A series devoted to exploring African diasporic dance forms and using embodiment to discuss race in America
Series Two:
This workshop series allowed our community, regardless of their dance experience or training, a creative mode to learn about and appreciate African diasporic cultures–whose contributions to contemporary dance are often under-explored. Last year Shakia offered this embodiment as a unique entry point for discussing race. Since we received great feedback, Shakia decided to do another series representing Black women currently in the field creating work and making changes within their academic institutions. Part 2 couldn’t have happened without the funding from Mass Cultural Council of South Hadley, MA–thank you for funding these workshops.
Series Two Sessions:
Fri, Sept 17: Jazz (Latasha Barnes)
Fri, Sept 24: House Dance (Tatiana Desardouin)
Fri, Oct 15: Modern Dance taught from an Africanist Perspective (Christal Brown)
———————————–
RACE AND… Dance News:
Shakia received a Mass Council Cultural award of $1500 for RACE AND…Dance Series 2– Fall 2021.
Click here to read about RACE AND…Dance in the Mount Holyoke News.
———————————–
Series One:
Dates and Sessions (all via Zoom) : Each session focused on a particular form of African diasporic dance, rooted in a particular global culture, and were taught by a different guest expert. Each session will included a 60-minute movement teaching and/or lecture portion and a 30-minute Q&A session. Students were expected to do assigned reading/viewing and be prepared with questions for each guest instructor.
*Part of MHC’s Common Read, The 1619 Project
Series One Sessions:
Fri, Oct 9: African folkloric dance and connections to social dance (Moncell Durden)
Fri, Oct 30: Afro-Mexican (Brother(hood) Dance)
Fri, Nov 6: Caribbean (Tania Isaac)
Fri, Nov 13: Jazz (LaTasha Barnes)
Fri, Nov 20: East Coast Hip-Hop (B-girl Ana Rokafella Garcia)
Fri, Feb 12: Contemporary African Dance (Ronald K. Brown)