Name
Mr Isaac Blake
Country of residence
United Kingdom
Ethnicity
Romani
Occupation
Director
BIO
Isaac Blake is a Romani Gypsy and has worked as a professional dancer and choreographer.
From 2000 – 2003, he studied Dance Theatre at the Laban Centre London (Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance). After graduating from Laban, Isaac furthered his studies in New York at Martha Graham School. He then went on to choreograph performances at the Wales Millennium Centre and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where he continues to teach.
He is currently Executive Director of the Romani Cultural & Arts Company (RCAC), Isaac has developed arts & performance programmes on Gypsy & Traveller caravan sites with young children & adults, worked in schools & colleges, & promoted arts as a medium for empowerment & advocacy throughout Wales with Gypsy, Roma & Travellers. He has engaged widely with non-Gypsy communities to promote dialogue & improve social cohesion. His leadership & 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 & Traveller field in Wales and is one of the major players in Romani & Traveller advocacy & empowerment in the UK. Isaac is also a Dance Curator, leading a team of academics and researchers in collating appropriate items and artefacts for the RomArchive. The RomArchive is devised as an international digital archive for art of the Roma – a constantly growing collection of art of all types, complemented by historical documents and scholarly texts.