Dancing Griots: Our Mothers’ Stories
A developmental creative laboratory and performance series dedicated to preserving, archiving, and transmitting the performance traditions of the African diaspora. Anchored in New Orleans’ rich cultural lineage—from the historic grounds of Congo Square to contemporary living traditions—this initiative investigates how oral history, percussion, and dance serve as an enduring, embodied archive.
Through a four-part developmental series, the project pairs scholarly inquiry and master artist workshops with choreographic incubation and work-in-progress showings. Each movement explores key cultural themes: the sacred lineage of the oral tradition; survival and retention through the Middle Passage; the maternal culture and resilience of womanhood as a sacred vessel; and the liberation of the somatic archive.
By bridging master culture bearers, intergenerational performing artists, students, and community participants, Dancing Griots equips youth and emerging practitioners to carry forward this preservation work. Through rigorous cultural study, embodied practice, and community dialogue, the project activates African diasporic performance as a living instrument of identity, healing, and cultural continuity for generations to come.
Ubuntu: The Living Archive
The Griot’s Journey
Workshop and Performance # 1
In the Mande tradition of West Africa, the Griot is not simply a storyteller; they are the blood of the community, the keepers of genealogy, and the protectors of collective truth.
Tapping into the next generation of culture keepers. 3 young ladies investigated how that ancient tradition survived the Middle Passage, found new breath in the Renaissance, and lives on today in their own bodies and stories. Through dance, drama, and multimedia research, they explored the philosophy of Ubuntu—the radical belief that our humanity is bound together.
We are the researchers. We are the archive. And for the next generation, we are your Griots.
The journey begins with the self…”
Le Cap to the Crescent City:
Sacred Rhythms, Movement, and Memory
Workshop and Performance #2
Trace the living lineage between Cap-Haïtien and New Orleans in this immersive workshop exploring how Haitian dance, percussion, and spiritual traditions laid the foundation for the Crescent City’s unique cultural landscape. Participants will explore the rhythmic and kinetic parallels between the Caribbean and Congo Square—from sacred polyrhythms and foundational dance postures to the street traditions of Second Line and Rara.
The workshop features a special Story Circle led by Haitian Vodou Priestess Mambo Maggie, who will share personal narratives on her Haitian heritage, the deep spiritual ties bridging Haiti and New Orleans, and the historical power of communal memory. Alongside oral history, Mambo Maggie will lead the room in traditional Haitian folklore songs, offering participants an embodied experience of song, movement, and ancestral connection.
The Matriarchs: Sacred Axis
The Matriarchs: Sacred Axis centers the powerful, stabilizing force of the women who anchor our cultures, spiritualities, and ancestral lineages across the African Diaspora. As the foundational spine around which community and tradition turn, the “Sacred Axis” embodies resilience, balance, and creative life force. Through movement, live percussive rhythm, and embodied ritual, this focus honors the ancestral mothers whose wisdom and resistance paved the way for our contemporary expressions.
Featured within the Dancing Griots Workshop Series, this exploration brings the Axis to life through an intentional continuum of scholarship and practice:
- Master Classes: Immersive movement sessions translating ancestral memory, polyrhythm, and grounding techniques into embodied practice.
- Talkbacks & Community Dialogue: Critical discussions examining the historical and spiritual leadership of Black and Diasporic women as cultural custodians.
- Process Work & Culminating Performance (July 11, 2026): A multi-generational choreographic sharing that activates the living archive through dance, oral storytelling, and collective ritual.
Dancing Griots: Sunsum, Pulse & Somatic Healing
Explore the restorative power of African diaspora movement and live percussive rhythm in this transformative, semester-long workshop series. Grounded in Afro-Modern technique, somatic dance therapy, and ancestral traditions, dancers journey from individual breath-centered exploration to collective rhythmic synchronization.
Through live drumming, polyrhythmic phrase work, and collaborative composition, participants learn how movement regulates the nervous system, releases collective tension, and builds communal resilience. The series culminates in the choreographic premiere of Sunsum: Collective Spirit—a powerful ensemble work celebrating unity, shared breath, and the life force of the village. Open to all dancers ready to bridge technique, healing, and cultural retention.
