About the artist talk:

This discussion aims to foster a deeper understanding of Contemporary or African, Caribbean, and Black Contemporary dance forms, the identities of its practitioners, our art, and how we can use this knowledge to our advantage moving forward. It is not just about preserving our heritage, but also about using it as a springboard to bring attention to the evolution of African and Caribbean dance forms outside of their natural habitats, and to continually create something uniquely our own in our new homes.

This event will engage ACB dance practitioners, scholars, community members and arts enthusiasts from Canada, Africa, and the United States of America

Discussion points include:

Defining Contemporary African Dance
Exploring Individual Trajectories
Contextualizing Our Work
Understanding Progression from Traditional to Contemporary
Creating Techniques and Vocabularies
Thriving in Canadian Communities

Guest discussants include:

Cherelle George – Soca-Fit Entrepreneur
Mpoe Mogale – Dance Artist, Alberta
Mustapha Braimah – Assistant Professor of Dance-Mount Holyoke College
Leslie Adjetey Klufio – Assistant Professor of Dance-Coker University
Kofi Anthonio PhD – Assistant Professor of Dance – University of Ghana
Abigail Quaye – PhD Candidate, Theatre and Performance Studies – University of Alberta

About the artists:

Aly Keita is a multidisciplinary artist originally from Guinea and based in Tiohtià:ke, Montreal. He began his artistic journey at 13 at the Keita Fodeba Acrobatic Art Center in Conakry, where he trained in circus arts, dance, and music. In 2016, he joined a cultural exchange in Canada between young Inuit and Guinean acrobats, resulting in the documentary “Circus Without Borders.” He’s collaborated with companies like Productions Kalabanté, Cavalia, Zab Maboungou/Compagnie Danse Nyata Nyata, MAPP_Montréal, Jobel Art for Earth, RD Créations, Audrey Gaussiran and more. He also participated in the four-part documentary “Afro Canada,” broadcasted by Radio-Canada, which explores 400 years of history of Afro-descendants. He shares his expertise in dance, music, and circus arts with both young and adult audiences. Notably, he serves as an artist-mediator at Place des Arts. Since 2021, he has been presenting his stage work “Djata: Conversations of the Manden,” which has been presented in several provinces of Canada and the US.

Abigail “Ameley” Quaye is a Ghanaian theatre artist with specialties in playwriting, directing, dramaturgy, and performance studies. As a poet who studied under indigenous elders of Ghanaian origin and knowledge systems, she situates her work within Afrocentric paradigms, indigenous philosophies and pedagogies, African cosmology, spirituality and worldview, postcolonial politics of resistance, and decolonial thought.

For over two decades, Abigail has written, performed, and taught in Ghana through non-profits, focusing on children from financially challenged homes and street kids. Through the Performance for Action NGO, she designed a drama and poetry curriculum and taught it to these disadvantaged children. She continued this work throughout the pandemic, even providing free internet for most of the kids in the program.

Her expertise in discourse analysis and her keen interest in critical scholarship and engagement rooted in African performance modalities enable her to consistently bring critical elements into conversations on theatre making.

The Magpie Collection: A Dance Festival is supported by