This month’s series is in partnership with the Penny Godboldo Institute
Ep. 1: Connecting Dance & Spirit
Lecture
Donation $0 - 25

‘Mind, Body & Spirit through Dance’ is a Black dance documentary film that shines light on my experience as an MFA student teaching the first West African dance course offered at the University of Michigan while taking Dunham technique with Madam Penny Godboldo fall semester 2019. With the ambition to conduct deeper investigations, this documentation shows that both these dance techniques have been crafted for the mind, body and spirit of the dancer. As innovations are made in the predominant white space at U of M, you will see interviews and hear the voices of Madam Godboldo, students, dancers and musicians in regard to their experience with the Dunham Technique and West African dance. From the words of the late Baba Tahuti AnkhmenRa Amen, ‘It is important that we as African Americans document everything that we do in order to shift the negative narratives that have been used against us to disband, discriminate and objectify us.

Imani Ma'at AnkhmenRa Amen is a visionary, artist, drummer of the African Diaspora, dancer, choreographer, filmmaker, photographer and dance educator from Norfolk, VA. She has trained in multiple dance styles including Improvisation, Experimental, Hip-Hop, Modern, Contemporary and traditional West African dance practices. She focuses primarily on West African dance and its various musical patterns and traditions. Through these dance practices, she produces many works with the intention of developing safe spaces while unifying the community and helping others develop higher consciousness through the performing and visual arts. Healing, the understanding of vibration through rhythm, social justice; and honoring ancestry is deeply embedded in her framework, curriculum and community structure. Her goals are to bring forth spiritual healing and to simply encourage others through her work as a versatile creator and dance artist. Motivated by her travels abroad Imani has also trained with profound dance artists internationally and throughout the nation including Youssouf Koumbassa, Alseny Soumah, Mouminatou Camara, Makeda Kumasi, Colette Eloi, and Penny Godboldo. Currently, Imani is working on obtaining her MFA in dance/choreography from the University of Michigan. During fall semester 2019, Imani was awarded the EXCEL Enterprise Fund which allowed her to produce “Mind, Body, & Spirit Through Dance” an independent Black dance documentary that was presented during the Collegium for African Diaspora Dance 4th Bi-Annual Conference (CADD) 2020 at Duke University, Durham NC. Recently, Imani returned from studying and engaging research of traditional West African Guinean culture for 71 days with world renowned dance artist Moustapha Bangoura at his home and village in Guinea, West Africa.