A dynamic polymathic educational experience which focuses on enhancing and furthering the knowledge of Black dance, movement, music, culture, history, heritage, technique, and its people.
INTANGIBLE ROOTS courses, events, lectures and knowledge drops will begin your preparation for developing, instructing, educating, and teaching others by providing a deeply-rooted comprehension of the cultural context for Black dance practices — including, but not limited to Jazz, Soul, Funk, Hip Hop, House, and more.
INTANGIBLE ROOTS’ PRIMARY MISSION
is to provide professional development, certification and accreditation programs that develop polymathic educators in order to preserve the music, movement, history, and heritage of Black folkloric expression — including, but not limited to Cuban, Haitian, American, and West African origin) by providing programming that individuals, non-profits, and school/studio systems can incorporate into their practice.
What should I expect to learn?
Be able to think critically and creatively utilizing various approaches to viewing, embodying, listening, discussing, and analyzing expressions and aesthetics celebrated within Black social cultural identities.
Learn how to break down, demonstrate, and explore music and movement ideas for yourself and others in a way that offers a vast repertoire for self-expression.
Learn how to explore contextual detail while observing and interpreting social meaning when conducting investigative research.
Discuss social/cultural expressions, values, and differences in the field of music, and dance, and ideas around the quality of life.
What Are critical and creative thinking?
Critical thinking: (problem solving) Whose narrative is present? Why did they call it that? What do the gestures mean? What are their intentions? Whose interests are being represented or preserved?
Creative thinking: (a process) A way of looking at a problem or situation, from a new or different perspective that suggests an unorthodox solution.
Who is this catered to?
INTANGIBLE ROOTS was established to educate, instruct and inspire people of every age, gender, religion, ethnicity, and social background on the authentic forms of Black Vernacular Dance.
What is the purpose?
INTANGIBLE ROOTS aims to help teachers and students comprehend the historical, cultural and social context of how different countries analyze and interpret dance. Students can also come to an understanding of their own culture and begin to respect dance as part of their heritage.
How is it applicable?
It offers a structured curriculum framework, to support dancers and teachers when developing their classes and movement practices or discourse around particular subject material.
Why is this course necessary?
Given today’s climate of social cultural awareness and the globalization of hip hop...with its complex blend of racial participation and unique interests, there is a need for appropriate mechanisms to uphold and defend Black folkloric traditions on national and global education platforms. Programs must be developed to secure quality in all elements, including adequate resources, supportive materials, and well-prepared educators. To engage in and sustain the kind of educational reform necessary in speaking about Afro-diasporic cultures, there must be support provided to those who are educating students. Supportive, structured curriculum frameworks can help eliminate the frustration that results when the historical innovations of the creators and pioneers are not linked. A curriculum framework can be designed to assist curriculum developers in overcoming policy fragmentation, by moving away from organizing only the content knowledge of a single movement principle discipline, and toward developing a coherent view of other disciplines. This action, in turn, can structure and guide policy choices about instructional programs, material adoption, teacher and administrator preparation, certification, professional development, accreditation and assessment.