Anyone who has seen the acclaimed veteran hip-hop choreographer and MC Jonzi D whip up a crowd will know how adept he is at bringing together huge groups of people. So when he got the call inviting him to be choreographer-in-residence for Pomegranates Festival, Edinburgh’s celebration of diverse traditional dance forms, accepting was a no-brainer. ‘I’m very excited about the project,’ says Jonzi over Zoom. ‘What we’re working with is dance that is localised to specific communities, be it national dance styles or just groups made up of different types of movement. My job is to bring them all together so they’re one voice.’

The festival features dance-theatre performances, live music, spoken word and exhibitions, but Jonzi’s principal role is to helm a flagship show on 29 April (International Dance Day), with 20 dancers from Scottish traditions and those practised by cultural migrant communities. He’s being assisted in the creation process by poets Jim Mackintosh and Ian McMillan, and visual artist Mare Tralla.

That’s a lot of voices to harmonise. But the challenge of such diversity is, Jonzi says, key to his process. ‘I think that level of not knowing is part of the way in which I work.’ Improvisation will play a crucial role in making sure each dance voice is heard (or seen), while working to an overarching theme of peace, unity and having fun (‘the mantra of hip-hop culture’) will help to fuse the performers. 

There is also a more serious side to the choreographer-in-residence role, which comes in the form of delivering the festival’s keynote lecture on 30 April. For this, Jonzi has chosen to speak about decolonising the expressive arts, an expansion of themes he explored in his 2015 TED Talk ‘Hip-Hop Theatre: Recognition Without Permission’.

‘One of the big problems with art, particularly with these big institutions,’ he adds, ‘is that they’re very prescriptive as to what happens in that space, and what’s valued in that space. I’ve been challenging that using hip-hop forms for many years now.’ His TED Talk is breathtakingly acute in its message, while delivered with a trademark exuberance; it’s a must-watch for anyone interested in challenging the Western arts canon. At one point, he uses a smooth physical movement to demonstrate how his ‘hip-hop body’ was colonised into classical ballet, and he gives a blistering explanation of his refusal to accept the MBE in 2013.

Traditional dance is important, Jonzi says, because it represents heritage while celebrating difference. ‘I think we’ve reached a period in society where our differences are being used against us; our differences are being used to keep us separated; our differences are being used as judgmental tools. All of these things are keeping us apart. But my dream is that we come together because of our differences.’
Pomegranates Festival, various venues, Edinburgh, Thursday 25–Tuesday 30 April; main picture: Darkling Dami.