Groovin' Griot

We've come to the end of Season 2 and it's been a great ride. In this finale episode, we recap some of the major themes from this season and thread all the interviews together.   Thanks to all of our amazing guests this season, and to all you for listening.  Catch you in Season 3! Produced & Edited by OreOluwa Badaki and Azsaneé Truss with support from the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers...

Who knew movin' and groovin' could be such a great way to learn about the environment? Well...Dr. Jamē McCray did! On this episode we chat with her about how she combines her work as an ecologist and as a choreographer to design innovative education and policy initiatives. She takes us behind the scenes of some of the movement-based work she has done with the Schuylkill River, and shares insights...

Africa in Stereo: Modernism, Music, and Pan-African Solidarity is a book that's been really influential for how we think about Diaspora on this podcast. Among other important contributions, the book uses the metaphor of echolocation (the process of orienting oneself by emitting sounds and listening to the echoes that come back) to describe diasporic experiences. On this episode, we get to talk wit...

Travel with us across the Black Atlantic with Deirdre Molloy, a dancer, ethnographer, and multimedia artist who specializes in Afro diasporic rhythms. We'll take you behind the scenes of Deirdre's Unity Map , unpack what rhythm codes are, and trace popular rhythms like tresillo across the globe...all while hanging out at our new favorite record store in Philly. Special thanks to Rashid Amon for sh...

"Behind-the-scenes" on this episode means calling back the ancestral and indigenous practices that are integral to both dance pedagogy and performance. We talk with Dr. Ojeya Cruz Banks, who specializes in the unique intersections between African diasporic and indigenous Pacific dances. Dr. Cruz Banks share insights on the role of ethnography in dance research, what to make of "ancestral currency"...

On this episode, we dive into the world of screendance with Professor Gabri Christa. She shares how her multidisciplinary beginnings as a mover and a filmmaker in Curaçao, as well as her embodied research into her Surinamese roots, helped her find innovative ways to merge her cinematographic and choreographic work. We talk through what it means to take the moving body seriously within the moving i...

The theme this season is "behind the scenes" so this episode we're talking dramaturgy ; a field of practice that deals with how an idea goes from the page to the stage. We sat down with Dr. Margit Edwards to unpack "village on the stage"; a popular dramaturgical structure behind many neo-traditional and contemporary African dance performances. Dr. Edwards shares how her early beginnings as a dance...

Get the behind the scenes scoop on a show Ore worked on called seed & sound . Hear how themes of diaspora and echolocation helped guide the choreographic approach, and how a dance called Kuku, as well as Manjaco rhythms, were incorporated into the piece. Special thanks to Urban Movement Arts and Philadelphia Dance Projects, and especially to Vince Johnson, Terry Fox, Kayliani Sood, and Allison...

We're back!  Produced & Edited by OreOluwa Badaki and Azsaneé Truss with support from the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University.  Check out our new website! https://www.tc.columbia.edu/digitalfuturesinstitute/media/groovin-griot/   Email us at groovingriot@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram @groovingriot.  Theme music: Unrest by ELPHNT on Directory. Audio  Licens...

That’s a wrap on Season 1 of Groovin' Griot! For this last episode, OreOluwa and Azsaneé give highlights and connect the dots between the stories from this season. They also share what they’re groovin’ to these days and take you on a sonic journey through New Orleans, Rio de Janeiro, NYC, and Philly.  Check out the Episode Resources (also https://tinyurl.com/GroovinResources)  for more on Ore and...

What does West African dance have to do with fractal codes, hormetic healing, and technological innovation? Dr. S Ama Wray  unpacks these connections and more on this episode of Groovin' Griot.  Dr. Wray shares how her early experiences with modern, jazz, and Afro-Cuban dance peaked her interest in  improvisational forms, and how her work on the Ewe concept of Seselelame in Ghana helped her develo...

Dr. Lela Aisha Jones takes us on a journey through African Diasporas, sharing dance stories from across the US, Brazil, Cuba, Ghana, and Senegal. She talks about archiving social dances that build community, honoring collectivity and individuality through freestyle, and merging technique with àṣẹ . Plus, for this episode's movement break, Ore brings you along for a House dance class! See Episode R...

OreOluwa and Azsaneé talk with Dr. Ofosuwa Abiola about her experiences founding Suwabi African Ballet, bringing together dance histories and cultural histories, and understanding African diasporic movement practices as "dance systems." See Episode resources  (also https://tinyurl.com/GroovinResources) for more on Dr. Abiola's writing and research. Produced & Edited by OreOluwa Badaki and Azsa...

OreOluwa and Azsaneé talk with Dr. Deborah Thomas about her experiences dancing with Urban Bush Women,  transitioning into a career as an anthropologist, and drawing from African Diasporic movement practices to build collective spaces for "unbounding" bodies. See Episode resources (also https://tinyurl.com/GroovinResources) for more on Dr. Thomas' work and for more on Tambufest  See  Episode trans...

OreOluwa and Azsaneé talk with Dr. Jasmine L. Blanks Jones about her work on “reparative arts” and how dance can help us unpack the complex histories and experiences of African Diasporic communities. See Episode Resources (also https://tinyurl.com/GroovinResources) for more on Dr. Blanks Jones' community mobilizing  Produced & Edited by OreOluwa Badaki and Azsaneé Truss with support from the D...

Groovin’ Griot is a podcast about how we use dance to tell stories throughout the African Diaspora. Episodes released bi-weekly. Come groove with us! Produced & Edited by Azsaneé Truss and OreOluwa Badaki with support from the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University.  Theme music: Unrest by ELPHNT on Directory. Audio  Licensed under a creative commons attribution 3.0...