CaribFunk: A Fusion Dance Technique Developed by A'Keitha Carey

CaribFunk1: A Mélange of Caribbean Expressions in a New Dance Technique

5/31/2015

Dear wonderful readers,

Please check out my latest article!

Abstract
This article investigates rasanblaj, a reservoir of knowledge that explores the sensual and spiritual in performance and praxis. I examined my own work as an artist/scholar and how I was instituting "assembly, compilation, and enlisting and regrouping (of ideas, things, people and spirits)." I also reflected on how this term integrated with the dance technique CaribFunk that I originated. The technique is "essentially a breaking and joining, and ambivalent movement within and without that results in the creating of new and often imagined spaces for cultural and social engagement" (Hope 2006b, 127) and addresses the politics of identity and subversion through the exploration of the hip wine (circular rotation of the hips) often found in the stylistic and virtuosic performances of Jamaican Dancehall and Trinidadian Carnival. Recognizing histories, memory, and embodied knowledge, I will demonstrate how Caribbean sensibilities, the erotic as power and CaribFunk serves as a framework to discuss Rasanblaj.

http://hemisphericinstitute.org/hemi/en/emisferica-121-caribbean-rasanblaj/carey

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An Open Letter to Dr. Ananya Chatterjea

4/26/2015

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“…[It] is something about our shared humanity—shared heat…[it] has to be all of us connected for the desire for beauty and truth.”

(Ananya Chatterjea 2015)

The prolific luminary Dr. Ananya Chatterjea was in residence in the Modern Dance Department at the University of Utah this past week (April 21-23, 2015) sharing “beauty and truth.” The “shared heat” and “shared humanity” that was imparted upon the university is something that I can only equate to the phenomenal teachings of Chicana feminist Gloria Anzaldùa. Anzaldùa introduced the term nepantla which is “ a Nahuatl word meaning ‘in-between space’” (Keating 2006). This liminal space is a place where one is able to disidentify from the mythology of white supremacy, allowing oneself to see oneself not as inferior but as an equal, a whole being. This theory allows for transcendence and a subversive consciousness that fractures and ruptures identity politics that often subscribe to the belief system that increasingly fictionalizes the superiority of the white race, subjugating people of color (Keating 2006). Those of us who mediate and facilitate this process are called nepantleras. Nepantleras are “the supreme border crossers. They act as intermediaries between cultures and their various versions of reality . . . They serve as agents of awakening, inspire and challenge others to deeper awareness, greater concocimiento, serve as reminders of each other’s search for wholeness of being” (“Speaking Across the Divide” 20).

Ananya, you are a Nepantlera! Your entrance in this space was exactly what was needed—not a week before—or a moment after—right now—at this time. Lives have been touched, some women have found their voice, and you provided a snap shot into MY reality of what this journey can and should be as a nepantlera. Your power and presence are sublime evoking a sense of desire that includes social change, clarity in one’s ideas and philosophies about life, purpose, and practice and specifically how one can be a change maker simply by listening and retelling the stories that we hear. I want to offer words of encouragement to you and the warrior women known as Ananya Dance Theatre. The journey that you are on is one that will disrupt the cultural and social norms, one that is “painful [during] dimensions of this world-traveling [and border crossing]” (Keating 9). Your defiance of the expectations placed upon you, the themes that are discussed in your work, and the POWER that you present and evoke are threatening to the insecure and weak (in mind and spirit) resulting in “rejection, ostracism, and other forms of isolation” (Keating 9) but I am writing to applaud, restore, and embolden you for your work, passion, and the voice that you provide for many.

Ananya, you stated "there is a way of knowing that comes from knowing your body." The freedom from “knowing my body” allows me to communicate with a clarity that includes embracing my gifts, loving my body, and accepting and exploring the sensual imparted by the divine. Because of this “knowing” I can share my “bodily truths,” encouraging other women to share their stories. This sentiment was reified during your visit. You also mentioned “some stories need to be told over and over again.” You and your company provide the foremost example of how to occupy space, thoughts, and personhood so that these stories can be projected for what they are “beauty and truth.” In closing, Ananya, this past week, during the MANY deposits of ‘seeds of wisdom,’ you mentioned that a part of your purpose is to “remind young women of their power.” I felt this reclamation of my own power (through your presence) which I have purposely been (re) negotiating out of fear of the aftermath. But I am “ready to do the work.” Your presence here at the University of Utah will long be remembered. You have left your DNA in the building, in the soil, and the souls of many. Because of you, I walk bolder into the fire, I can fight another day because of what you have deposited into my spirit.

I/we find my/our voice through the roar of the Lioness… shine on and shout with the power and pleasure of knowing that across the nation, we hear you, we see you, and we stand in love, light, and in support of the freedom, transformation, and strength that Ananya Dance Theatre provides for many…

Tu eres mi candela…

(you are my candle)…

Love,

A’Keitha

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In Response to the Article " Bahamian Culture Under Siege?"

1/8/2015

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Happy New Year to everyone! I thought that responding to this article (http://www.theonly1intheworld.com/teej-talk) was a fantastic way to begin my bloggin' career. I have been searching for the right opportunity to begin discussing my thoughts on various topics and this one was ripe for the pickin'. This topic really covers many of the areas that I am interested in and of course being a Bahamian I had to weigh in. Here we go!

“In response to your article, I must say that there are several themes that truck me: 1. Identity, 2. History, and 3. Education/Knowledge. I argue that there are huge deficits in all of these areas as it relates to your discussion. As a Bahamian, one who lives in the United States, teaches in Higher Education, and who’s work/research focuses on integrating Caribbean Cultural Performance (Bahamian Junkanoo, Trinidadian Carnival and Jamaican Dancehall) into dance curriculum, I am left with many questions concerning this Bahamas Carnival festival.

I appreciate your point concerning the religious connection to carnival and its significance to the idea, essence, experience and history of Carnival. These countries that you indicate in your article are countries rooted deeply in creolization and syncretism. They are also very clear of their African influence and roots and it is expressed throughout their culture and education, which strengthens their ideas and performance concerning IDENTITY, CITIZENSHIP, AND HISTORY. Throughout my research (pertaining to several of the countries you mention), this has been my discovery. Unfortunately, these are elements that I have not observed in Bahamian culture. I wonder what the African influence is in the culture? It seems rather invisible. It appears to have been erased. Colonialism is and has served as a detriment to this aesthetic within the culture, which brings be back to my point concerning IDENTITY. Unlike the countries mentioned, we are not a creolized society. Bahamians (the majority) are phenotypically and genotypically African. Is this discussed and is it reflected in our culture? How does it manifest in our civil, legal, and education systems? I don’t think it does. Why or why not? These are questions we should be asking? From my perspective, in some areas, there is a struggle between European and American ideals, aesthetics, and philosophies. What do we as a nation value? So I ask the question, do Bahamians really know who they are?

Moving on . . . I actually screamed, summersaulted, and twerked concerning your second point about the obesity in the country. It is utterly embarrassing. The percentage of grotesquely overweight Bahamians is appalling. I have had several conversations with Bahamians about this and also Americans (of multiple ethnic groups/races) concerning this issue and quite honestly, I have no civil or logical response to their responses and inquiries. Like you, I also am not interested in seeing THAT (body) chippin’ down da road. Based on the rest of the world’s obsession with the body, I can only assume that will not go over well “but I digress.”

You raise great questions concerning the dollars and sense/cents of this festival and I don’t have any answers for that either.

To further your point concerning your suggestion that “I would create a week of events just for Junkanoo, where we can come together and celebrate our culture. You will only make people proud of their culture if they can show it off, so the week of events will be about putting our culture on display to the world” (Grant 2014); I am not sure if this week-long celebration will be effective. If you consider the days leading up to carnival (in Trinidad) and all of the events that are included in the festival (stick fighting, soca, calypso, pan in all its forms, traditional character festivals, King and Queen competitions, massive children’s carnivals . . .” (Riggio 46) and the social and historical implications assigned to each event, do we/you think this week long itinerary (which is fabulous) will have the same impact? With no internal, historical, and/or spiritual connection to this festival, will it serve the Bahamian culture and public? Your ideas sound wonderful and I would indeed travel and invite others to partake in this type of celebration which serves multiple demographics, seems multigenerational and certainly multicultural when thinking about how other artists (local and international) can contribute to this magnitude of an event and one which serves to uplift, empower and instill not only the richness of the culture but a festival which pays homage to our ancestors whose blood, sweat and tears, fertilized the country and the world. How about identifying the richness of African culture that our ancestors coveted? They resisted the brutal schemes, and dogma of colonialism, slavery and oppression. Through their songs, dance, and life we dance, we live, and we breathe. Why should we appropriate another culture (another culture which we really do not “identify” with. If we investigated and researched who were, lived that legacy, and celebrated that ancestry and history we would know our IDENTITY, HISTORY. This KNOWLEDGE would be embedded in our performance not only of this festival but how we live our lives. “

Riggio, Milla C. Carnival: Culture in Action: The Trinidad Experience. New York, NY: Routledge, 2004. 46. Print.

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CaribFunk1: A Mélange of Caribbean Expressions in a New Dance Technique

An Open Letter to Dr. Ananya Chatterjea

In Response to the Article " Bahamian Culture Under Siege?"

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