News & Events - General

Six of our students from the BA Acting course and the Level 3 Extended Diploma Dance and Performance courses are taking part and will also be performing parts of a dance-drama project which they have been working on with Sakoba Dance Company. The extract from Sensing Cesar, is a Heritage Lottery funded project, and is about the life of Cesar Picton, a black resident of Kingston in the late 18th/early 19th centuries.

John Davey, Head of School, Performing Arts, explains: “In 1761, at the age of six Cesar Picton was brought by a naval officer as a gift to a rich Kingston family from his native Senegal – along with a parakeet and an African duck. When he died in 1836 at the age of 81, he was believed to be the richest black person in the UK, having become an extremely successful businessman. The stone marking his grave can still be seen in All Saints Church in Kingston. His story of crossing cultures and adaptation to a new life has resonances for many modern young people, who will bring their own experiences to this dance-drama project.”

Prior to the AscenDANCE evening, the students will be performing it in the All Saints Church in Kingston in half-term and then touring it around local schools and other venues. Students from Kingston University, Coombe Boys’ School and St. Paul’s School in Sunbury are also taking part.

For tickets visit www.rosetheatrekingston.org