Nadia Issa: freeskewl x Trisk Hybrid Movement Class

CLASS DESCRIPTION:

AfroCuban Folklore (Yoruba) / Orisha Dance or Folklórico (Yoruba) AfroCubano, is a dance tradition of the Regla de Ocha-Ifá spiritual-religious practice. This class will provide and guide movers through gaining a strong understanding and technical skill of the dances and rhythms of the Orishas to the complex Batá percussion rhythms, as well as Güiro and Iyesá rhythms. Through the AfroCuban rhythms of the Yoruba/Lukumí practice, this course aims to connect the body in the movements of the Afrikan influences and traditions of Cuba and to the Orishas. Aché!

BIO:

Nadia is a second-year Master of Theological Studies student at Harvard Divinity School, focusing on the African and African American Religious Studies Area of Focus, graduating in 2022. At HDS, they continue their work on Spiritual Reparations in Regla de Ocha-Ifá and other Black Caribbean Diasporic traditions, and continuing research on Black Cuban Womxn Akpwón/Apwanlás. Nadia spent over three years in Cuba and México pursuing fieldwork and dance study for both research projects that take form as Auto-Ethnographies and dance choreographies expanding Reparation politics and politics of being an Akpwón in Cuba and its diaspora. Nadia is a Company Dancer with Jean Appolon Expressions, a Haitian Contemporary dance company. Nadia has received training from and performed in dance works by Cristal Brown, Frederick Earl Mosley, Vincent Hardy, Princess Mhoon, Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane, Bebe Miller, Bárbara Balbuena, Yeniselt Galata Calvo, Eva Despaigne-Trujillo and Obini Batá, Camille A. Brown and Emilio Hernández González of the company Raíces Profundas to name a few. Nadia’s dance choreography has been presented at Boston University, Hampshire College, la Fundación de Alejo Carpentier Havana, Cuba, and Cambridge Carnival Festival 2020. Nadia is a current Research Associate at The Pluralism Project, contributing their research experiences in Afro-Caribbean spiritual-religious traditions. Nadia continues to work through the lens of Traditions and Religions of Afrikan origin, Survival, Blackness, and the Black Caribbean Diaspora within dance and written works. Nadia recognizes that dance is an embodied tool of ritual and resistance in their research and training. Through dance and ethnographic research, Nadia has been able to navigate and communicate Blackness, queerness, and the sacred.

Attend on Zoom or in-person at Triskelion Arts (Greenpoint, Brooklyn // Lenapehoking). NOTE: In-person spots are limited. KN95 or N95 masks and proof of vaccination (including booster) required. Please distance 3ft from others during class. You may not attend in person if you have had a COVID exposure, COVID symptoms, or been COVID-positive in the past ten days.

PAYMENT (SLIDING SCALE):

Unemployed/Under-employed: $8-15

Employed: $15-30

Artist Supporter: $31-50

ACCESSIBILITY:

In-Person Option (Triskelion Arts' Theater): Triskelion Arts is a fully ADA-compliant and accessible theater venue with a marley floor. The theater is located on the ground floor, with an accessible restroom on the ground level. You may enter the building via ramps or stairs.

Zoom Option: Rev Live Captions, which are computer automated CCs, are provided.

COVER PHOTO IMAGE DESCRIPTION:

A Black Trans person in a Red Dress. Photo credit: lake photography.

Host or Publisher freeskewl