CaribFunk: A Caribbean Dance Technique and Fitness Program Developed by A'Keitha Carey
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  • What is CaribFunk™?
  • Who is A'Keitha Carey?
  • CaribFunk™ Documentary
  • Areas of Interest
  • CaribFunk Fitness
  • Contact the Artist
  • CV
  • Blog
  • Solo Work
  • CaribFunk Fitness Mission
  • CaribFunk Fitness Videos
  • CaribFunk Images
  • CaribFunk in Pink

     
Education: 
Currently                Florida International University PhD program (Global Sociocultural Studies
                                  Program) [ABD]
2025                        Certificate in K-12 Dance (Florida)
2020                        Florida International University M.A. program (African & African Diaspora
                                  Studies)
2014                         Texas Woman’s University (Multicultural Women’s and Gender Studies 
                                  Certificate)
2008                        Florida State University M.F.A. program (Dance)                                                         
2006                        Florida International University B.A. program (Dance)

Administrative Experience:
2020                         Sociology, Anthropology, Geography Graduate Council for Student Association 
                                  (SAGGSA): Counsel of Student Organizations (CSO) Representative
 
2018                         Vice President of Operations at Cultural Connections by Design (Global)
                                  (Develop and implement staffing programs aimed to vet highly qualified and dynamic employees, train them to better serve        
                                  client’s needs, maximize client engagement, lead planning efforts, maximize organizational growth and initiatives)
 
2017 – 2018            Department Chair: Enrichment Program: Indian Ridge Middle School; Davie, FL
                                   (Oversaw all the elective programs, supported staff needs and initiatives, served as the liaison between administration and staff)

Artistic Director:
2011 - Current           CariDanco

Grant Reviewer:
2024                             Miami Dade Cultural Affairs (2 cycles)

Teaching Responsibilities and Assignments (Higher Education)
Florida International University Graduate Teaching Assistant
2023 (Fall): World Ethnography
2023 (Summer): Myth, Ritual, and Mysticism
2023 (Summer): Anthropology, Race, and Ethnicity
2023 (Spring): Research Methods (Sociology)
2022 (Fall): Myth, Ritual, ad Mysticism
2022 (Spring): Myth, Ritual, and Mysticism
2022 (Summer): Research Methods
2021 (Fall): Myth, Ritual, and Mysticism
2021 (Spring): Myth, Ritual, and Mysticism
2021 (Summer): Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Hip Hop
2020 (Spring): Global Hip Hop
 
Courses Taught
Williams College 2024
Movement and Theory
(Virtual) CaribFunk and Afro-Caribbean (guest)
Williamstown, MA

Caribbean Dance Forms: Bahamian Junkanoo and Trinidadian Carnival Dance (Virtual)
Co Presenters: A’Keitha Carey and Dr. Adanna K. Jones (Bowdoin College)
Fort, Lauderdale, FL; Williamstown, MA; and Brunswick, ME
 
Nova Southeastern University 2019
Davie, FL
 
Movement and Theory Class
World Dance: CaribFunk Technique
Broward College-South and Central Campus 2019
Theory Course
Dance Appreciation (Undergraduate)
Barry University 2018 (PACE Program)
 
Studio and Lecture
Dance Appreciation: Dances of the Black Atlantic
 
Miami Dade College 2024-2005
Studio Courses
Modern 2 (Fall/Spring)
Ballet 2 (Fall/Spring)
 
Theory Courses
Dance History (Fall/Spring)
Dance Appreciation (Fall/Spring)
 
Miami Dade College 2016 - 2018
Studio Courses
Afro Caribbean/CaribFunk (Undergraduate)
Dance Appreciation (Undergraduate)
Dance History (Undergraduate)
 
The University of Utah: 2014-2015
Studio Courses
 
Modern Level 1 (Undergraduate)
Modern Level 2 (Undergraduate)
Modern Level 3 (Undergraduate and Graduate)
Modern Level 4 (Undergraduate and Graduate)
Theory Courses: These are theory and writing intensive courses. Students engage in critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills. Students include history, social studies, social science, gender studies, cultural studies and technology in their assignments.
 
Research and media studies are embedded within the course and are also inclusive of an interdisciplinary approach to literacy with an extensive reading list that covers fiction, non-fiction, narratives, poetry, historical cultural stories, plays etc. 
 
Dance and Culture (Undergraduate)
Movement, History, and Culture (Undergraduate and Graduate)
Dance History (Undergraduate and Graduate)
Dance History Independent Study (Graduate)
Dancing Bodies: Subversive Identities: Exploring the Performative Embodiment of Culture, Sexuality, Gender, Race, and Ability in Visual Culture (Graduate)
 
Texas Woman’s University: 2012-2014
Studio Courses
Elementary Ballet I (Undergraduate)
Introduction to Modern (Undergraduate)
Urban/Global Practices (Undergraduate)
Introduction to Jazz (Undergraduate)
 
Texas Woman’s University 2012- 2014 (Graduate Teaching Assistant)
Theory Courses: These are theory and writing intensive courses. Students engage in critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills. Students include history, social studies, social science, gender studies, cultural studies and technology in their assignments.
 
Research and media studies are embedded within the course and also are inclusive of an interdisciplinary approach to literacy with an extensive reading list that covers fiction, non-fiction, narratives, poetry, historical cultural stories, plays etc. 
 
Dance, Gender, and Culture (Undergraduate)
World Dance Forms (Undergraduate)
 
Southern Methodist University: 2013
Studio Courses
 
Jazz II (Undergraduate)
 
SUNY Potsdam: 2010-2012
Studio Courses
 
Modern Level 2 (Undergraduate)
Modern Level 3 (Undergraduate)
Modern Level 4 (Undergraduate)
CaribFunk™ I (Undergraduate)
CaribFunk™ II (Undergraduate)
Ballet II (Undergraduate)
Ballet III (Undergraduate)
Composition II (Undergraduate)
Senior Project (Undergraduate)

Teaching Experience: (Movement)
2025                         Diva Arts Studio
                                   Miami, FL: Modern Technique and Dance Fitness 
 
2024                           Supa Studio
                                    Williamstown, MA: Taught (Virtual) CaribFunk and Afro-Caribbean           
                                    Diva Arts Studio
                                    Miami, FL: Dance Fitness and Condition
 
2023                           Diva Arts Studio 
                                    Miami Gardens, FL: Taught African
 
2022 - 2023               Movement Migration
                                     (Virtual/Zoom)
 
2021                           Movement of the People Dance Company (MOPDC)
                                    New York, NY: CaribFunk Technique (ZOOM)
 
2020                           Movema Dance (Online/Facebook Live)
                                    Liverpool, England: CaribFunk Technique 
 
2020  - Current         Woodshed Dance (online platform)
                                      Fort Lauderdale, FL: CaribFunk Fitness
             
2017 – 2018              Indian Ridge Middle School
                                     Davie, FL: Dance
 
2016 – Current          CaribFunk Fitness
                                      Virtual and In Person (Lauderhill, FL)
 
2016 – 2017               Indian Ridge Middle School
                                     Davie, FL: Intensive Reading

2014 - 2015                University of Utah (One Year Visiting Professor)  
                                     Salt Lake City, UT  
 
2014                            Texas Tech University (Guest)
                                     Lubbock, TX: Taught Modern and Afro Caribbean

2013                            Southern Methodist University (Adjunct Professor)
                                     Dallas, Texas:  Taught CaribFunk™    

Choreographing Experience:
2025                            Hip Hip Horay: Erotic Performance in T(h)ree (7:12)
                                     Public Humanities Lab; iWitness; Florida International University, MMC
                                     Miami, FL
 
2024                            JUJU (10:00): Bahamian Warrior Woman
                                     Public Humanities Lab; iWitness; Florida International University/BBC
                                     Miami, FL
 
2022                            CariDad (15:00): Bahamian Warrior Woman
                                     Frost Art Museum (Florida International University, MMC)
                                      Miami, FL
 
2019                             NOLA!: (20:00): NOLA! enters different realms of the African Diaspora 
                                       Through song, dance, and spiritual invocation
                                       University of Florida-Swamp Dance Fest!—Gainesville, FL  
 
                                       Bilando Africana: (10:00): An exploration of dances of the Africana   
                                       Diaspora and the invocation of the spirit. 
                                       Broward College-Central Campus; Fall Dance Concert—Davie, FL

2017                               Womanifesto: (8:30): A work about being stereotyped and challenging
                                        those assumptions (CaribFunk™).
                                        A.I.R. Dance Conference; Miami Dade College—Kendall Campus
                                        Miami, FL
 
2016                                Womanifesto: (8:30): 
                                         CaribFunk™; Houston, TX
 
2014                               Spirit and Water in 4: (21:00): A dance theatre work exploring ritual,
                                        spirituality, and futurism; Salt Lake City, UT 

Performing Experience:
2025                              Hip Hip Horay: Erotic Performance in T(h)ree: Public Humanities Lab; 
                                        iWitness; Florida International University, MMC: Miami, FL
 
                                        Honeygrass: Olujimi Dance Collective: Kosanba Conference: Nova 
                                         Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
 
2024                              JUJU (Bahamian Warrior Woman): Public Humanities Lab; iWitness; Florida 
                                        International University/BBC: Miami, FL
 
2023                               CariDad (Bahamian Warrior Woman): Art of Dance, MDC Kendall Campus, 
                                         Miami, FL
 
                                          Katherine Dunham Legacy Project (Olujimi): Jacob’s Pillow: Becket, MA
 
                                          CariDad (Bahamian Warrior Woman): Choreographic Incubator: Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center;  Miami, FL
 
                                           T.W.E.R.K. (Olujimi): Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center; Miami, FL
 
                                           CariDad (Bahamian Warrior Woman): Sip of Wine; Miramar, FL
 
2022                                  CariDad (Bahamian Warrior Woman): Frost Museum; Miami, FL
 
                                            CariDad (Bahamian Warrior Woman): Island Space Florida; Fort    Lauderdale, FL
 
2020                                   Rose Water (Olujimi): Live Arts Miami; Miami, FL
 
2019                                    Omi (Olujimi): Miami Light Project; Miami, FL    
 
2018                                    Jamila (Olujimi): West Palm, Beach
 
2017                                     Dance Africa Miami (Olujimi Dance Theatre); Miami, FL
 
                                              Womanifesto: A.I.R. Dance Conference; Miami, FL 
 
2016                                     Womanifesto: Iowa Dance Festival Iowa; City, IA
 
                                              Womanifesto: Akwaaba African Dance Festival; Houston, TX

Companies Worked/Performed With: 
2017 – Current                Olujimi Dance Theatre
                                           Afro-Modern/Her-Story
 
2010 – 2009                    Kristin McArdle Dance 
                                           Marine Conservation and Bioluminescence     
 
2009 - 2008                    Cynthia Oliver/COCo Dance Theatre
                                           Dance Theatre/Contemporary/Caribbean  

Memberships:
2025                                   NAACP (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
 
2024- Current                  Dance Studies Association      
 
2023  - Current                 Dance USA
 
2021 - Current                  American Sociological Association
 
2020 - Current                  Florida Black Dance Artist Organization (Co-Founder)

Conferences/Sessions:
2025                                    Dance Studies Association (DSA) Conference 
                                            “Hip-Mancipation, The Erotic, and Caribbean Cultural Performance
                                             George Washington University
                                             Washington, DC
 
2024                                  (Virtual) “Mapping Freedoms of Language, History, and Futures through  
                                            Dance Writing and Archiving”
                                            Co Presenters: A’Keitha Carey and Norma Porter
                                            Collegium for African Diaspora Dance 2024 Conference
                                            Duke University
                                            Durham, NC
 
                                             A.I.R. Dance Conference
                                            CaribFunk Technique
                                            Miami Dade College, Kendall Campus
                                            Miami, FL
 
                                           Afro Caribbean Dance—Summer Intensive
                                           Junkanoo in the Bahamas: History and Aesthetics
                                           Miami Dade College, Kendall Campus
                                           Miami, FL
 
2023                                  Shirley Hall Bass: Dance Educators Conference
                                           Paper Presentation: Caribbean Dance Education, Aesthetics, and Futures
                                           Nassau, Bahamas
                                           A.I.R. Dance Conference

                                          Paper Presentation: Erotic Performance (Mis) Readings and (Mis)                  
                                          Interpretations: Coding Black Female Embodied Expressions in Jamaican Dancehall
                                          Miami Dade College, Kendall Campus
                                          Miami, FL
 
2022                                 IFE-ILE Afro Cuban Dance and Music Conference
                                           Paper Presentation: Deconstructing The Erotic: Slackness, Vulgarity, and     
                                           Black Female Performance in Jamaican Dancehall
                                           Miami, FL
 
                                           Collegium for African Diasporic Dance (CAAD)
                                           CaribFunk Technique: Performance Geographies (Presenter)
                                           Duke University
                                           Durham, NC
 
                                           Collegium for African Diasporic Dance (CAAD)
                                            Florida Black Dance Organization: Decolonial Strategies in Higher    
                                            Education (Co presenter)
                                            Duke University
                                            Durham, NC
           
2021                                  Coalition for Diasporan Scholars Moving (CDSM)
                                           Dance Studies Association (Co panelist)
                                           Virtual Event
 
2020                                 Collegium for African Diasporic Dance (CAAD)
                                           #BlackWo-manX (Co presenter)
                                            Duke University
                                            Durham, NC
 
2019                                   Dance and Spirituality: World Dance Congress: CID
                                            Paper Presentation (Accepted): Caribbean Cultural Performance as Praxis: Spirituality as Praxis
                                            Nassau, Bahamas
                                    
                                            Crossroads of the Transatlantic: Humanities Student Conference: Nova 
                                             Southeastern University
                                             Paper Presentation (Accepted): Caribbean Cultural Performance as Praxis: Theorizing the Other in
                                             (Dance) Curriculum
                                             Davie, FL
                                      
2017                                     IFE-ILE Afro Cuban Dance and Music Conference
                                              Panel: Empowerment through Embodiment of the Goddess
                                              Paper Presentation (Accepted): Oshun: A Cross Cultural Experience in the Classroom
                                              Miami, FL
 
2016                                     Collegium for African Diasporic Dance (CAAD)
                                              CaribFunk: A New Feminist/Womanist Futuristic Technique in Dance  Studies at Duke University
                                              (taught CaribFunk)
                                              Durham, NC

Editorial Board Member
2024  -Current                    Conversations Across the Field of Dance
 
Editor
2023- Current                      Black Dance Magazine

Publications (articles):
2024                                       Carey. A . “Junkanoo/Junka(new): The History and 
                                                 Aesthetic Contributions of a Bahamian Cultural Performance,” pg. 14-17.    
                                                 Serendipity/Black Ink.
 
2022                                       Carey, A. 2022. “CaribFunk: A Dance Technology, Praxis, and Educational 
                                                 System.” Dancer Citizen. http://dancercitizen.org/issue-15/
 
2016                                        Carey, A. 2016.  Junkanoo and Carnival as Theoretical Frameworks: A 
                                                  Pedagogical Narrative, pg 21-27. Society for Dance History Scholars: Conversations Across the Field of Dance Studies.
 
                                                  Carey, A. 2016 Visualizing Caribbean Performance (Jamaican Dancehall and Trinidadian Carnival) as Praxis: An    
                                                  Autohistoria of KiKi’s Journey. National Dance Education Association/Journal of Dance Educators. vol
​                                                  (4):  pgs 129-138.
  
2015                                         Carey, A. 2015. CaribFunk: A Melange of Caribbean 
                                                  Expressions in a New Dance Technique. Hemispheric Institute of 
                                                  Performance and Politics- Emisferica. 
                                                  https://hemisphericinstitute.org/en/emisferica-121-caribbean-rasanblaj/12-
                                                  1-dossier/e-121-dossier-carey-caribfunk-and-afrofuturism.html
 
2011                                         Carey, A. 2011. CaribFunk™ Technique: Afro-Caribbean Feminism, 
                                                  Caribbean Dance and Popular Culture, pgs 126-147.The Journal of Pan 
                                                   African Studies (Special Edition on Dance). vol 4(6).

Book Chapter Publications
2023                                         Carey, A. (May 2023) “Black Motherhood and Activism: A Radical Movement     
                                                    In the Academy and Beyond” in Dancing Motherhood: Contexts and Perspectives of the 21st Century Women in Dance.  
                                                    Routledge. 
 
2018                                          Carey, A. “CaribFunk Technique: A New Feminist/Womanist Futuristic 
                                                    Technology in Black Dance Studies “in Higher Education in the United States in Narratives in Black British Dance:          
                                                    Embodied Practices, pg. 235-248
. Palgrave Macmillian.
 
                                                    Carey, A. “Escape Routes and Roots to Freedom: Rewriting the Narrative of The Vulgar Body” in The Body, the Dance,  
                                                    and the Text: Essays on Performance and the Margins of History, pg. 117-133. Mcfarland Publishing.                
 
2016                                           Carey, A. 2016. “Roots and Culture: Exploring Afro-Caribbean Music and Dance in the Classroom” In Teaching General
                                                    Music: A K-12 Experience, eds. N. R. Robinson, Hal, S. & Spano, F. P., pgs. 285-303. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt    
                                                    Publishing.

Curriculum Consultant
2024-2025                               The University of the Bahamas
                                                    Nassau, Bah
 
Curriculum Development and Design
(2024) Develop BFA Program at The University of the Bahamas

(2023) Warrior Woman Project at Island SPACE Museum in Plantation, FL: The workshop will invite participants to engage in the production/performance process of exploring women’s history, culture, and representation. Participants will work on Character Development, Movement/Dance, Acting, Writing, and Costume Design to showcase the diversity, strength, and vulnerability of women.

(2016-2018): Performing Arts Curriculum at Indian Ridge Middle School in Davie, FL

(2010) Continuing Education Program for Dance Educators at the University of the Bahamas

(2009) C. a. X. (Euclid, Ohio): A program developed to offer an alternative approach to arts education, dance fitness, and dance therapy (expressive arts). The curriculum includes improvisation, writing lab, Caribbean dance, Hip Hop, and CaribFunk Fitness.

(2005) C.E.L.: C.E.L. is predicated on three principles: 1. Preserving the Culture 2. Embarking on a new Experience and, 3. Speaking a new kinesthetic Language (Carey 2016). This educational philosophy emphasizes community engagement, cultural relativism, and diversity, endowing a cultural experience with an interdisciplinary focus.
 
 




 

 



 







 
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