihilism.
In response to these themes, we led a flocking workshop with choreographer Mele Broomes. Flocking—a collective improvisational movement where participants alternate leadership—became a fitting metaphor for the film’s transhistorical exploration of shifting power dynamics, racialized histories, and embodied responses to trauma. Just as Infinity Minus Infinity uses performance and digital animation to navigate the past, present, and future, the flocking practice explored the interconnection of time, movement, and resistance. The act of rotating leadership within the flock mirrored the need to continuously adapt in response to historical and ongoing injustices.
Unexpected challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, delayed the project but also allowed for deeper reflection and the expansion of the research across the diaspora. This period highlighted that Black British performance cannot be understood in isolation—it must engage with global diasporic histories and practices. For the next phase, our research will continue to centre voices from the Black and African diaspora, emphasising the somatic nature of performance.
This future research will invite participants to feel the histories, joys, love and resistance embedded in Black diasporic performance practises—emphasising how embodiment is crucial to understanding and transmitting complex legacies. By extending our work beyond geographical borders, we seek to further uncover the unspoken languages that bind diasporic communities.
