The Re-Emancipation of Social Dance Podcast Intercultural Journeys

In this episode, host Raja Feather Kelly talks with Vitche-Boul Ra, a self-described transhumanist and folk theurgist. Coming from a background in sculpture, Ra's practice as a choreographer and dancer involves pulling things apart, putting things back together, and making something out of nothing. In this episode, Ra and Raja ponder questions like: What is a body? What is dance? And what does it mean to want to rip those definitions apart? Listen in.This podcast is produced by Dr. Bruce Camp...

This week we're joined by poet, performer, dancer and educator Nikki Powerhouse and Mark Wong aka Metal, a breaker, teaching artist and arts administrator. Nikki and Mark sit down to discuss how Philly's nightlife scene has fed their practice as dancers. From house clubs and queer spaces like The Nile to break dance battles at events like West Philly's The Gathering, Nikki and Mark trace their nonlinear languages as dancers through these vital community spaces. They discuss what it means to b...

Lela Aisha Jones is a movement performance artist, community-based curator/organizer, inter-arts interdisciplinary collaborator, and embodied researcher. Lela, Raja and Yolanda first collided in divine order during a brunch in Philadelphia. Now a member of The Re-Emancipation of Social Dance ensemble, Lela talks about coming to Philly via New York to do Afro-Brazilian dance. She talks with Raja about being a witness, the struggle to find freedom in academia, the embodied work of Yoruba and Af...

“Recovered” lawyer, archivist, choreographer, and dancer, Germaine Ingram is a cultural force in Philadelphia. Germaine was involved with ODUNDE’s Hucklebuck to Hip Hop African American Social Dance project in the 1990s, a critical reference for The Re-Emancipation of Social Dance. Now in her seventies, Germaine takes listeners through the lineage of social dance in Philadelphia, recounts her childhood run-in with celebrity preacher of the 1930s to 50s Daddy Grace, and discusses what is ...

Where did the idea for The Re-Emancipation of Social Dance come from? This episode is a behind the scenes dip into archival audio from “day one” of the project. Co-creators Raja Feather Kelly and Yolanda Wisher sit down to discuss why Philadelphia is a special case study when it comes to social dance. The two artists talk about what it means to practice freedom, and how they can make a performance that gives audiences an opportunity to see how culture is made in the moment.This podcast i...

Welcome to The Re-Emancipation of Social Dance podcast, a prelude to the world premiere of an immersive dance-theater experience created by renowned choreographer and director Raja Feather Kelly, with Philadelphia’s finest poet, Yolanda Wisher. Listen in as 5 multifaceted dancers tell the evolving story of social dance and the impact that it’s had on the people and cultures of Philadelphia. Featuring artists Germaine Ingram, Lela Aisha Jones, Nikki Powerhouse, Vitche-Boul Ra, and Mark Wong, t...