An evening of stories, dancing, music and participation. Part of Touch The Floor, a Dance Umbrella event curated by Anthea Lewis exploring the history and evolution of Black British social dance and music cultures. Through talks, movement, music, making and participation, it celebrates the informal spaces where people gathered, connected and created community.
6pm – 7.30pm We Come Together
A conversation hosted by former director of the Black Cultural Archives Lisa Anderson with DJ and music curators Cyndi Handson, Spider J, Dean Bryce, interdisciplinary artist Amarnah Ufuoma Cleopatra and visual theatre maker Benji Reid.
This panel will explore the role of social dance, music and collective memory in shaping Black British cultural life.
Benji Reid and Amarnah Ufuoma Cleopatra offer personal reflections to open the session and set the tone for the conversations ahead.
8pm – 8:45pm Step To It with Paradigmz and Guest Artists
An interactive exploration of social dance through archival footage, music, live demonstration and participation with performance artist, poet, teacher and choreographer Paradigmz.
9pm – 11:30pm Come We Go – A Closing DJ Set with Cyndi Handson
The evening ends on the dance floor as DJ Cyndi Handson of the Handson Family invites everyone to move together through a shared musical journey, celebrating the joy, connection and collective memory held within social dance. Together, we become part of a living archive.
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Amarnah Ufuoma Cleopatra
Interdisciplinary Artist
Amarnah Ufuoma Cleopatra (she/her)
Interdisciplinary Artist
London (UK)
Amarnah Ufuoma Cleopatra is a London-born Nigerian interdisciplinary artist working across contemporary dance, acting, singing, and poetry.
A performer, teacher, and choreographer, she trained at Laban CAT, The BRIT School, LCDS, and Northern School of Contemporary Dance – Verve. Over the past 12 years, she has built a dynamic career spanning performance, music, teaching, and creative collaboration.
Her work has taken her across stage, television, film, music videos, albums, and galleries nationally and internationally. She is a Lecturer in Dance on the MA: Dance Performance at LCDS, and has created commissioned works for The Place CAT, Trinity Laban, and Womb Party: a dance theatre work exploring reproductive justice, commissioned by The Place and supported by Arts Council England, with a UK tour planned for 2027.
Alongside her professional practice, dance floors and live music remain central to Amarnah’s relationship with dance. Growing up in South London, she found community and freedom at gigs, DJ sets, and music events from the age of 14. Later performing in clubs and touring with live jazz bands, these experiences continue to shape her artistic practice, grounding it in musicality, improvisation, connection, and collective joy.
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Lisa Anderson
Cultural Strategist and Curator
Lisa Anderson (she/her)
Cultural Strategist and Curator
London (UK)
Lisa Anderson is a cultural strategist, curator and advocate for curatorial repair, whose work bridges the visual and performing arts to amplify underrepresented histories and forms of expression.
A former dancer and long-time supporter of the dance community, she sits on the advisory board of Uchenna Dance and is passionate about movement as a form of cultural memory and resistance. Lisa is currently Associate Director at Messums.org, where she leads curatorial programming that centres materiality, memory, and social justice. She was formerly Managing Director of Black Cultural Archives, the UK’s leading institution for Black British history. Her recent curatorial work includes Soulscapes: African Diaspora Artists and the Natural World at Dulwich Picture Gallery, a critically acclaimed exhibition exploring race, belonging, and our relationship to the natural world. With a background in Human Rights and International Relations, Lisa founded @blackbritishart to champion artists of the African Diaspora and the transformative power of art in all its forms.
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Benji Reid
Photographer, Theatre-Maker & Educator
Benji Reid (he/him)
Photographer, Theatre-Maker & Educator
Benji Reid, born in 1966, is a British photographer, visual theatre maker, and educator renowned for his compelling exploration of race, nationhood, gender, and the Black British experience.
With a keen focus on Black masculinity and mental health, Reid’s work pushes the boundaries of artistic expression. He coined the term “Choreo-photolist” to describe his unique practice, which seamlessly merges theatre and choreography into his photography.
In 2020, Benji Reid received widespread recognition when his photograph “Holding on to Daddy” secured the Welcome Photography Prize in the Mental Health category. His innovative approach to art and storytelling has led to exhibitions worldwide, and his recent work, such as Find Your Eyes in 2023, continues to captivate audiences, combining dance, theatre , and photography to shed light on important social issues and celebrate the complexity of Black masculinity and fatherhood.
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Cyndi Handson
DJ, Music Curator & Cultural Organiser
Cyndi Handson (she/her)
DJ, Music Curator & Cultural Organiser
London (UK)
Cyndi Handson, also known as Cyndi Anafo, is a South London based DJ, music curator and cultural organiser whose work celebrates Black music traditions, community and grassroots creativity.
As one half of the Handson Family DJ collective with Chris Ellis, she has spent more than two decades shaping London’s independent music scene through DJing, programming events and supporting emerging artists.
Rooted in the rich musical cultures of Brixton and Peckham, Cyndi’s work extends beyond the DJ booth to curating line ups, developing venues and creating opportunities for artists and audiences to connect. Her sets span soul, funk, house, disco, rare groove and jazz, blending genres into dancefloor journeys that honour the past while embracing the present.
Cyndi sees music as a way to bring people together, creating welcoming spaces where communities can connect across generations. She champions music of Black origin as a living cultural tradition, using her work to celebrate its history, influence and continued evolution.
Her recent work includes co curating Brixton Village Lates for the past eight years, co running Heritage, the celebrated Cross The Tracks stage dedicated to Black British club culture, and producing all day music events at Somerset House’s Terrace Bar, showcasing funk, soul, house and jazz.
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Dean Bryce
Music Executive, A&R & International DJ
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Dean Bryce (he/him)
Music Executive, A&R & International DJ
London (UK)
Dean Bryce is a leading music executive, A&R and international DJ whose instinct for talent has helped shape British independent music for more than two decades.
Raised in South London and grounded in the culture of the legendary Saxon Soundsystem, he helped guide the careers of MJ Cole and Roots Manuva before becoming A&R Director at Ninja Tune, where he signed Peggy Gou and worked with Mercury Prize winners Speech Debelle and Young Fathers. As Head of Music at Boiler Room, he expanded the platform’s global musical vision, championing underrepresented artists and cultures across its international programming. In 2019, Dean founded Don’t Sleep, an independent record label and artist management company built to identify, develop and amplify the next generation of distinctive, genre-defying talent.
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Paradigmz
Performance Artist, Poet, Teacher and Choreographer
Paradigmz (he/him)
Performance Artist, Poet, Teacher and Choreographer
London (UK)
Paradigmz is a performance artist, poet, teacher and choreographer.
He has worked with a diverse array of choreographers across contemporary and classical African Peoples Dance, as well as Jazz, Hip Hop and modern dance forms. Paradigmz has previously worked with: Sakoba Dance Theatre; Jackie Guy; (Norman Rubber) Stephenson; Bullies Ballerinas; Irven Lewis; Kwesi Johnson; Stuart Thomas; Benji Reid; Jonzi D and Lloyd Newson (DV8 Physical Theatre). He was a guest dancer for Jan Hveding in Oslo Norway, and Movement Dance Company in Jamaica, as well as a core member of Garth Fagan Dance in New York for a season. Paradigmz is the former creator of the company London Diaspora Dance Theatre.
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Spider J
Musician
Spider J (he/him)
Musician
London (UK)
Spider J is a London born musician.
Spider J is a London born musician who has worked with: Stevie Wonder, The Wailers, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Mad Professor, Scientist, Madness, UB40, Dawn Penn Kioko, Beverley Knight, Estelle, Kano, Dizzy Rascal, Wiley, Klashnekoff, UK Apachi, Fusion, Roots Manuva, Dub Pistols, Potato 5 and The Deltones. Spider J has played live in 78 different countries
Spider J wrote music for the Nil By Mouth film with Gary Oldman and has worked at Roundhouse for 16 years, 13 as a trustee producing young creatives. Spider is currently the Musical Director at HvH Charity Trust, mentoring at Pirate Studios Mentoring Project and recording albums with Madness, well as doing festivals now with The Deltones, Potato 5 & Spider Ink.
Touch The Floor
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Venue & Access +
Venue
Rich Mix
35-47 Bethnal Grn Rd,
London E1 6LA
Access information
Rich Mix is an accessible venue, which aims to ensure their events are accessible to as many people as possible.
For access bookings, please call the Box Office to book on 020 7613 7498 or email [email protected]. These are not currently available to purchase online.
Rich Mix offer:
- Step-free access via a ramp at the main entrance on Bethnal Green Road
- Lifts provide access to all gallery, performance, and cinema spaces
- Wheelchair bays are available in all three cinema screens
- Accessible toilets are located on the Ground, 1st, 2nd (next to Screen 2), and 4th floors
- Box Office, Stage, and Studio spaces are equipped with hearing loops. Most hearing aids can connect by switching to the ‘T’ position
- Infrared hearing systems are available in The Studio and in cinema screens. Headsets can be provided on request.
- A portable FM radio system with neck loops and headsets can be provided on request
- Rich Mix accept CEA cards, which allow disabled guests to bring a carer free of charge
There are four accessible toilets in venue with RADAR locks:
- On the ground floor near reception / The Stage / Streetside
- On the first floor by the Cinema Bar and near the Gallery / Cinema
- Outside Screen 2 (2nd floor in the cinema)
- On the fourth floor near The Studio and The Mix space
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