Wandsworth London Borough of Culture 2025

Urban Flow Saturday 13 September 2025

 

Call out to participate in a processional performance 

led by Tavaziva Dance 

in partnership with Attakkalari and Kinetika

 

Community Participation Expression of Interest

 

Step into the energy of Urban Flow, a bold, high-energy celebration of movement, culture, and community. On 13 September 2025, Roehampton transforms into a living, breathing stage, where 100 silks, 100 local participants, and world-class dancers come together in a powerful fusion of contemporary dance, martial arts, and live soundscapes.

As the performance weaves through the streets, dynamic stops will showcase captivating dance and martial arts displays, leading to an extraordinary finale on Bull Green.

Developed through workshops with community groups, the choreography blends their unique styles, skills, and passions with diverse movement forms, accompanied by live soundtracks amplified by boom bikes. This collaboration between professional artists and community performers of all ages and abilities, promises to be an unforgettable, immersive experience. This ambitious project is brought to life by India’s Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, UK arts charity and silk co-creators Kinetika, and Wandsworth’s Tavaziva Dance, uniting international and local talent in a one-of-a-kind spectacle.

You don’t need to be a professional dancer to take part — just bring your energy, openness, and commitment. This is your chance to work with leading artists, perform in a large-scale outdoor event, and help create a legacy for your borough. See the brief outline, below.

 

Tavaziva Dance are based in Wandsworth and are thrilled to be working with Attakkalari Dance from India and Kinetika on this project.  

• • Dance and Movement: Local community dance groups will bring their own dance styles to the event, be it street dance, salsa, bhangra, ballet or contemporary etc. The Urban Flow choreographers will bring continuity and coherence to the whole event by sharing some new movement language from contemporary dance, Kalarippayattu and other martial arts, plus dancing with silk pennants.
  • Visuals: The performers will move and dance holding hand-painted silk pennants, 50 of which have already been designed by local people. A further 50 have come from our partners in India.  
  • Music: The procession will be accompanied by a music score and soundscape played from a mobile setup through the designated paths and streets, occasionally stopping on the way for the short performances. (We hope to be joined by a local Street Band and maybe a choir!)
  • Finale: The procession will culminate in a spectacular performance on Bull Green, Danebury Avenue SW15. 

How to get involved

• • Dance / Movement groups
  • Martial arts groups
  • Music and spoken word
  • Community Groups
  • Volunteer https://welcometowandsworth.com/get-involved/volunteer/

What we’re looking for

Enthusiastic and open-minded performers to be part of Urban Flow, a large-scale, site-specific performance. You do not need to be a professional dancer — we value self- expression, energy, and connection to the community.  All levels of ability are welcome. We want to hear from:

• • Residents or groups based in the Borough of Wandsworth
  • Interest in themes such as community, nature, memory, and urban life
  • Willingness to collaborate, rehearse, and perform in outdoor settings
  • Openness to movement, storytelling and processional performance
  • Commitment to attend rehearsals between June and September 2025

Your expressions of interest will be reviewed by a panel of artists from Kinetika, Tavaziva Dance, and Attakkalari, who are looking for:

• • Authenticity and enthusiasm
  • Creative potential
  • Diversity in background and experience
  • A strong sense of community spirit

LEGACY

We hope that this project will 

• • shine a light on the talents of people who live work and study in Roehampton
  • create new opportunities for dance and movement
  • bring dance creatives together to network and support each other
  • connect those interested in arts careers to industry professionals and Roehampton University Dance Department.
  • connect people to the health and well-being benefits of dance and movement

 

< < < APPLY HERE > > > 

 

Deadline: Friday 16 May 2025

 

Tavaziva Dance are thrilled to be a lead dance organisation in Wandsworth’s London Borough of Culture 2025-26 celebrations.

We are proud to stand alongside the incredible mix of tradition, culture and arts that make Wandsworth so special and can’t wait to get started showcasing and supporting this.

First up is Strictly Wandsworth which will see Battersea Park fountains transform into an electrifying celebration of dance and movement on Saturday 26 April 2025.

Tavaziva dancers, Dak Mashava and Sarah Santos will be performing a section from our powerful production, BOY’S KHAYA as part of a mass dance piece involving 200 dancers from 22 local dance groups directed by world-renowned  choreographer, Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE.

The day will also feature other workshops, performances, and interactive activities designed for all ages, abilities, and interests; because no matter if you have two-left feet, dance is for everyone to enjoy.

To find out more and to book tickets for Strictly Wandsworth, see the Welcome to Wandsworth website here: https://welcometowandsworth.com/events/D8-strictly-wandsworth/

Tavaziva Dance is looking for two new Trustees to join our current Board at an exciting time for the Company.

In its 20^th anniversary year, Tavaziva is;

• about to embark on a national tour of GREED, in a new version for 2025
• commissioned to play a major role in Wandsworth’s year as London’s Borough of Culture
• commissioned to create a work to open the National Gallery’s new Education Centre
• already developing a new production, sharing work in progress with several national and international partners.

First established in 2004, Tavaziva Dance is led by Zimbabwean choreographer Bawren Tavaziva, a unique artist whose work brings ballet, contemporary and African dance together to create a style rarely seen in the UK. Bawren is also a musician and composes original soundtracks for each of his productions. Tavaziva Dance’s celebrated works include BOY’S KHAYA (2021-23); Izindava (2017-19); Africarmen (2015-17); and GREED (2013). The Company is active in bringing that unique perspective to education and training in the community, and to young and early career dancers. Its latest audition call-out received over 350 applications.

Tavaziva is funded as a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) of the Arts Council England, one of a handful of such African Diasporic companies based in the UK, alongside support from various other sources including Trusts and Foundations and earned income, which it aims to increase.

We are looking for new Trustees who are passionate in their belief in the value and importance of the performing arts in today’s cultural landscape and who have experience in at least one of the following areas to supplement the extensive experience of current Trustees:

• finance
• business management
• fundraising
• marketing

As a Trustee you will help shape Tavaziva’s future by contributing to our longer term strategic, creative and organisational development and planning, as well as ensuring our charitable objectives are met. In addition to attending four Board Meetings a year, Trustees will be invited to attend events and performances.

If you are interested in joining Tavaziva’s Board, please contact us at getintouch@tavazivadance.com with some details about yourself and why you are considering becoming a Trustee by 12/03/25. If you would like more information about the role, please contact our Executive Director, Dr Mercy Nabirye on mercy.nabirye@tavazivadance.com.

Tavaziva Dance are thrilled to be working with inspiring choreopoet, Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa to document our new piece, REQUIEM commissioned by The National Gallery. 

Safiya is a British-born Barbadian-raised choreopoet, performer and spoken-word champion. Safiya’s debut poetry collection Cane, Corn and Gully (Out-Spoken Press, 2022) celebrates the legacy of Black Barbadian women, and is the first book to feature dance notion of the enslaved using colonial manuscripts. Cane, Corn and Gully was shortlisted for the prestigious Rathbones Folio Prize and Felix Denis Forward Prize for Best First Collection in 2023. Safiya is a member of the Obsidian Foundation, and her work has been published in notable journals including The Poetry Review, Poetry London, and Wasafiri. Safiya is also a PhD Student in Cultural Studies, her practice-led project involves developing ancestral dance techniques to unearth present-day narratives of Black Barbadian women. Her first play and exhibition of Cane, Corn and Gully, debuted at the Ilkley Poetry Festival 2022.

As part of Safiya’s PhD scholarship, funded by the White Rose College of Arts & Humanities, Safiya will be undergoing a ‘Research Employability Project’ with Tavaziva Dance. For her debut poetry collection Cane, Corn and Gully, Safiya developed Labanotation to document Afro-diasporic dance cultures by integrating social commentary. Safiya will be observing the choreographic process of Tavaziva’s new work and will then transform her documentation into a bespoke visual art piece on canvas to become part of Tavaziva Dance’s living archive.

For more info about Safiya, see her website here: https://www.safiyakamaria.com/

Tavaziva Dance will perform a new piece by Bawren Tavaziva at the National Gallery in London on Friday 28 February and Saturday 1 March 2025.

Requiem, commissioned by the National Gallery to mark the opening of The Roden Centre for Creative Learning, is a story of arrival, of different peoples coming together, of learning through art, and of communion.

When Bawren Tavaziva arrived in the UK as a young dancer from Zimbabwe, the first place that he visited was the National Gallery and it holds significant meaning for him and the trajectory of his life and career in the UK, and it is fitting that this association should be celebrated with this new piece.

We welcome visitors to join us for one of these special free performances! More information here:

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/events/tavaziva-dance-requiem-01-03-2025

 

Tavaziva Dance are looking for dancers to join our upcoming UK tour of Bawren Tavaziva’s GREED. 

We are looking for dancers who:

• Are highly skilled in Contemporary and/or African dance styles
• Have professional performance experience
• Hold a UK passport or right to work in the UK

We welcome dancers of all ethnicities, gender identities and cultural backgrounds.

Dates of engagement:
Rehearsal & Production, London: Feb to Mar 2025 (approx. 6-8 weeks)
UK Tour: Apr and Jun 2025 (approx. 5 weeks)

Fee:
£573 per week for Rehearsal & Production
£601 per week for Tour

Audition details:
Date: Thu 9 Jan OR Tue 14 Jan 2025 (3hrs, either am/pm)
Location: bbodance, Battersea, London, SW18 1TA

To apply:
Please email the following to getintouch@tavazivadance.com with the subject line GREED Audition – Name Surname:

• CV
• Headshot
• Showreel

Deadline to apply: Mon 16 Dec 2024 at 10am
Invitations to audition on either Thu 9 or Tue 14 Jan 2025 will be sent before Tue 24 Dec 2024. 

2024 marks the 20th anniversary of Tavaziva Dance, founded by artistic director Bawren Tavaziva in 2004 after working as a dancer for companies in Zimbabwe and in the UK.

To mark this anniversary, Bawren plans to return to the stage after many years with a solo performance reflecting on his arrival in the UK and his subsequent creative journey. Profound in meaning and elegiac in tone, Bawren’s new piece, Natural Born Suit, will be the work of a unique and mature artist working at the height of his powers.

As part of his choreographic and spoken word research and development for this new piece, Bawren will present an early excerpt from Natural Born Suit as a work in progress in London, Milton Keynes, Gateshead, and Norway, and invite audience feedback as a welcome contribution to his creative process, prior to embarking on a major tour with the full piece in 2025/2026.

 

Artistic Director Bawren Tavaziva will be in residence at the renowned In2It International Dance Festival in Kristiansund, Norway from 24-29 September 2024.

During his residency, Bawren will share ‘work in progress’ on a new Solo piece which he is developing for performance in 2025, working title Natural Born Suit, which will be a reflection on his arrival in the UK from Zimbabwe and his subsequent creative journey.

Bawren will share the piece and invite feedback from the Festival audience of fellow dancers, choreographers and other artists as part of his choreographic and spoken word research and development for the new Solo.

After a summer hiatus, we are looking forward to being back in the studio for Tavaziva Company Class!
Dancers, join us to practice Bawren Tavaziva’s unique technique, a dynamic synthesis of contemporary, ballet and African dance. Be ready for a highly energetic and physically challenging class involving technique, pair and creative work. 

Venue: Espinosa Studio, bbodance, Ensign House, Battersea Reach, Juniper Drive, SW18 1TA
Dates: Starting Thu 19 Sep 2024
Time: 11:00 – 13:00h, studio open from 10:30h
Price: £8 per class
Click here for more details and to book

Check out the Museum of Colour’s new digital exhibition, A Very British Rhythm featuring Bawren Tavaziva amongst other extraordinary dance artists of colour who have significantly influenced the UK dance world over the past 250 years. All shots were captured beautifully by Zimbabwean photographer, Hopeful Sandati.