MAKING TRACKS is IRIE! dance theatre’s professional development intensive that offers in-depth professional training focused on Dances & Music of the African Diaspora. The programme aims to bring together professionals in dance, the performing arts, academia and other fields including healthcare, whose practice or work may intersect with dance. At IRIE! we are keenly aware of the far-reaching benefits of dance and music and are committed to making dance accessible to the wider London community. Participants will meet experts in traditional dance and drumming from all over the African diaspora, gaining invaluable knowledge on the history, culture and traditions that shaped African and Caribbean dance, whilst learning the movement and rhythms unique to each style.

 

You’ll develop your understanding of:

 

• African & Caribbean dance aesthetics

• Rhythmic Sensitivity & Polyrhythm

• The demands and function of African & Caribbean dance forms & technique

• Drum languages: The conversation of the drums

 

In this series subtitled Reconnecting to Self, we invite participants on a journey to re-discover and reaffirm their sense of self-awareness through reflection on ancestral modes of being and living. Featured artists include Vincent Mantsoe from South Africa and Nii Kwartey Owoo from Ghana.

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Vincent Mantsoe, KOBA Technique

 

Vincent Mantsoe is a South African, born dancer and choreographer whose work is inspired by the traditions of his ancestors, which he fuses with social and western contemporary dance styles to create his brand of dance fusion entitled KOBA. This style provides a unique platform for collaboration, transmission and transformation. The process encourages collaborative working between artists where his technical training sessions are used as a vehicle to understand his creative methods and philosophy.