Orishas In Motion aims to invigorate spiritual energies and foster a sense of communal connection. Participants will immerse themselves in the dances associated with the Orishas, drawing from Afro-Cuban folklore, dance, and music traditions.
The workshop will bring together discussions, research and exploration on bringing memories from the past and bringing them to the present. Orishas in motion will also be in dialogue and in embodied motion with each participant discussing how the Orishas have entered their lives, how spirituality is used in their daily practice, and how generational sayings are continued to be used and passed down through oral communication.
Capotechnique, integrates Contemporary dance and Afro-Cuban folklore through guided improvisation, structural exercises and movements pertaining to the energy of the Orisha. The workshop uses contemporary Latin jazz music pertaining to the energy of the Orishas. This is an embodied dance workshop delving deep intertwining two forces of movement; Contemporary/ Afro-Cuban.
Beatrice Capote is a 2024-25 Mellon Resident with the Hemisphere Institute creating a new work, Radical Goddess”. She is renowned for creating CapotechniqueTM, a unique fusion of Afro-Cuban dance traditions with contemporary dance forms. Capote is in her seventh season with Tony-nominated choreographer Camille A. Brown’s dance company and is Associate professor of contemporary dance at Indiana University Bloomington. Capote’s recent work as Yoruba Consultant/Choreographer for the off- Broadway production “The Half God of Rainfall” at the New York Theatre Workshop was featured in The New York Times.
Capote’s choreography incorporates contemporary and Afro-Cuban dance language and highlights Black Afro-Cuban stories that have been overlooked by history. Her solo works, including “Reyita: The Life of a Black Cuban Woman in the Twentieth Century” and “Yemaya: Rebirthing to Existence,” have been featured in prestigious festivals and venues such as the Battery Dance Festival, BAAD! ASS Women's Festival, and Contemporary Dance Series at Bryant Park.
Capote choreographed for four-time Grammy award winner Angelique Kidjo on her newest musical “Yemandja!” She performed for Jazz at Lincoln Center with Grammy nominated and award winners Paquito D’Rivera, Wynton Marsalis, and the orchestra’s leader Mr. Elio VillaFranca. She choreographed a new work dedicated to Oshun at the Texas Women’s University introducing CapotechniqueTM.
Capote earned an A.A. from University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and B.A. in dance education and M.F.A. in dance from Montclair State University.
This event is funded by the Global Arts and Humanities Discovery Theme Grant and the Ohio Hispanic Heritage Grant, with support from The Ohio State University Department of Dance, the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design, the Latinx Studies Program and the Center for Latin American Studies.
