Isaac Blake

Isaac Blake was born and grew up on a number of #Gypsy and #Traveller caravan sites, in #England and #Wales. After school, he studied and trained in #dance theatre at the #LABANDanceCentre (now the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance in London). He went on to study at the Martha Graham School in #NewYork, before working in #Montreal, #Canada. He returned to #Wales where he worked as a choreographer for performances at the Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru | Wales Millennium Centre Centre, the Riverside (Newport), and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (RWCMD). He continues to teach movement at the RWCMD (2009 to the present).?

He is currently working as Executive Director of the Romani Cultural & Arts Company in #Cardiff, Wales, an organisation funded by a variety of major donors, Llywodraeth Cymru / Welsh Government departments and UK charities (such as the The National Lottery Community Fund , Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru | Arts Council of Wales , Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government ).?Isaac has worked with artists, performers, and consultants to develop an?arts and performance community programme on Gypsy and Traveller caravan sites across south Wales, involving young children and adults. He has worked with schools, colleges, and preschools to deliver innovatory and exceptional workshops that have celebrated Romani and Traveller cultures, and highlighted the contribution of Gypsy, Roma, Traveller peoples to Welsh and #British societies. The Romani Cultural & Arts Company has promoted advocacy and empowerment through the arts and culture as a medium for change and social inclusion, whilst strengthening self-confidence and competence amongst throughout Wales with Gypsy, Roma, and Travellers.?

He has engaged widely with Romani non- Romani communities to promote dialogue and #socialcohesion through participation in government fora (the #WalesRaceEqualityForum), on the Boards of other major international Romani organisations ( European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture), and in a wide variety of conferences, colloquia, and cultural initiatives (Welsh Literature). His leadership and day-to-day management of the RCAC has seen the organisation grow from a small voluntary group to a major third sector (NGO) agency that leads the #Romani and #Traveller field in Wales. The organisations Board of Trustees is one that has been brought together by Isaac, as representative of the Romani and Traveller communities, and RCAC has become one of the major players in Romani and Traveller advocacy, autonomy and self–determination in the UK.?

Isaac has also been engaged in #international #cultural initiatives connected to Romani people, such as the digital archive of the Roma (RomArchive) as a #Dance Curator, leading a team of #academics and researchers in collecting and collating items and artefacts for the highly-regarded Dance Section (https://www.romarchive.eu/en/dance/). His leadership of the Section ensured the delivery of the project from a diversity of Romani voices, sourcing material and expertise from differing countries.?

Isaac is a proud, #GAY Gypsy from Wales, and has been instrumental in supporting #LGBTQ+ Romani and Traveller rights in #UK, #Europe and beyond, through work that the RCAC has initiated, such as the LGBTQI Romani and Traveller Spoken History Archive (https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/lgbtq-gypsies-roma-travellers-isaac-blake), which he has spoken about at public events. The Archive was produced with an accompanying publication, which Isaac managed and coordinated as part of the whole project. Isaac has also supported, through the RCAC’s #CommunityChampions programme, LGBTQ+ Gypsy, Roma, and Travellers individuals to attend international advocacy events and conferences, whilst Isaac has personally attended such events as advocate and representative of his community, positively promoting LGBTQ+ recognition and respect.?

RCAC was founded in 2009 and Isaac has led the orgnisation through its various iterations to the present day, making it one of the most stable and enduring of GRT NOG’s in #Britain, and himself one of the longest serving directors in the field.