Evolving Rhythms Programs

Monday, May 12, 2025 (Note: all times listed are Edmonton MDT)

7:45:- 8:20AM: Breakfast

8:25- 9:00AM: Introductory Remarks

Professor Andre Costopoulos, Professor Marko Zivkovic, Eric Awuah

9:00 - 9:40AM: Keynote Address 1
Professor Michael Frishkopf (University of Alberta)

9:45 - 10:25AM: Keynote Address 2

Dr Emmanuel Cudjoe (Ball-State University, USA)

10:30 - 10:50AM: Professor Marko Zivkovic (University of Alberta)

10:55 - 11:15AM: African Diasporan Dance as a Tool for Identity Construction and Cultural Representation in Canada

Sylvanus Kwashie Kuwor Ph.D (University of Alberta & Wilfrid Laurier University)

11:00 - 11:40AM: Cultural Appropriation Versus Cultural Appreciation: Insights from the Literature

Cecilia Ferreyra Ph.D (Cuban Movement Academy Not-for-Profit, Edmonton)

11:45 - 12:05PM: African Dance as Therapy and Wellness Practice in Diaspora Communities

Cherelle George (Edmonton)

Lunch 12:05 - 1:05PM

1:10 - 1:30PM: Intergenerational Exchange: Passing Down African and Caribbean Dance Traditions in Canada and the Diaspora through the Black Arts Development Program

Wunmi Idowu (Woezo Africa-Calgary)

1:35 - 1:55PM: Bacchanal, Mas and Moko Jumbies in Toronto Carnival/Performance

Collette ‘Coco’ Murray (York University) (Virtual)

2:00 - 2:20PM: Dancing the Giné Faré in Kindia (Guinea): An Ethnography of a Female Choreographic Practice

Eleonora Fusi (University of Bologna) (Virtual)

2:25 - 2:45PM: The Role of Music and Dance in Mohammed Ben-Abdallah's Abibigoro

Wisdom Agorde Ph.D (University of Alberta)

3:00 - 3:20PM: Utilising African Dance Rhythms as a Mental Performance Intervention to Foster Team Cohesion, Focus and Flexibility within the University of Ghana Men's Basketball Team

Joel Opoku Tham: (University of Thessaly) (Virtual)

3:25 - 3:55PM: Embodied Devices in the diaspora: Exploring Rhetoric in Anlo-Ewe indigenous Dance in Canada

Kofi Anthonio Ph.D and Kenneth Fiati (University of Ghana)

4:00 - 4:20PM: Legacy and Appropriation: An Analysis of African Dance Forms in North America

Gloria (Sitso) Ahlijah (University of Iowa)

Tuesday, May 13, 2025 (Note: all times listed are Edmonton MDT)

7:45 - 8:30AM: Breakfast

8:45 - 9:15AM: Keynote 3

Lebogang Disele-Pitso Ph.D (University of Botswana)

9:20 - 9:50AM: Keynote 4

Mustapha Braimah (Mount Holyoke College, USA

9:55 -10:15AM: The Language of the Indigenous Drum Music

David Quaye Ph.D (University of Ghana)

10:20 - 10:40AM: African Dance As Therapy For Wellness Practice In Diaspora Communities: Focus On Ekombi and Powwow Dance Music

Elizabeth Bebuo Anthony, Ph.D (Cross River State College of Education, Nigeria) (Virtual)

10:45 - 11:05AM: Cultural Identity and African Dance In Online Communities

Udochukwu Theodore Nwaeke (Delta State University, Nigeria) (Virtual)

11:10 - 11:20AM: Market Forces and Cultural Integrity: Examining the Commercialization of Ghanaian Dance Forms

Latipher Amma Osei Ph.D, Doreen Deede Quarcoo, Kirk Acquah (University of Education) (Virtual)

11:25 - 11:45AM: Samba as a Cultural Healing System

Dr Ana Laidley (International Samba Congress, Germany)

11:50AM: -12:10PM: African Performance Forms As Tools for Social and Political Activism

Sarah Dorgbadzi Ph.D & Abigail Quaye

Lunch 12:10 - 1:00PM

1:05 - 1:25PM: Performing Lockdown Experiences: a Devised Theatre Approach

Solomon Dartey Ph.D (Association International School)

1:25 - 1:45PM: African performance forms as Tools for Social and Political Activism

Adjetey Klufio (Coker University) 

1:50 - 2:10PM: “Hear di crack of di whip”: Re-membering Voices of Change in the Performance of Bob Marley, Burning Spear, and the African Dancing Body

Sandra Boateng (University of Cincinnati)

2:15 - 2:35PM: Buraanbur: Bridging Generations of Somali Women Through Poetry, Dance, and Wellness

Aurelia Uarsama (Africa Center, Edmonton)

2:40 - 3:00PM: “Sacred Sensuality – the embodiment of the sexual self and the transformation of trauma through dance and movement from a feminist perspective drawing from the Guinean traditional courtship dance Yankadi.”

Venessa Farn (Edmonton)

3:05 - 3:25PM By the Fireside: Making contemporary dance a communal experience through Storytelling

Ishmael Konney (University of Wisconsin) (Virtual)

3:30 - 3:50PM Dancing Through Borders: African Dance Entrepreneurship as a Catalyst for Cultural Preservation, Economic Empowerment, and Social Impact in Canada and the Diaspora

Daniel Anyim (McMaster University)

3:55 - 4:15PM Rooted Rhythms: Integrating Traditional West African Movement in the Evolution of Afro-Fusion Dance in Canada.

Deborah Kissi (University of Alberta)