Marvel fans have been given their first look at Zendaya back in the role of MJ for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, thanks to new set photos from the upcoming Phase 6 film.
The images mark her return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Filming for Brand New Day began in early August, with Tom Holland the only cast member seen on set until now.
The newly surfaced shots feature MJ and Peter Parker visiting Aunt May’s grave who died in the previous instalment. Whether MJ remembers Peter after the memory-erasing events of No Way Home remains uncertain.
While industry reports indicate Zendaya’s role will be smaller this time, her character could still have key moments in the story. Even a few scenes may hold emotional significance if they explore her lingering connection with Peter.
The set photos also spark speculation about the nature of their meeting. MJ may be at the cemetery for her own reasons, crossing paths with Peter unexpectedly, adding a layer of mystery to her part in the narrative.
Zendaya is balancing her Marvel commitments with filming Dune: Part Three, making her Brand New Day appearance notable for fans following both franchises.
Alison Brie weighs in on the revived ‘Scream’ franchise
Alison Brie, known for her role as Rebecca Walters in Scream 4, has shared her thoughts on the revived franchise.
In a recent appearance on the Shut Up Evan Podcast with her husband Dave Franco, Brie jokingly asked about her potential return to the franchise, referencing the infamous “new Scream rules” that allow characters to come back from the dead.
Franco sparked the conversation, saying, “I feel like with new Scream rules, even though she dies brutally, we could bring her back.” Brie responded with a smile, “Yeah, where’s my role in Scream 7?”
The couple’s discussion highlights the franchise’s tendency to resurrect characters, including Matthew Lillard’s Stu Macher, David Arquette’s Dewey Riley, and Scott Foley’s Roman Bridger, who will all return for the seventh installment.
Brie shared her thoughts on the current state of the Scream franchise, stating, “My problem with the current era of the Scream franchise is that too many people live.” She jokingly suggested that the core four characters should die, saying, “The core four needs to die! … We should be down to two of the core four by Scream 7.”
Franco chimed in, referencing Dewey’s death in the previous film, which Brie called a “mistake.”
Scream 7 is set to hit theaters on February 27, 2026, and will be directed by Kevin Williamson, the original writer of the franchise.
The film will also see the return of Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, who wasn’t in the last installment, Scream VI. With the franchise’s history of unexpected twists and turns, fans are eagerly anticipating what’s in store for the next chapter.
Gaypalani Waṉambi grew up surrounded by art, with her family home in north-eastern Arnhem Land doubling as a studio where her parents and siblings painted on bark and wooden poles. In her late teens, she started assisting her father, esteemed artist Mr W Waṉambi, who taught her how to paint the clan’s ancient designs, using traditional materials such as ochre. As he branched into more experimental forms such as animation and etching on metal, she too began to experiment with these new mediums.
On Friday night, the Yolŋu woman was awarded the $100,000 top prize at the 42nd National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art awards (Natsiaas), one of Australia’s richest and most prestigious art prizes, for an artwork that honoured his legacy while forging her own path.
Waṉambi’s work was among seven winners across categories ranging from bark painting to multimedia, with six of the awards won by women, including senior Pitjantjatjara artist Iluwanti Ken, who won the painting award. Each category winner receives $15,000.
Gaypalani’s winning work, Burwu, blossom, is a shimmering large-scale depiction of one of her clan’s ancient songlines, etched on to the back of discarded metal road signs Photograph: Natsiaa
Gaypalani’s winning work, Burwu, blossom, is a shimmering large-scale depiction of one of her clan’s ancient songlines, etched on to the back of discarded metal road signs; a powerful fusion of ancient stories and knowledge with contemporary technologies and materials, and a tribute the cultural inheritance passed down by her father.
Created on a 3 sq metre assemblage of 15 metal road signs, the artwork’s surface depicts hundreds of stringybark blossoms and thousands of bees, referencing the songline of Wuyal, the honey hunter – an important ancestor for the Marrakulu clan. Viewing the etched illustrations from different angles, they seem to shimmer with movement – like the vibrating of tiny wings.
The back of the work is a collage of red and yellow road signs: “DETOUR” reads one; “ROAD CLOSED AHEAD”, another.
In a joint statement, the judging panel – Yamatji curator Stephen Gilchrist, Meriam artist Gail Mabo, and Bundjalung, Muruwari and Kamilaroi artist and researcher Brian Martin – described Burwu, blossom as “an exceptional work that visually and materially explores different relationships to and understandings of Country”, saying: “Each jewel-like panel shimmers with exquisitely rendered designs that are deeply anchored to Yolŋu philosophies.”
In Yolŋu culture, sacred designs are passed down by knowledge holders to the younger generations. For a long time it passed between men, but from the 1970s onwards senior men began to teach their daughters. Gaypalani’s father taught her to paint the miny’tji for the clan’s saltwater stories, and she assisted him in creating the detailed depictions of schools of wawurritjpal (sea-mullets) he was renowned for. He also taught her the designs for the freshwater Wuyal songline.
Gaypalani Waṉambi, pictured with her winning work. Photograph: Charlie Bliss
“I showed these designs to him, to my father – my paintings of the honey,” Gaypalani said in a prerecorded statement in Yolŋu Matha. “That is when he told me ‘Great! You will take this design now as your own. And you will paint this when I am no more.”
Mr Waṉambi died unexpectedly in 2022, aged 59. Writing about the Wuyal songline for the landmark international exhibition Madayin, which he co-curated, Mr Waṉambi wrote: “When we see the flowers blossoming, we sing dhaŋarra, and it reminds us of all the spirits of the people who have gone before us and will bloom again.”
Gaypalani’s etchings on metal are part of the found-art movement that has blossomed in Yirrkala in recent years, spearheaded by artists such as Gunybi Ganambarr. Fuelled by a spirit of innovation, these artists started using discarded road signs and detritus from mining operations as canvases, etching designs on to their surfaces.
Gaypalani is the only Yolŋu woman, so far, to make art in this medium.
Iluwanti Ken’s Walawuru Tjurkpa (Eagle story), winner of the 2025 general painting category. Photograph: Georgina Campbell/MAGNT
A spirit of innovation was present across this year’s finalists, which are now all on show at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) in Garramilla/Darwin.
“I think the Natsiaas provide a platform for people to try something new; to experiment and push their practice a bit further,” says Kate ten Buuren, a Taungurung artist and curator who worked with Keith Munro, the Museum of Contemporary Art’s director of First Nations art and cultures, and Balanggarra artist Karen Mills to select this year’s 71 finalists from more than 200 entries.
Jahkarli Felicitas Romanis’ work Pitta Pitta (Extracted) (left) and Pitta Pitta (Google’s Gaze), which won the 2025 multimedia category. The photographs are freeze frames from Google Earth that show the transition from aerial view to street view on Pitta Pitta Country. Photograph: Mark Sherwood/MAGNT
The winner of the multimedia category, Jahkarli Felicitas Romanis, a Naarm/Melbourne-based photographer of Pitta Pitta descent, experimented with Google Earth mapping and visualisation tools to create distorted images of Pitta Pitta Country for her winning diptych: Pitta Pitta (Extracted) and Pitta Pitta (Google’s Gaze).
“Mapping has historically been used as a tool of power and control, and it’s a really detached way of connecting to place,” Romanis said. “We never connect with place in that way. It’s always feet on the ground.”
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Naomi Hobson’s photograph Present & Beyond, which won the Natsiaa work on paper category. Photograph: Georgina Campbell/MAGNT
Naomi Hobson, hailing from the tiny riverside community of Coen, Cape York, won this year’s work on paper award for her photo Present and Beyond, which shows a teenage boy relaxing by the river. While it appears carefully staged, Hobson said she took the photo moments after seeing him playing with his younger brothers and a wooden boat, and he chose the pose himself.
It’s a stark contrast to how Hobson’s ancestors were photographed. “There’s old photos of my great-grandfather, and what was done for him to be in that photo wasn’t comfortable, it wasn’t nice,” she said. “And so I wanted to respond to that, and say [to the people I photograph]: this is your image. You own it. You take ownership of it.”
Her Natsiaa win is more than just a personal achievement, she added: “It’s not just me. It’s his win. It’s his celebration as well as his family’s … this is a celebration for all of us, for all the families, the community, for all the young people out there that can look at this image and know that they can achieve their goals and dreams and be proud of themselves.”
The Natsiaa exhibition is on at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory until 26 January 2026
Dee Jefferson covered the Natsiaas as a guest of NT Tourism
The full list of 2025 Natsiaa winners
Telstra Art award: Burwu, blossom by Gaypalani Waṉambi, Yolŋu Matha language, lives in Yirrkala, Northern Territory
General painting award: Walawuru Tjurkpa (Eagle story) by Iluwanti Ken, Pitjantjatjara language, lives in Amata community, South Australia
Bark painting award: Bawáliba & Ngalyod by Lucy Yarawanga, Gurr-Goni language, lives in Maningrida, NT
Work on paper award: Present & Beyond by Naomi Hobson, Southern Kaantju and Umpila languages, lives in Coen, Cape York, Queensland
Wandjuk Marika Memorial 3D award: Ngalkodjek Yawkyawk by Owen Yalandja, Kuninjku language, lives in Maningrida, NT
Multimedia award: Pitta Pitta (Extracted) and Pitta Pitta (Google’s Gaze) by Jahkarli Felicitas Romanis, Pitta Pitta language, lives in Naarm (Melbourne)
Emerging artist award: Mat by Sonia Gurrpulan Guyula, Djambarrpuyngu language, lives in Dhondji Homeland, NT
There is a saying in Sanskrit – ‘Ati Sarvatra Varjayet.’ Loosely translated into English, it means, too much of anything is harmful! Currently, that indicates too many spy thrillers! Like, I am literally 10 minutes away from surrendering if I am introduced to any more Spy Universe any further. The latest one is Naveen Kasturia and Mouni Roy, infiltrating Pakistan amidst a nuclear mission in this spy thriller titled Salakaar!
Created and directed by Faruk Kabir, this web series seems to be a film that was later very badly edited into five episodes to accomodate the space of a web series, no idea why! Even the trailer felt like a film but it was later revealed to be a web series!
Any which way, film or web series, all of them have a basic need to fulfil – good storyline and even better writing. Salakaar ticks the first box but surrenders to the latter! The basic premise is intriguing, timeline builds up the anticipation well in the first 20 minutes but then the entire series crashes and dilapidates with only ruins remaining! You cannot even rebuild them, it is that disturbed!
Salakaar Review: Naveen Kasturia Impresses In A Vague Show! ( Photo Credit – YouTube )
Salakaar Review: What’s It About:
The story of Salakaar is dissected into two time frames – 2025, where a RAW agent, Maryam alias Srishti, played by Mouni Roy, is trying to know about a plan by Pakistani Colonel Ashfaqullah (Surya Sharma) that involves the making of a nuclear bomb. She is being aided by a Salakaar – National Security Advisor Purnendu Sharma, who has links with the Pak Colonel.
The second timeline reveals that the NSA is Naveen Kasturia, a RAW Agent, working in Pakistan with the alias Dayal Sharma, trying to stop Pakistani General Zia, played by Mukesh Rishi, from making a nuclear reactor. So, this is the basic premise of this web series, which makes a lot of sense, but that is it. Beyond this point, this series did not make any sense, making Pakistan look like an absolutely stupid nation, if I may say so!
Salakaar Review: What Works:
The biggest win of Salakaar is its length – 5 episodes of 30 minutes each. Not because it turns into a gripping tale, but only because one can thank them that this ended! The basic problem in Faruk Kabir’s film-turned-series is the lazy writing. The attempt to create a jingoistic vibe is so childish that it simply shows the neighboring country as stupid. Period! It is such a juvenile attempt that after a certain point I seriously want to chant Hindustan Zindabad and get done with this once and for all!
Salakaar Review: A Spy Thriller That Forgets To Spy! ( Photo Credit – YouTube )
Salakaar Review: Star Performance:
Coming to the characters, as the young protagonist, Kasturia is the heart of the series. He delivers a committed, quiet, and intense performance, trying his best to inject life into a poorly written character. However, it is Mukesh Rishi as the Pakistani General, who holds this show, for whatever timeframe he can hold. He brings an authority that the entire show desperately needs but fails to achieve! The biggest disappointment here is Mouni Roy’s Sakshi! And I exactly pointed out the issue, why!
Salakaar Review: What Doesn’t Work:
The web series promised a gripping, intelligent cat-and-mouse chase game between India and Pakistan’s intel teams. However, what it delivered was a masterclass in missed opportunities and how not to create a Spy Thriller! Because the basic element missing in this thriller is the thrill itself. In fact, it is exhausting to watch a strong concept die a slow death under the weight of shoddy writing, predictable cliches, and a fundamental misunderstanding of the genre – thriller. There are too many spies, but the thrill has already been explored previously in Mission Majnu, properly in the exact manner, so much so that it is a replica of Raazi on a fundamental level.
The 1978 timeline, while more engaging and historically inspired, quickly gives way to juvenile plot points and a script that often borders on the absurd. Characters make baffling, illogical decisions. The plot, at times, is so focused on ridiculing Pakistan that it loses all sense. Also, I am so done with female spies being used as sex bombs to make Pakistani Generals go weak on their knees! I mean, seriously?! Even if it happens, it is disgusting and so discomforting to watch on screen! I mean, imagine a female RAW officer not using her intellect but her body to get things done! In which Universe is this 50 Shades of Grey taking place?
Salakaar Review: Mouni Roy Disappoints As A Secret Agent! ( Photo Credit – YouTube )
Salakaar Review: Last Words:
Salakaar is a Spy thriller that forgot to spy and was too lazy to deliver a thrill! And it is heartbreaking to watch a good premise go for a toss and a talented cast wasted! A cast that was on a mission not to deliver content, while I was on a mission not to sleep till I surrendered!
1.5 star
For more such reviews of web shows, stay tuned to Koimoi.
Must Read: Special Ops 2 Review: Himmat Singh’s Spy Universe Ft. Kay Kay Menon Is Expanding Without Any ‘Besharam Rang’ – A No-Nonsense Sequel That Doesn’t Fail!
Another dispute has been added to the sprawling legal saga surrounding Rebel Wilson’s directorial debut, The Deb, with the film’s lead actor issuing a notice to Wilson threatening legal action against her in Australia.
Lawyers representing Charlotte MacInnes issued the concerns notice to Rebel Wilson, indicating their intentions to sue for defamation in Western Australia.
The claims of defamation against MacInnes, sent to Wilson on Thursday, centre around several Instagram posts Wilson made about MacInnes’ interactions with one of the film’s producers.
According to the concerns notice, seen by Guardian Australia, Wilson alleged in an July 2024 Instagram video that there had been “inappropriate behaviour towards the lead actress of the film”. Wilson went on to publish several Instagram stories alleging that MacInnes had complained to her that she had been sexually harassed during filming.
An Instagram story allegedly published by Wilson said: “When an actress on her first feature film is asked by a producer to stay in the same apartment as them, and then makes a complaint to me as the director saying said producer ‘asked her to have a bath and shower with her and it made her feel uncomfortable’ – what am I supposed to do? Of course I reported it. There is no world where this is acceptable.”
Wilson allegedly went on to say in the Instagram story that MacInnes had “now changed her story”, saying this was linked to the fact that MacInnes “has been employed now by this ‘producer’ in the lead role of a production … and given a record label”.
In the concerns notice, MacInnes denies making the claims alleged by Wilson, and says the imputations they contain are “false and seriously defamatory” and that Wilson knew them to be false because MacInnes gave a statement to the Daily Mail in September 2024 saying there “was no truth to them”.
Two other disputes are playing out in court – in the US and in New South Wales – relating to the film, which premiered at the Toronto film festival in September but has not been released.
Wilson is being sued for defamation by three of the film’s producers, after the Australian actor made claims to her 11 million Instagram followers that the producers of The Deb had engaged in theft, bullying and sexual misconduct.
In July 2024, the producers – Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden – filed a defamation suit against Wilson in the US, alleging in court documents filed to the Los Angeles superior court that Wilson fabricated “false and malicious lies” on Instagram in retribution for the producers’ refusal to grant her writing and music credits. In October, Wilson launched a countersuit, repeating many of the allegations she had initially made on social media. The case remains before the court.
A separate complaint was lodged two weeks ago when one of the production companies behind The Deb filed a lawsuit against Wilson in the NSW supreme court, accusing the Pitch Perfect actor of deliberately sabotaging the film’s release, alleging threats and defamatory claims had caused the production company financial and reputational damage.
Wilson said on Instagram the proceedings “made no sense” and she “wanted nothing more than to have the film released and have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to make this happen”.
In the MacInnes’ concerns notice, her lawyers write that by “publicly disclosing our client’s name as an alleged victim of sexual harassment, without her consent, and then accusing her of lying about it as justification for identifying her”, Wilson engaged in conduct that was “improper, unjustified and lacking in bona fides”.
The concerns notice also alleges harm to MacInnes’ reputation from posts from The Deb’s Instagram account – which MacInnes’ lawyers say Wilson “posted or caused to be posted” – that showed MacInnes performing on Len Blavatnik’s luxury yacht in Cannes.
According to the notice, the posts said MacInnes was “in a culturally inappropriate Indian outfit … ironically singing a song from a movie that will never get released because of her lies and support for the people blocking the film’s release. So glad you got your record deal Charlotte at the expense of the 300 people who worked on The Deb and really wanna see it released.”
MacInnes’ lawyers allege that Wilson’s “reputation as a leading Australian star in the international film industry means that [her] statements carry particular weight within the film industry” and that Wilson’s large Instagram following meant claims she made on the platform would have a wide reach.
MacInnes is seeking damages and costs, as well as a permanent injunction on Wilson publishing similar claims about her.
Wilson and her representatives were approached for comment.
Australian pop trio Blusher have put their own shimmering twist on Kesha’s “Your Love Is My Drug” for their debut appearance on triple j’s long-running Like A Version covers segment.
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The Melbourne-based group, consisting of Miranda Ward, Jade Ingvarson-Favretto and Lauren Coutts, first bonded over a shared love of Kesha before forming Blusher in 2021, making the choice of cover a personal one.
“There’s something about the shameless love of pop music that Kesha has really just always been an advocate for,” Ingvarson-Favretto said during the broadcast. “It’s kind of our guiding light.”
For the performance, the trio reimagined the 2010 Animal hit with layered harmonies, live drums and choreographed moves, replacing the original’s sharp electro-pop edges with their trademark dreamy, glitter-laced production. Coutts took on Kesha’s rap bridge, keeping one of the song’s most recognisable moments intact, while the group leaned into their own aesthetic with wired headphones and bold red-and-black styling.
The cover arrived the same day Blusher released Racer, their second EP. Alongside the Kesha rendition, they performed their own track “Last Man Standing” live in the triple j studios.
“Your Love Is My Drug” originally peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2010, becoming Kesha’s third top 10 hit that year.
Meanwhile, Kesha’s latest studio album . (Period) made its mark on Billboard’s charts last month, debuting at No. 1 on Top Album Sales, Vinyl Albums and Top Dance Albums (chart dated July 19). It marks her first independently released album after a career with Kemosabe/RCA Records. The set was issued through the singer’s own Kesha Records label and distributed by Warner Music Group’s indie distribution arm Alternative Distribution Alliance.
In support of the new album, the singer recently announced she is set to return to Australia for a run of headline dates. Part of her wider T–ts Out Tour, the four-date trek of the country will see Kesha performing headline dates in the Australian capital cities of Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth in late February, 2026.
Notably, the announced run does not include a stop in Sydney, though her visit to Australia coincides with the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. No announcement as to Kesha’s potential involvement in the festivities has been released, however.
Watch Blusher’s cover of “Your Love Is My Drug” below.
I’m the only one who’s not been in. The floor’s open. Someone goes in for their second round, buying me some time with a two-step, a dribble and out. Another agonising pause. I know Tiger’s looking at me – he’s not going to let me get out of this, so I jump in. I’d been working on my running man, but the two‑step is my anchor now. And I just keep two-stepping. It’s fitful, it’s awkward, it’s out of time – but I’m doing it, footworking in the middle of a dance circle. “You’re part of the culture now!” beams Tiger, as I jitterbug back to the sidelines.
It’s my first time attending a footwork practice session, led by the instructor Tiger in the foyer of Central Saint Martins art college in London. I heard about these sessions through an “open decks” night dedicated to footwork, the furiously fast and bassy style of dance music from Chicago. The dance actually came before the music, but that part of it has never really caught on in the UK. Times are changing, though. Not since flailing to dubstep at university have I felt so enthused by the dancing side of club music.
From the twist in the 60s to the migraine skank in the 00s, music fans have always loved to throw down moves – and surely the point of going to a nightclub is to dance. But nowadays that’s often far from the case. Phones have turned clubs into vehicles for social media content, with some DJs becoming exasperated at the way that punters – who often stand still, filming big-screen visuals, or each other – seem more interested in documenting the night than dancing.
‘You feel invested in the event’ … Bristol Northern Soul Club. Photograph: Barnaby Chinnock
This can create a vibe-killing feedback loop. “I asked some friends why they don’t dance in public and some said because of the fear of being filmed,” the rapper Tyler, the Creator recently posted by way of introduction to his dance‑focused new album, Don’t Tap the Glass. “I thought: damn, a natural form of expression and a certain connection they have with music is now a ghost.”
In Britain, it’s also getting harder to go out clubbing at all, due to the cost of living crisis and a drop in the number of nightclubs – about 400 have closed in the past five years. So, across the country, grassroots dance communities are countering this by creating safe spaces for people to learn new moves and feel emboldened to share them on the dancefloor. “People need something to do on a night out,” says Eve Burgsoul, who co-runs Bristol Northern Soul Club with Levanna McLean. Dancing, she says, means “they are in the experience”.
Northern soul spun out of the Twisted Wheel nightclub in Manchester in the 60s before spreading to Wigan, Blackpool and Stafford in the 70s and generating an entire subculture of British people spinning, dipping and doing other elaborate moves to obscure, uptempo US soul music. It survived as a hobby for older generations, but Bristol Northern Soul Club, and other nights like it, have galvanised a younger crowd. Their videos of McLean shuffling to soul classics and pop songs on the streets of Bristol have been such a hit that they have gained traction worldwide. “We’re viral in Russia because our dancing got remixed to a techno song,” says Burgsoul.
Clubbers at Bristol Northern Soul Club nights learn the basics of keeping time and focusing on their feet. Knowing even some rudimentary moves means that “rather than standing there with a drink, waiting for someone to talk to you, you’ve got something to do”, says Burgsoul. “You feel invested in the event,” adds McLean.
Learning to dance opens you up to whole new communities – something those in the ballroom scene know intimately. In the US, ballroom culture has provided solidarity for Black and Latin LGBTQ+ people since the 60s; the dancer Les Child formed the first British vogue collective, the House of Child, in the 80s. These houses can serve as surrogate families for community members estranged from their biological relations, as well as teams that perform for renown and cash prizes.
Vogue is an integral feature of these balls. It’s a sharp battle dance consisting of five basic elements: spins and dips, duckwalk, catwalk, hands and floor. Smily discovered ballroom after he was disowned by his family at 17 and happened upon a vogue class at Studio 25 in Manchester, hosted by the ballroom dancer and Manchester Ballroom Community (MBC) founder Sacha 007. Smily immediately took to the acrobatic style. “Voguing was a wholesome release of dopamine for me,” he says. “I channelled my energy into every move and people enjoyed it. Eventually, I went on to walk in Paris.”
Smily now runs MBC and hosts open sessions where newbies pay to learn the basic elements of vogue. MBC has a large pool of beginners keen to walk balls, but nowhere for them to perform, since most vogue events happen in London and many can’t afford the trip. “Manchester definitely needed more queer, trans, Black and POC [people of colour] spaces,” says Smily. With money from the workshops and other fundraising events, MBC has managed to throw a few balls in Manchester and now hosts one of the city’s first OTA (open to all) vogue nights.
‘Manchester needed more queer, trans, Black and POC spaces’ … Manchester Ballroom Community. Photograph: Courtesy: Daniel Quansah
Partnerships such as these are bringing dance out of the studio and into public spaces. In London, the footwork promoter 160 Unity has joined forces with After Werks, the class I attend, resulting in dance circles at the front of their last two nights in London. “The footwork crew has brought something to dance music that I’ve yearned for so long: communal dance,” says Chris Kanski, a 160 Unity punter and After Werks regular. He arrived at After Werks from a background in hardcore punk and metal. “Footwork nights give that spontaneous expression and that challenge that’s so special in hardcore punk. There are eyes on you and people are looking both at what you express and what you can do.”
The same feeling is evident in the UK jazz dance scene, which took off in the 70s as teenagers began leaping, stomping and skipping to the sounds of acid jazz and Latin fusion at clubs such as Chaplins in Birmingham. The craze migrated south, where DJs such as Gilles Peterson turned London into the new mecca of UK jazz dance with his nights at Dingwalls.
‘There’s nothing like playing to an active audience who are really feeling the music’ … jazz dance sessions at Come Sunday in Birmingham. Photograph: @valere_nakasila
It endures today. At the Bath House community building in London, I witness the jazz dance luminary Masumi Endo work tirelessly to encourage bystanders on to the floor for Jazzy Sport London’s No Nation Under a Groove party, which brings together three dance communities: After Werks, Epic Jam (breakdance) and Footnotes (jazz dance). By the end of the evening, the dancing spirit has reached such a fever pitch that the whole room is moving together in one bubbling cauldron of styles.
“There’s nothing like playing to an active audience who are sweating their tits off and really feeling the music,” says Jayson Wynters, who DJs at the jazz dance event Come Sunday at Hockley Social Club in Birmingham alongside Nick Schlittner. One of Come Sunday’s main challenges has been holding on to their young dancers, many of whom move to London in search of job opportunities in TV and theatre. But in M.uuya they have a loyal, 32-year-old regular who relishes the intergenerational side of the event. “It has lineage,” he says. “You’re entering a community that’s larger than that moment in time.”
Back at the footwork dance class, Tiger remembers how bouncers and DJs would welcome him into his local nightclub in Muswell Hill, London, where he went weekly to practise his moves. That was 18 years ago; he wonders whether “DJs and promoters should reach out to dancers more”.
When they do, the effect can be intoxicating: earlier this year, he was the star of the night when the footwork legends RP Boo and DJ Spinn played at Venue MOT in south London. “If I’m doing the Biz Markie” – an old-school hip-hop move – “next to you in the club, I can show you what to do,” he says. And while he believes dancers are inherently free in expression, he argues that knowing some basic moves allows you to have the most amount of fun on the dancefloor.
He’s not wrong. My two-step has kept me occupied during an average club night on Rye Lane in Peckham, London, and my erk’n’jerks – another footwork move – have left me exhausted and elated after a particularly sweaty set in Bermondsey. My dancing isn’t going to save a club from its financial woes, but if promoters can partner with grassroots collectives, organise workshops and encourage dancers to the floor, they can benefit from an integral aspect of club culture that people, old and young, are clearly craving. “People love it,” says Kanski. “It’s real, it’s raw, it’s chaotic, it’s beautiful.”
Come Sunday Monthly Jam is monthly at Hockley Social Club, Birmingham. Bristol Northern Soul Club All Dayer is at Wiper and True Taproom, 9 August. VH1 Ball is at Fulham Pier, 15 August. Footnotes x Jazzy Sport London Monthly Jam is at Next Door Records 2, London, 19 August. After Werks Monthly Open Decks is at AAJA Basement, London, 28 August. 160 Unity is at Fold, London, 5 October
Prince Harry, Prince Andrew receive good news from King Charles, William
Prince Harry and Prince Andrew must have taken a sigh of relief after a positive update about their royal titles was shared amid back-to-back controversies.
For the unversed, the Duke of Sussex and the Duke of York have been making the headlines due to their involvement in controversies.
Andrew portrayed the royals in a negative light due to his relations with convicted sex offender Jeffer Epstein, royal lodge drama and alleged involvement in a spy scandal case.
On the other hand, Harry’s feud with the royals is not a hidden thing. From bombshell memoir Spare to explosive Oprah Winfrey interview, the Sussexes made it to the bad books of King Charles and Prince William.
There were reports that the future King, William, might strip the Dukes of their royal titles in his reign.
However, it is now claimed that William won’t take away Harry and Andrew’s titles.
As per NewsNation, “There is no way Charles would deprive his son and brother of the title.
An insider shared, “Everyone keeps saying William will take away Andrew and Harry’s titles when he becomes king, but he literally can’t do that without an act of Parliament.”
“There is absolutely no way William would do that as it would bring even more attention to the issues with them both,” the report stated.
But the Prince of Wales will be ruthless towards Harry and Andrew once he ascends the throne.
The Duke of York, who often makes appearances with the royal family in King Charles’ monarchy, will “not be invited to any family gatherings” by William.
According to the source, there might be a chance of a royal reunion for Harry, but the chances are rare.
Eddie Murphy has shared a story about Beyoncé from the making of Dreamgirls that he says he has never told before.
Speaking on 360 With Speedy, the actor reflected on a candid exchange he witnessed between Beyoncé and Jennifer Hudson on set.
“I did Dreamgirls right when I was getting divorced,” said Murphy, referring to his split from Nicole Murphy in 2005 after 12 years of marriage. “I was kind of like on automatic pilot, and I don’t remember a lot of making the movie.”
The 2006 film, based on the 1981 Broadway musical, starred Murphy alongside Beyoncé, Hudson, Anika Noni Rose, Jamie Foxx and Danny Glover. Hudson played Effie White, Beyoncé played Deena Jones, and Rose played Lorrell Robinson.
Recalling his memory, Murphy said: “My Beyoncé memory — and neither one of them knows that I know this — I watched Jennifer Hudson and Beyoncé, they were in between shots, they were on stage, and Jennifer was new in show business and she had, I guess a finger, right between, was ashy, and she was licking her fingers and getting the ash like that.”
Murphy added that Beyoncé immediately stepped in, saying: “Ooh girl, don’t do that. I’ll get you some cream.”
He said the moment passed quietly between them, but he noticed it. “And this might be the first time I share that with anyone. That’s my Beyoncé memory.”
Hudson went on to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress at the 79th Academy Awards in 2007 for her role in the film, which was nominated for eight Oscars in total.
Football fans will be familiar with the manager musical chairs, but fashion has been strangely similar over the last year. Since mid-2024 there have been 17 new designers appointed to head up houses including Gucci and Dior. But, in an industry fuelled by womenswear, just four of these appointments have been women.
And there are other depressing statistics. Of the top 30 luxury brands in the Vogue Business Index, a mere five creative directors are women. At Kering, the luxury conglomerate that owns Balenciaga and Valentino, there is just one: Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta. At LVMH, the fashion behemoth that counts Loewe and Dior among its brands, again, just one label is helmed by a woman – Sarah Burton at Givenchy.
There’s more. In February, research by 1Granary found that 74% of students at top fashion programmes are female, yet 88% of fashion’s top designer roles are held by men. The last time a woman won designer of the year at the Fashion awards was in 2012. And it’s not just designers. The majority of those in positions of power at brands, such as CEOs and executives, are also male.
There is an anomaly, though. This week, the 19th iteration of Copenhagen fashion week (CPHFW), known in the industry as the fifth fashion week, is being held in the Danish capital. Of the 42 brands participating, 26 are founded and led by females.
Stine Goya – who now sells her eponymous label in over 30 countries, with the US being its second-biggest market outside Denmark – describes men’s continual domination of the fashion industry as “outdated”. Denmark’s structural approach to equality, she says, has become a key instigator of change, with policies aimed at improving wage equality and schemes to encourage women to return to work after having children. “Copenhagen has become an ecosystem for independent female-led brands,” she told me. “There is a spirit of collaboration here, and a willingness to do things differently. It has allowed women to take up space and build businesses on their own terms.”
A look from Cecilie Bahnsen’s spring/summer ‘26 show Photograph: James Cochrane/PR IMAGE
Stephanie Gundelach co-founded OpéraSport, a brand that specialises in creating contemporary wardrobe staples from upcycled materials, with Awa Malina Stelter in 2019. Gundelach says much of their motivation comes from the desire to overcome this type of gender inequality. “There is an unspoken bias in the fashion industry where often women have to work twice as hard to be seen as equally visionary. In Copenhagen, there is a shift happening. Women are building their own platforms rather than waiting for a seat at someone else’s table.”
Fashion’s idea of what a woman should look like impacts everything, from the models who appear on the catwalks to the design of the clothes. In 2024, for instance, 1.4% of models on the catwalks at CPHFW were plus-size while in New York, London, Milan and Paris just 0.8% of models were plus-size.
Cecilie Bahnsen, who popularised the idea of wearing intricate and romantic dresses with practical trainers, says that as a woman designing for other women her ethos is based around comfort. “There is an ease to my pieces. They don’t outshine you.”
“A lot of women want to wear something different to what male designers suggest they should wear,” says Anne Sofie Madsen, who this week relaunched her namesake brand with a new co-creative director, the stylist Caroline Clante. “We look at clothing with a female gaze. Our customers are not only dressing to be desired or admired, but also to be themselves.” This season’s collection included a pair of “evening jeans”, as well as meme-able “rat bags”.
While the creative jobs at the top of the fashion industry have become synonymous with burnout, Danish designers take a more holistic approach to work-life balance, in line with Danish work culture generally. Madsen, who prior to launching her own label in 2011 worked alongside designers including Alexander McQueen and John Galliano, credits fashion’s traditional gauntlet of endless travelling, long hours and expectations to produce more than six collections a year as a catalyst for her hitting pause on her brand in 2017. “I realised that I was living a life that I didn’t want to live,” she says. “I wanted to figure out a different way to be in fashion.”
Making their own path … Awa Malina Stelter and Stephanie Gundelach at a Copenhagen fashion week event. Photograph: Martin Sylvest Andersen/Getty Images for Dazed
Now, Madsen and Clante are determined to build their brand to work around their lives, rather than making the brand their whole existence. Madsen is continuing to teach at the Scandinavian Academy of Fashion Design and Clante works as a freelance stylist.
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Bahnsen, who started showing in Paris in 2022, has kept her atelier based in Copenhagen, describing it as “her bubble”. She allows her team of 26 women and four men to work flexible hours and discourages working at weekends. Gundelach and Stelter will often finish work at 3pm in order to spend time with their families, and Bahnsen’s five-year-old son is a regular sight in her atelier. Livia Schück, co-founder of Rave Review – who this season showed delicate boho-inspired dresses and skirts made from deadstock – took her post-show bow while holding her five-month-old daughter.
“We don’t have a culture where you need to stay until five or six because that’s not workable when you have small kids,” says Stelter. “Our workers know what we expect of them, but they have the freedom to work flexibly. As long as the work is getting done we are happy.”
Many Danes talk about the “law of Jante”, a sort of Scandinavian social code based on the idea that no one is better than anyone else. Gundelach describes how it feeds into “a collaborative rather than competitive energy” and says that “there is a strong community of female creatives lifting each other up, which I feel is quite rare”.
Goya credits “a sense of openness” and an “ambitious creative scene” as a driving force for independent female designers. “It’s not been about having an ego. It is about building a team, a brand and a community.”
As Isabella Rose Davey, chief operating officer of CPHFW, points out, the women paving a new path in the industry hope that others will follow their lead. “It is modern, forward thinking like this that we need to see more of outside Denmark to ensure that women are not locked out of senior positions.”
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