Greetings from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts! Being in Kingston, Jamaica at this arts conference has been such an amazing experience thus far. The presentations, energy, dance and drum performances, and artwork have all been quite incredible.
This morning we attended a session titled “Drum Talk: Preserving Cultural Memory and Growing the Arts through Traditional Music,” which was given by Anthony Artis, Clifton Robinson, and André Rosa-Artis. The panel was moderated by Vicki Casanova Willis, who also presented an audio recording of an interview she conducted with Alfred Baker. The session consisted of lectures on drumming, as well as drumming demonstrations that illustrated the ways drums are used as a method of communication.
Afterwards, Prof. Iris Rosa conducted a Dance Master Class to a full studio of talented dancers! The energy in the room was simply beautiful and watching ProRo extend her great talent across the Diaspora was truly an amazing experience.
Later, I attended two sessions on visual art as therapy and resistance, which were heavily related to my dissertation research on the AADC and visual art. Vesta Daniel’s presentation was titled “Art as Resistance and Pedagogy” and Leta H. Montague’s presentation titled “L.M. Empowered Women of Hope: The Art of Healing” both offered insight into the ways that the performing and visual arts can be used to rebuild individuals and community through art making, theory and performance.
To end, I just finished watching the AADC’s tech rehearsal for their performance tomorrow and I am completely overwhelmed with emotion. I feel so incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to work with the Prof. Rosa for over 8 years at the AAAI and to research and write about her work and the legacy of the AADC. The AADC dancers on this trip are all so wonderful and words cannot express what this experience in Kingston has done for me in terms of my work as an artist and the healing it has done for me on a personal level. And it’s only the first day!
To Prof. Iris Rosa, current AADC and alumni, the Edna Manley College, the Rex Nettleford Arts Conference, the city of Kingston, Jamaica, and to all of those who helped fund this amazing opportunity for us: Thank you from the very depths of my soul for bringing me to life in so many ways. I am forever grateful and extremely overjoyed.
Much love,
Katie E. Dieter
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