From August until early autumn, our studio will see three new Leeds based artists join our Phoenix Fridays programme. Launched in February 2024, this initiative aims to support Leeds-based freelance dance artists with ongoing projects, particularly those looking to increase their visibility across the sector

Multifaceted performer and creator Akeim Toussaint-Buck became one of the two artists in our first cohort. Akeim collaborated closely with our company dancers to create, develop, and perform ‘ Rise Up’ and ‘Negus Genesis’ for a special audience in April.

How was your experience collaborating with us as a Phoenix Fridays artist? 

It was great to work with a collective of dancers as skilled as the dancers in Phoenix, they carry a very ‘let’s-get-it-done’ attitude, especially whilst juggling touring and everything else so it felt like a special moment. They are brave performers, regardless of how out of their comfort zone they are, they continue to extend their bodies and likeness to my requests in a very selfless and self-determined way. I also enjoyed asking for their input and seeing their creativity blossom as I believe they are artists in their own right. The process was spread out and with an outcome at the end I was worried I wouldn’t get something together of substance, but we actually managed to create a first draft scene. I’d like it for my next work, ‘Free’. So again, I’m super grateful for the seven days I had, four with the dancers and just three on my own to plan, this was invaluable to support me building a system for making ‘Free’ in the future.

Can you share the story behind ‘Negus Genesis’ and the creative process that went into its creation? 

‘Negus Genesis’ (NG) was first a film. ‘Negus’, commissioned by Sadlers Wells (which is still available for viewing on their YouTube channel) is the first iteration of that world that I have been exploring since 2022. Negus is an Ethiopian word which means Emperor or King, this indicates that words of these phonetics in African languages are actually positive. I found it interesting to compare the similarities between this word and another which is a derogatory and harmful word used towards many people. After making the film I received numerous opportunities to work inside of the NG universe again and so through those avenues and opportunities we performed and developed the work into a live work called ‘Negus Genesis’. This is mega exciting and has given me an opportunity to not just make a new work but to speak to certain issues Black men face in white Eurocentric spaces. For creating this work, I read up on Negus and watched some documentaries on YouTube about ancient Ethiopia, looking at practices and ritual, looking at values and ways the King/Negus treated people. This and many other things have fuelled the work to be where it is now.

Can you provide insight into ‘Rise Up’ and how you found working with our company dancers?

‘Rise Up is a scene out of ‘Free’. To create this work, I have written and recorded nine original songs in the reggae style, I will be getting these tunes mixed, mastered and dubbed. Now I am building the dance that accompanies these songs. ‘Free’ will give a feeling of going to a Dub night and skanking out with your friends, mixed with enjoying watching some incredible performers work their voice and movement. At first when I started working with Phoenix on this, I thought it would be two separate elements but then I thought why not link them together and so an aesthetic of this world started to build. In my company version there will be five performers and in Phoenix there were 10, I decided to not cut it down but to work with everyone to utilise the numbers and challenge myself. I am glad I did this because I felt some great things came out wither because of some pressure and/or because of being able to hide amongst others. This experiment brought me back to the core of what ‘Free’ is about and got me thinking of how the dancers are with each other as a back-bone for how I see them interacting with the audience. It truly was a learning experience for myself, and the performers and I will take all this experience with me and into the next phase of creating this work.

What can our readers expect next from you in terms of your creative work? 

‘Negus Genesis previewed at Let’s Dance International Frontiers so I am super happy about this and looking at how we can get back in the studio with confirmed shows so I can finish making this piece the best it can be. Currently I am in residency at Middlefloor as I write this, exploring more of my Beat-motion practice and creating sketches for my company dancers for the upcoming work ‘Free’. I have written many applications to support research and to start/continue other collaborations and new work, so something may become successful and i’ll be doing whatever one of those at some point; the uncertainty is part of the nature of an independent artists’ career and getting used to getting rejected for whatever reason. This month I have a residency in Swansea at Volcano Theatre to begin exploring ‘Sanct- sanctuary & sanctity’ a more performance art space of solo and duet performance that I have been slowly craving for as I have spent the past three – four years choreographing and dancing very much in dance context so my multidisciplinary head and song writing haven’t been integrated out of the box. I am holding some auditions in July for performers to create the ensemble of ‘Free’ which is a reggae contemporary show I have been in the early stages of and by myself with for maybe 10 years but officially since 2022. Everything is spread out from this moment in May where I am writing this till the end of the year so keeping active but no overworking is the intention and mission.

Follow me on all platforms @toussainttmove and enjoy my website www.toussainttomove.com