Sequins is Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland new hip hop and Congolese Luba dance theatre solo choreographed and performed by Kalubi Mukengela-Jacoby. It is set to the iconic voice of the BBC broadcaster and author Ian McMillan, reading our recently commissioned sequence of 10 rapping poems, entitled Sequins of Poems to Dance To, as well as the soundscape of Robert Russell.

Selected as part of Edinburgh Festival Fringe Springboard‘25, Sequins is amongst a few new works in this programme curated by a panel of artists currently working in the dance sector. Kalubi’s solo is thus showing alongside works by other Edinburgh-based emerging artists and recent graduates working in theatre, dance and physical theatre. The programme is produced by our academic partners at Edinburgh College.

Tickets from £12 (Concessions £9, as well as Fringe Friends) are now available for two Sequins performances as part of Springboard’25 over two days: 20 and 21 August 2025 7pm at Edinburgh Festival Fringe Venue 446 at Edinburgh College’s PASS Theatre, Granton Campus, 350 West Granton Road Edinburgh EH5 1QE.

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To celebrate Women’s History Month of March 2025 and ahead of our Pomegranates Festival (25-30 April 2025) we launched a new podcast episode highlighting the role of women in traditional dance. Released on 8 March 2025 to mark International Women’s Day, the episode features dance researcher and new Scot Alena Shmakova discussing her work on dance history in Scotland, from the Renaissance to the Georgians, with a focus on Mary, Queen of Scots and lead dancer Sophia Parker. Stay tuned as we announce a special walking tour along the Royal Mile exploring Mary, Queen of Scots passion for dance.

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Every spring since 2022 Pomegranates Festival becomes a platform for our diverse members to teach, learn and perform and thus sow the seeds and sequins of world trad dance across the country. Once again, from 25 to 30 April this year, Pomegranates explored the intrinsic links of world trad dance with art, film, fashion, and heritage crafts through exhibitions and tours, shows and workshops, residencies and family events. As we are already planning next year’s 5th edition, help us learn how we did and what you’d like to experience more of, so that we can reach new heights with Pomegranates 2026. With just over 10 questions and multiple surprise prizes, we do hope that you will spare a few minutes to share your views by 20 July 2025.

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Did you know that in July 2024 TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland) was officially appointed as UNESCO Advisor on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH).  As a founding member of TRACS, we believe that the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland could play a major role in celebrating being Scottish by supporting the diversity of traditional dance practised around the country. Whether it is through our Pomegranates Festival, Ceilidh Plus events or all-year-round activities, we aim to safeguard the age-old dance traditions and ensure they thrive in the contemporary, diverse Scotland we all call home. Our Pomegranates Festival 25-30 April 2025 was themed around traditional dance and intangible cultural heritage. For the first time, we publicly discussed the new opportunities for Scotland’s traditional dances in an international context. We pledged to keep up the conversation and ensure that the Pomegranates Festival continues to provide an annual platform for discussing issues of traditional dance as living heritage. Click below to follow the growing trad dance as ICH events and resources.

TRAD DANCE AS ICH