The Anitafrika Method Masterclass by D’bi Young Anitafrika
Are You anArtist, Instigator, Educator, and or Change-Maker?
What is the relationship between personal growth, arts practice and human development?
What does it mean to self-recover?
How do we self-care in order to better care for the collective?
How do we nurture trust in our own bodies in order to foster trust in our groups?
Do we consciously and unconsciously project our ideological world views through the art we produce?
How do we self-critique in order to offer a balanced critique of each other?
How do we self-actualise in order to effectively collectivise?
How do we create art from a social-justice informed lens?
How does the framework of Integrity influence the art we create?
How do we develop an art practice that is grounded in personal integrity?
The Anitafrika Method is a critical-creative autoethnographic praxis inspired by the foundational work of Dub poets Anita Stewart and ahdri zhina mandiela. Developed by D’bi Young Anitafrika, the method emerged from Jamaica’s socio-political Dub culture (music, poetry and theatre); informed by decolonial queer Black feminisms, intersectionality, pan-Africanisms and Black diaspora spiritualities. The method is a critical pedagogical approach to performance training, creative devising and self-development that provides the practitioner — particularly those who identify as Womxn and BIQTPOC (Black, Indigenous, Queer, Trans, People of Colour) — with tools to navigate the entanglement of gender, race, class, sexuality and ability; thereby enabling a reflexive social justice framework in art making. The acronym S.P.O.L.R.U.S.I.E represents the method's nine foundational principles of Self-knowledge, Politics, Orality, Language, Rhythm, Urgency, Sacredness, Integrity and Experience balanced by nine bodies: Beyond Body, Spiritual, Mental, Community, Emotional, Economic, Creative, Physical and Earth Body. Workshop exercises comprise of physicalising, vocalising, writing, dialoguing, meditating, reflecting, critically analysing and devising. Over the course of the workshop practitioners reflect upon their own lived experience, as a catalyst to creating new work, using the Anitafrika Method as guide.
Join us 11am, January 18, 2019 at Dance Victoria as we explore these questions and more in the Introduction to the Anitafrika Method Masterclass. To prepare for this workshop please consider the following questions: Who Am I? How am I? What is my Purpose? Come prepared to go on a personal journey of self-reflection and self-recovery. Come with a notebook and a writing tool. Dress comfortably. Anitafrika Method Card Decks will be available (50% reduced price) for purchase, however they are not mandatory for workshop participation.
D’bi.Young Anitafrika Biography
From touring the world as a Dubpoet, to curating international residencies for artists in the Caribbean, North and South America, Africa and Europe, to being heralded as a Womxn of Distinction in the Arts, the creative endeavors of African Jamaican D’bi Young Anitafrika are globally celebrated. A triple Dora award-winning published playwright-performer (of nine plays, seven books and seven Dub Poetry albums), director-dramaturge and educator-scholar, Anitafrika is also the creator of the intersectional Black feminist praxis — the Anitafrika Method. She is the founding Artistic Director Emeritus of the Watah Theatre where she taught emerging and established BIQTPOC artists in Canada (2008-2018) and the founding Creative Director of the Anitafrika Retreat Centre where she teaches artists globally. Addressing issues of gender, sexuality, race, class and the human experience, through her radical interdisciplinary arts practices, Anitafrika is currently engaged in postgraduate studies at Goldsmiths, University of London, researching the Praxes, Politics and Pedagogies of Black Performance and the Anitafrika Method as a renewed approach to artistic training and development. dbiyounganitafrika.com
Bring: Notebook. Writing Tool. Yoga mat. Dress comfortably to move.
Space is limited so please contact socc@uvss.ca to register.
LINKS
D’bi Young Anitafrika: http://dbiyounganitafrika.com
The Anitafrika Method: http://anitafrika.wixsite.com/anitafrikmethod RESEARCH SITE
Anitafrika Method Card Deck: http://dbiyounganitafrika.com/anitafrikamethoddeck
Available at half-price ($50) during workshop