BLACK DANCE ARCHIVES PROJECT
Applicant Information and Job Pack
Dear Applicant
Many thanks for applying for the position of Archivist for the Heritage Lottery funded project
for the development of the Black Dance Archives Project.
Please find enclosed the following documents:
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Job Description
Application Form
Equal Opportunities Form
About State of Emergency
We hope that you find this information helpful in deciding whether to take your interest in the
post further. To apply you will need to fill in and complete the application form providing a
supporting statement to highlight your experience relevant to the role.
If you have a disability and would require us to consider any arrangements when you
complete the application form, at interview or should you be offered employment, please
contact us to discuss it.
We will aim to complete short-listing within 10 days of the vacancy closing. Please note that
if you are not invited to interview we will be unable to provide feedback on your application.
Your completed application form should be returned to jenny@stateofemergencyltd.com by
Friday 24th November 2014.
If you would like an informal discussion about this opportunity please contact Jenny Williams,
Project Manager on 01323 639610 or email at the address shown above.
Regards,
Deborah Baddoo MBE
Artistic Director, State of Emergency
www.stateofemergencyltd.com
State of Emergency Productions, PO Box 906, Taunton, Somerset TA1 1HD
T: +44 (0)1823 334750│BDAeducation@stateofemergencyltd.com│www.blackdancearchives.com
About the Project
The Black Dance Archives project is a national project led by State of Emergency who are
working in partnership with the following partners to deliver this major programme:
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Up to up to 28 Depositor Partners from the Black Dance sector who make up the
Black Dance Archive;
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Black Cultural Archives who are based in Brixton, London
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National Resource Centre for Dance based at the University of Surrey, Guildford
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Birmingham Libraries and Records
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University of Leeds
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8 National Dance Agencies across the UK
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Trinity Laban, London
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Victoria & Albert Museum, London
The Project responds to the lack of a coordinated and coherent archive for Black Dance in
the UK, and aims to collect, catalogue and make accessible archive collections from
celebrated individuals and organisations operating in Black Dance from 1960s through to
2000s, to create a national hub of information and materials related to our work.
The BDA project has been supported through a thorough development phase by the
Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), and this stage comprises of sorting, cataloguing, archiving and
the long-term conservation of materials donated as part of the Black Dance Archives project
to Black Cultural Archives. Accompanying this archiving work, we ‘animate the archive’ and
our shared cultural heritage, through a programme of performance, oral history recordings,
lectures, academic symposiums, national touring exhibition, schools and community
workshops, film, vox pop and sharing events. Our aim is that this project will celebrate,
discover and recognise the important contribution of our work to our shared, national cultural
heritage. The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to the overall delivery of
this programme, delivering against targets and expected outputs set out in the detailed
Activity Plan.
State of Emergency Productions, 25 Station Road, Hatch Beauchamp, Taunton, Somerset, TA3 6SQ
Telephone: +44 (0)1823 334750 │admin@stateofemergencyltd.com │www.stateofemergencyltd.com
What are the overall aims of the full project?
This project has 7 key objectives as follows:
1. To amass and catalogue a significant collection of archives on the history of Black
dance from 1960s – 2000s.
2. To provide an archive resource for the further development of Black dance.
3. To disseminate information about the archive as far and wide as possible and
through a variety of methods.
4. To engage with as wide an audience as possible through practical participation
opportunities.
5. To develop archive and research skills with a potential graduate trainee archivist
through a positive action programme aimed specifically at Black and Minority Ethnic
communities (under Section 37a of the Race Relations Amendment Act and the
Equality Act 2010).
6. To enable the creation of a new academic strand attached to the BDA that responds
to an on-going need to embed Black dance within university research and
development.
7. To develop and deliver a programme of Oral Histories that uses Revisiting
Collections methodology (MLA and Collections Trust) and British Library Standards.
This will enable us to capture collective memories, contextualise the materials, as
well as ensure that the archive can and will be accessed by a wide and diverse
audience.
State of Emergency Productions, 25 Station Road, Hatch Beauchamp, Taunton, Somerset, TA3 6SQ
Telephone: +44 (0)1823 334750 │admin@stateofemergencyltd.com │www.stateofemergencyltd.com
The Programme:
The Black Dance Archives will seek to ‘animate the archive through dance’ with an
extensive, informal and formal participation programme as follows:
Formal Learning and Participation:
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An academic symposium in partnership with NRCD/University of Surrey
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Outreach programmes in schools, colleges, FE and HE
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Positive Action programme for a trainee black and minority ethnic digital archivist
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Lecture demonstrations in 4 universities
Community Participation:
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An educational resource pack and DVD
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An information website – www.blackdancearchives.co.uk
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Reminiscence and oral history workshops
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Volunteer programme and training in ‘revisiting collections’ methodology for oral
history interviews
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A programme of residencies and performances
Dance: Professional and Amateur Dance Engagement
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Community dance workshops
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Choreographer dance masterclasses
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A touring exhibition
Timescale:
There is a detailed Activity Plan accompanying this project, and the project runs until March
2016.
State of Emergency Productions, 25 Station Road, Hatch Beauchamp, Taunton, Somerset, TA3 6SQ
Telephone: +44 (0)1823 334750 │admin@stateofemergencyltd.com │www.stateofemergencyltd.com