LCDS Graduation Ceremony 2019 Speech
With help from Annie Edwards and Natifah White, this speech was given at the Leavers Ceremony at London Contemporary Dance School in 2019.
My mother tells a story of how one day, all of the countries came to a mutual decision that they wanted to do an experiment. This experiment would be to see what it would sound like if everyone in the world were to shout at the top of their voices at the same time. It was decided that on one particular day at one time, everyone would come out of their houses and shout as loud as they possibly could so people could hear all over the world. When the day came, people were very excited, and many people were intrigued as to what it would sound like. So the time came, and instead of shouting, everyone decided to fling open their doors and just listen, so they could hear what it sounded like if everyone in the world were to shout. Everyone was silent, except one woman
Photo Credit: Rocio Chacon
in china flung open her door and shouted and shouted at the top of her voice. And my mother ends this story with the motto ‘If not me, who? If not now, when?’
Well, I want to address Clare, Martin, Eddie, The Place, Sadlers Wells, dance industry, dance. What is it you and I and us and we can do now?
Firstly, I’d like to to thank you, thank the school, for training us as artists, dancers, makers. Intelligent ones. Hopefully rounded ones.
This school has supported us in refusing to accept abusive behaviours that are unfortunately rife in our industry. And what I hope is that every person here sees injustice in order to demand the respect and treatment they deserve while working.
The school has made this seem possible for us; Martin thank you for listening to us, and valuing as intelligent people. Thank you for being patient with us. Thanks for also putting up with our teenage angst. Thank you for the free drinks in the pub Baptiste. Thank you Raymond for pretending you don’t see me tears rolling to the floor as I devlope. Thanks for cutting to the chase Kate. Thanks for pretending like teaching is always the most joyful thing possible Jeannie. Thank you Simonetta for the nap time. Thank you Kim for trying to keep us fit when we had clearly CLEARLY given up. Thank you Rick for unleashing the wild and fearless within us. Chisato for giving us endless possibilities and ideas. Collegues for your unrelenting kindness and generosity with each other. Thanks to the musicians for fuelling our passion and providing the most epic of bops. And finally, and most importantly, I want to say thank you, thank you, thanks you to the cafe … for introducing …. the vegan sausage rolls.
Thank you for all of these things. We do thank you. But now it’s time to demand this treatment and the necessities from the industry and our future.
Clare, I address you here, and I address every person here, no matter what platform it is you have, to use it. We need you to look around, we need you to see the women, the disabled, the BAME, the marginalised. LCDS can be the world leader in the future of dance, IF we refuse to be complacent in oppression! … The people in this room are intelligent. Are passionate. Are bloody talented. These are the people to look to. We’ve been talking about it for years, in pubs, our gardens and stretching zones. Ask us what the dance industry needs.
And students …. There is utopian future of dance - having a penis doesn’t give you an advantage, where being acceptable ‘white’ doesn’t give you an advantage, having a particular body type doesn’t give you an advantage. Now is the time. It’s going to come from us people. We put pressure on the industry. On our friends. On our teachers. On our employers. On our heads of department. On our government. And we make the change. It’s for us now.
I must acknowledge how incredibly fortunate we are to be in a position of privilege, to experience such fantastic training, musicians, teachers, open discussion. We all value art and the work we do, and we have been given the opportunities to master it to its most change making potential. Let’s take a responsibility to do that.
​
Photo Credit: Rocio Chacon
So, I want to call to everyone here,.. think of your own utopian world, (whether that be about dance industry, or about the environment, or politics or feminism). Boil it down, think about it, read about it, talk to people about it, talk to people who disagree with you, work out what it is, make societies about it, make zines about it. And make it happen.