TALENT HOUSE IGNITE: The Next Artists of East London Dance
ELD Talent House Ignite Artists, Kumari Suraj, Chandenie Gobardhan, Jade Hackett, Chris Reyes
ARTICLE MIRANNE WATLEY | IMAGES EMILY ALMODOVAR
Last Thursday, East London Dance announced five artist commissions that will take place over the next year. Kumari Suraj, Christopher Reyes, Clara Bajado, Chandenie Gobardhan, and Jade Hackett all sat down with MOVES to talk about the inspirations and goals of their upcoming projects.
Established in 1987, East London Dance has been a hub of London’s dance scene ever since. As the name suggests, it specifically celebrates East London’s creative community through weekly dance classes and events.
OUR HOUSE, is a programme that turns over East London Dance’s headquarters (The Talent House) to a chosen artist for a week. Formed in 2022, OUR HOUSE has most recently included weeks such as A Taste of Africa curated by Olu Alatise (of AfroQueens) and the heavily saged Mindful Movement Festival from Ricky Jinks (of Company Jinks). These weeks were filled with choreography classes, live music, a pop-up market, and even a soundbath (unsurprisingly, this one was organized by Ricky Jinks).
SPACE 2 CREATE is a new initiative from East London Dance that will centre on producing dance theatre. East London Dance will work with The Place to provide funding, studio space, and valuable direction to selected choreographers as they each create a new piece.
These two programmes (alongside East London Dance’s Flat Share) make up TALENT HOUSE IGNITE - East London Dance’s overarching platform to support local and diverse dance artists.
Last Thursday, East London Dance announced the five artists that will be a part of the next year of TALENT HOUSE IGNITE. Over the next year, unmissable OUR HOUSE weeks will be organized by Kumari Suraj (coming up in October 2025) and Christopher Reyes (a painfully long way away in March 2026) while Clara Bajado, Chandenie Gobardhan, and Jade Hackett are commissioned to produce their choreographed works with SPACE 2 CREATE.
MOVES met with these artists to discuss their upcoming projects.
KUMARI SURAJ
Known for their waacking and artist development programme, House of Suraj, Kumari Suraj will be curating a week of queer joy for OUR HOUSE complete with educational workshops (think nutrition classes, protest guidance) and performances. They promise to bring their “fierce, flamboyant, and fearless” artistry to a euphoric week.
MOVES: Why is this project important to you?
KS: This project is important to me because of all the anti-trans, anti-non-binary, and anti-queer legislation that’s going on in the world right now. There’s a squeeze on us. For some reason people don’t like us. They don’t want us to exist and I feel it’s vitally important to nourish the community. It’s important to use our joy as a form of resistance.
I grew up in a queer household. My grandma was a lesbian and she was a community activist. I watched her make space and break barriers for community so I don’t know anything else.
MOVES: How do you approach creating your work? What is your process?
KS: Ooh la la! I start with what inspires me. I then add what does community need? What do people want to hear? What is going to bring joy? What is going to bring healing?
MOVES: Joy and escapism are both central themes of your project. Can you explain their importance to the queer community that you hope to curate?
KS: Life is hard for us. Period. This year alone I was banned from my country because of my gender marker. Joy and resilience are vital to our survival at this point and vital to the struggle in general.
MOVES: Are there any particular styles of dance that you hope to highlight during your week with East London Dance?
KS: Everybody knows me for waacking so obviously that style will be highlighted. I’m also an all styles dancer so it’s going to be a mix of house, hip-hop, dancehall, waacking - just to get people’s asses wiggling and shaking!
CLARA BAJADO
Clara Bajado (house dancer, teacher, mentor) will work on a full-length solo piece with SPACE 2 CREATE. Her performance will combine house and hip hop with traditional Filipino dance styles. This homage to her Filipino culture is embodied in the piece’s title - Anak - which means ‘child’ in Filipino.
MOVES: Can you describe your project in a few sentences?
CB: Anak is a personal journey into my Filipino roots but also my chosen family and culture that is hip hop. I’m exploring the influences that shape the woman and the artist that I am today. It’s a love letter to my culture, my parents, my friends, my teachers, and my students… everyone and everything that has influenced me.
MOVES: How do you approach creating your work? What is your process?
CB: I really wanted to set some rituals through my work process. I usually start with stretching, then writing how I’m feeling for the day and my goals and ambitions. I write down my debrief at the end of the day. Most importantly, throughout the day I listen to lots of music - only Filipino music.
MOVES: Can you describe any significant similarities or differences between the movement of house dance and traditional Filipino dance styles?
CB: There are a lot of similarities even before the actual movement. Off the top of my head it’s the ritual side of it. Most of the indigenous dances from the Philippines are a celebration of life and everyday actions. I also see the ritual side of hip hop. Either its a cypher, a club, getting into a flow state, exchanging with other people. They’re both really community based and I think that has a big impact on how people then approach movement.
There’s loads of research about Filipino movement and the way the feet are connected to the ground. This is the same, I would say, in African Caribbean dances. Loads of the traditional and indigenous dances start from the heel into a flat foot. If we take house dance we see influences from, again, Afro Caribbean dances. We can see these similarities.
MOVES: What is the significance of the child motif in the title of your piece?
CB: It’s a word that I grew up with and that I really connect with. But also I think I’m a child of both cultures - my Filipino heritage and the hip hop community. And, as a person I make sure that my inner child is always given space. Maybe also, unconsciously, as I’m getting older I want to get back to a more youthful side of myself.
JADE HACKETT
For SPACE 2 CREATE, Jade Hackett will create her piece, ‘Boxed Up’, to a soundtrack of UK grime and drill. This group dance will depict the racist effects of the Law of Joint Enterprise - a
law that makes people ‘guilty by association’. With this project, she wants to “create change in our system”.
Why is this project important to you?
JH: I’ve worked extensively with young people. Young people can find themselves in quite precarious situations and they are very easily scapegoated and typecast. I think the show will definitely highlight how easy it is to get caught up. Hopefully it also enlightens young people’s parents, carers, and guardians about what’s happening in our communities.
What are you most looking forward to about working on your project?
JH: Funnily enough the casting call. I feel really excited about putting out a casting call for dancers, young people, of all different shapes, races, and sizes that understand the nuances of these stories. I’m going to feel proud seeing the casting call come out.
How will you decide who to cast in your vision? What will you look for in your dancers for this piece?
JH: One of the things that I’m looking for is authenticity. I really need to believe that these four people are friends. I’m not 100% sure if they’re all male…I don’t know and that’s the whole point. We have to feel the connection between the four bodies rather than premeditating what that’s going to be. It has got to be in the moment: how they react to the music, to each other, to the subject matter. Them stepping into the shoes of these young people and actually having their own thoughts about [it].
Can you discuss your choice of grime and drill music as the soundtrack to this dance about the deeply flawed legal system?
JH: I want to use grime, drill, potentially some garage, and the sounds that specifically come out of British culture because of that. It’s synonymous with us. And it’s important to me that, if my audiences are young people, I speak to them in a language that they’re going to understand.
I also think that it’s the music of rebellion. All of these sounds are the babies of Jamaican culture which also comes off the back of reggae [which is] about revolution. I want people to be liberated so it felt like a no brainer to use that music.
CHRIS REYES
An organiser of many community events in East London, Christopher Reyes will bring a variety of creative media to his 2026 OUR HOUSE week on Filipino culture. His project will shed a light on “the pre-colonial identity of Filipinos” and emphasise the importance of visibility.
Why is it important that the themes you are exploring are being given a space to be experienced?
CR: Thinking about my community, we’re very underrepresented. We haven’t really been given recognition or the space to celebrate who we are. I feel this is something that I need to do. To be able to then present that to my community and it’s their choice if they want to receive it.
What impact do you want this work to have?
CR: It’s about creating the space to start conversations. I think there are going to be people that will love it and I think there will be people that resist it but I feel like there needs to be a catalyst in order to create more conversation.
You’re very involved with DJs and music (CARAVAN, The Midnight Train etc). How do you think music will contribute to the week you curate for OUR HOUSE?
CR: Music is such a big and incredible foundation to a lot of things. Whether that is in dance or visual art, it really is the concrete foundation. Having that in the space is going to be quite important. We need it - it’s essential.
In what ways do you think movement enables a connection to various cultural identities?
CR: Movement, dance, and even music, I feel they are the representation of [cultural identities] but it really starts with the people. What creates the personality and soul is the people. I’m all about people! It’s the reason why I created CARAVAN, The Midnight Train, and Maharlika UK.
CHANDENIE GOBARDHAN
Chandenie Gobardhan will create their first full length group dance production called ‘Caught Again in the Net of Rebirth’ with SPACE 2 CREATE. She will explore the cycle of Trimurti - a Vedic tradition of time that is made up of three stages: creation, preservation, and destruction.
Why is it important that the themes you are exploring are being given a space to be experienced?
CG: I think it’s very easy to exoticize [the themes that I’m exploring]. It takes the right kind of people to make work about these topics and the right kind of people to dance works about these topics. I don’t think there are enough people yet on big platforms that do this or are given this space.
How do you approach creating your work? What is your process?
CG: I like to think about my art as an offering to the world and whatever comes out of that… it is what it is. I try to go to the most authentic place - this place in creation where I consider what I actually feel inside - then it’s an ongoing conversation between myself and whatever is out there.
Which styles of dance does this piece draw from and why?
CG: My background lies in Bharata Natyam, which is a classical South Indian dance, but I also grew up in the hip hop scene so I draw from different street styles. My big inspiration is locking, but also popping and hip hop. And in this work there are different dancers so it’s influenced by popping, bone breaking, and afro. It’s so fluid.
Time is a key feature in your piece. Why do you think dance is an effective medium to explore temporality?
CG: I think dance is so close to going beyond the current self. It’s such a portal to different dimensions that are outside of the now or other than the now so it’s the right medium for me. I’m sure that other artists feel the same in their own art but, for me, dance is my way of connecting to the universe.
You can find out more about these artists’ projects on the platforms below, or connect with them in person to further discuss their work!
Kumari Suraj: Instagram @kumarisuraj Website www.kumarisuraj.com
Christopher Reyes: Instagram @itschrisreyes
Clara Bajado: Instagram @clarabajado
Chandenie Gobardhan: Instagram @chandenieg
Jade Hackett: Instagram @jade.hackett Website www.jadehackett.com
