Royal Albert Dock Archives

Artistic director Clive Lyttle on how acts have been commissioned to get audience’s hearts’ beating

Certain Blacks artistic director Clive Lyttle

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Clive Lyttle is smiling and there’s a glint in his eye.

The artistic director of Certain Blacks is relishing the prospect of putting on four days of completely free entertainment in Royal Docks when the organisation’s Ensemble Festival returns.

Six whistle-whetting performances are set to take place on July 19 and 20, 2023, followed by a further 10 on July 22 and 23, 2023 – all adding up to a brightly coloured spectacle of newly commissioned circus, dance, art and voguing.

The festival’s 2023 programme is its most extensive to date in Certain Blacks’ ongoing mission to bring live performance from the margins to the mainstream.

“I’d spent 17 years working for Arts Council England and I developed Certain Blacks because of the need to support a wide range of diverse artists,” said Clive.

“Our first indoor festival took place in 2015 at Stratford Circus and we continue to showcase work as an arts development organisation.

“At the Arts Council, I was responsible for Newham, so I have deep contacts in the borough – my first job was as a multi-cultural arts officer for the council.”

Having worked extensively in the area, Clive made the move to Royal Docks six years ago and now lives overlooking Excel from the Flying Angel – a former seaman’s hospital for more than a century, converted into residential homes.

Between there and Certain Blacks’ base at The Factory Project in Silvertown, he oversees two annual festivals – Ensemble in E16 and Heroes, last held at Shoreditch’s Rich Mix in February.

While the latter is a platform for artists to explore performances strictly for an adult audience indoors, the former is strictly family friendly and very much out in the open air.

“Certain Blacks is part of a network called Without Walls,” said Clive, who originally wanted to be a rock star before going on to study jazz guitar in Northumbria and embarking on a career in the arts.

Out Of The Deep Blue’s puppet performance will be part of the festival

“It’s a national consortium of 36 festivals that work together to commission and develop innovative new work each year that can then tour the country.

“We’ve got seven new commissions including Gorilla Circus – a large scale show with high wire, trapeze and hair hanging that will be the finale of this year’s Ensemble Festival.

“We’re lucky to have Arts Council funding, which gives us a little bit of money to get these shows made and then a bit of time to put a programme together.

“I travel to various festivals in the UK and Europe where we meet people – we’re always on the look out for artists.

“The festival is also funded by the Royal Docks Team for some smaller commissions that range from a local music collective to a Chinese dance group, an African psychedelic performance and something we’re putting together called Give And Take, which is about the politics and rights and wrongs of giving.”

These performances will mostly take place in front of Good Hotel off Western Gateway, a few minutes’ walk from Royal Victoria Dock DLR station.

The finale, however, is set to take place beside Building 1000 near Royal Albert Dock DLR on the Saturday and Sunday.

“It’s a spectacular show,” said Clive. “I saw it at the Norfolk And Norwich Festival – one of the partners in Without Walls – in May and it was fantastic.

“Of the consortium, we’re one of the few partners putting that show on.

“It gets your heart really beating – the hair hanging may make a few people wince and the high wire act is one of the best in Europe.

“He doesn’t wear a harness and left me with my heart in my mouth when I saw the show last month.

“As for the rest of the performances, a lot of the programme is an open call to artists – anyone who wants to do outdoor work can apply and that can lead to performances at, say, seven or eight festivals nationwide.

“With Certain Blacks, a lot of it is putting on work and supporting artists that I’d love to see – but also pieces that are unexpected and diverse.

Mughal Miniatures is based on tiny pictures seen in Indian temples

“It has to be fun too. We do a lot of live art, a lot of work which might challenge the audience – but Ensemble is very much PG-rated, even if the shows might make people think.

“We have the Sonia Sabri Company presenting Mughal Miniatures – The Awakening, a piece based on tiny pictures you can see in Indian temples brought to life.

“Then there’s Fussy Foodies: Battle Of The Pans where people can learn a few tricks about being a celebrity chef, play a few games and have a good singalong.

“Some of the themes we’ll be addressing through the Royal Docks Team commissions are ecology, being eco-friendly and how we live.

“We’ve got an event anyone can take part in called the Bench Invasion.

“People from Belgium are coming over with 10 benches and we’ll have local volunteers helping to put the benches down, and people can sit and talk to them – then at the end there’s a little party and an exchange of stories.

“It’s about slowing life down and listening.

“We’ve also got a big eco-show with the Austin Dance Theatre called Out Of The Deep Blue – it’s a giant puppet that goes around telling stories about conservation.”

One of the few pieces to take place elsewhere will be dotComedy’s News Desk – a live rolling broadcast about events happening on the streets of Royal Docks presented in front of City Hall, delivered by comedian Richard Sharp.

There isn’t even space here to properly mention the interactive pub serving sounds or the rebellious hip hop dance of S.C.R.U.M.

All in all, it adds up to an extensive, diverse and surprising range of work as Royal Docks beds in as a serious cultural destination in London.

Clive said: “The area is getting to be very much part of the wider events ecology of London and we want to take artists from here out into the wider world.

“One of the points about our small commissions is to start artists on that journey, so they could be commissioned by people like Without Walls.”

Find full listings for Ensemble Festival here

THREE HIGHLIGHTS AT ENSEMBLE FESTIVAL

GORILLA CIRCUS

July 22-23, 8,30pm

The absolutely unmissable finale to Ensemble Festival – expect hair hanging, high wire and much more from this aerial spectacle outside Building 1000 at Royal Albert Dock.

GHETTO FABULOUS

July 22-23, noon-7pm

Four LGBTQIA+ dancers from Manchester and Liverpool strut their stuff in this family catwalk extravaganza. Audience decides the winner. Find this show at Western Gateway.

FUSSY FOODIES

July 22-23, noon-7pm

Just More Productions presents the Battle Of The Pans – a game show themed around Caribbean cooking.

Expect foodie facts, spices and storytelling. Find this show at Western Gateway.

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

How Mansimble Tea And Estate impressed at the university’s Female Founders Demo Day

Ashlea Cromby, co-founder of Mansimble Tea And Estate and UEL PhD student

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Business is about remaining agile.

Mansimble Tea And Estate – an importer of rare Kangra tea from India – was founded by University Of East London alumni Ashlea Cromby and Vanessa Browne in response to a problem.

“I never thought I’d be in the tea business – my whole family is from Hainault,” said Ashlea.

“I grew up wanting to be a hairdresser – a stylist at London Fashion Week, because I always had pretty high goals.

“But I went to Epping Forest College (now New City College) and studied piano, then came to UEL to read music as an undergrad for three years because it was the university closest to my house.

“That’s where I met Vanessa – we lived a bit of a wild life for a few years and then I started working in schools, teaching music.

“I’d been to India when I was 18 and volunteered in some local schools – then I went back in 2018 after my masters at UEL in special educational needs.

“On my last night during that second trip, I was speaking to the owner of the Mansimble Tea Estate and he told me he wanted to build a school – I said I’d love to work with him on that.

“We did extensive fundraising at UEL with cake sales, music events, fairs and auctions – and we built the school.”

But then a problem arose. The arrival of the global pandemic saw a drop in donations to keep the school running.

Ashlea and Vanessa needed a plan to fund the school sustainably, protecting it from the ups and downs of charitable funding.

“It hit me like a lightning bolt that the estate’s Kangra tea could be used to fund the school,” she said.

“I Whatsapped the owner and asked if he exported the tea to the UK and he said no, so I messaged to say: ‘Now you do’.”

Now studying for a PhD at UEL, looking at autistic identity and internet memes, Ashlea had no experience in the sector, but she and her business partner dug in and launched Mansimble Tea And Estate in 2021.

Mansimble’s Kangra tea comes in hand-tied cotton bags

“In the early days there were issues with borders – much of the world was still in lockdown – but we got the tea and launched it as an ethical brand targeting Yoga studios and hippy communities,” said Ashlea.

“The estate is owned by Indians who pay the pickers a fair wage and provide free education for their children through the school.

“However, we did some market research, looking at the big afternoon teas at the Dorchester and the Ritz and we realised we could target them.

“These hotels always want rare teas that come with a story, so we looked at branching out – offering heritage and rarity, but also an ethical brand that is sustainable.

“Kangra tea accounts for less than 1% of production in India and our teas come in hand-tied cotton bags.”

Combined with a blossoming gin collaboration that’s set to be stocked by Sainsbury’s, this all makes Mansimble a compelling story of a business starting to gain real traction.

That’s perhaps the key reason why Ashlea’s presentation to UEL’s Female Founders Demo Day – a competition that recently saw six women pitch their business venture ideas to win a £5,000 grant – won out.

Held at UEL’s campus on Royal Albert Dock, the contest saw a total of £10,000 in grants awarded to female entrepreneurs with support from Ankh Impact Ventures whose founder, Pierre Rolin, chaired the judges.

“The money will make a huge difference to Mansimble,” said Ashlea.

“It will allow us to pay up front for tea chests, that will help us to scale the business and then we can start really expanding.

“That will help the core part of the business, which is to raise funds for the school in India.

“With regard to the tea itself, we want to be the leading Kangra specialist in the world – the Coca-Cola of that business.

“We want to see it featured on as many afternoon tea menus as possible and to truly re-establish it.

“Going back to Victorian times, it was the most prized tea in Britain.

“It won gold and silver awards in Amsterdam in the 1840s and was the very best of the Victorian high society teas.

The tea is grown on an Indian-owned estate, which pays its workers fair wages and provides education for their children

“Then there was an earthquake that hit the region where it is grown and, because of that, the British pulled out.

“They already had Assam and Darjeeling and the rest of India so they decided they didn’t want to waste their money on this tiny place and its crop of tea.

“Today the estate is owned by Indians and it produces this incredible product.

“It is not bitter at all – it’s the smoothest, most amazing tea, served with no milk or sugar.

“If you liken it to the spirit world, then you’re getting a beautiful, full-bodied whisky.

“The tea itself – which is called a liquor when it’s brewed – is smooth, full of flavour and amber in colour.

“What we want to do is return Kangra tea to where it used to be in the UK market – right at the top.

“As a brand we are doing something different to what’s out there.

“There are lots of ethical tea brands and there are many speciality, high-end tea brands. Then there are everyday brands like PG Tips and Typhoo.

“With Mansimble, we are both an ethical brand and one that is targeting the top end of the market.

“We are approaching tea in a different way, because the Indians are in control of the estate in contrast to its colonial past.”

Two other students were also given grants at Demo Day. BSc computing for business student Nicole Ihemadu was recognised with £2,500 for her Uzuri Tribe venture aimed at using AI to create a bespoke selection of products based on customer preference and aimed at black women.

Kiri Scamp, who is studying business management at UEL, also received £2,500 for Millér, a brand developing muti-purpose, recyclable and sustainable makeup kits and vegan and ethical products to go in them.

Also presenting on the day were Angela Rixon with coaching venture My Wisdom Career, Jasmine Shroder’s trauma-based therapy business and Ashantae Samuel-Maragh of ASSM Waves, making workout gear from recycled fishing nets.

Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here

Subscribe to our Wharf Whispers newsletter here

- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

Tag: Royal Albert Dock

Royal Docks: How Certain Blacks’ Ensemble Festival is packed with free entertainment

Artistic director Clive Lyttle on how acts have been commissioned to get audience’s hearts’ beating

Royal Docks: How UEL student Ashlea Cromby won a £5,000 grant for her startup

How Mansimble Tea And Estate impressed at the university’s Female Founders Demo Day