BLM Pratt 2021 Teach-In: Stardust en el Sur: Performing to unearth ancestral memory and shape futures facilitated by Moréna Espiritual

<div><div><p>Stardust en el Sur is a healing movement class meant to honor indigenous ways of relating and existing through dance – no prior knowledge or skill set required. All music danced to and learned about in this class are by Afro-Latinx creators and is where the workshop got its name.&nbsp;</p><p>The particular workshop features music from the Afro Puerto Rican genre of Bomba y Plena, a practice that allows its creators to process ancestral memory and connection using music and movement. This genre will be used as a reference to answer the question: how can performance become a portal for time travel, allowing us to access memory &amp; create fulfilling futures? Students should come ready to reflect, converse and move their bodies (if able).</p><p>Each class includes 3 parts – dance theory development and analysis, political education, and movement prompts.&nbsp;</p><ol><li>Dance theory development and analysis:&nbsp;Through dance theory development and analysis, students are introduced to the session’s self-reflection theme and essential questions, and are given the space to question the ideologies behind their movement.</li><li>Political Education:&nbsp;Students learn the political history or genealogy behind select Afro-Latinx music/artists that exemplify potential ways the self-reflection theme can be activated.&nbsp;</li><li>Movement Prompts:&nbsp;Through movement prompts students are introduced to the freestyle tools they will be using to craft their own original movement and embody the theme.&nbsp;</li></ol><p>About the facilitator:&nbsp;Moréna Espiritual&nbsp;is a non binary Afro-Taino educator and performance artist exploring gender, the power of eroticism, and ancestral memory. Their family is from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, whereas they grew up mostly in Harlem, Lenapehoking. Currently they are based in Santurce, Boriken.</p></div></div>