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Healing Black Lives-through ancestral rhythms and movements of Africa

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Register Here

Uzo Method Project x Afro Urban Society Present

Healing Black Lives-through ancestral rhythms and movements of Africa

Facilitated by Mandjou Kone & Uzo Nwankpa
Sunday November 8th & Saturday November 21st
11:00AM – 1:00PM
Price: Sliding Scale $5 – $20 (No one turned away for lack of funds, please email info@afrourbansociety.com for assistance)
Location (Given After Registration)
Limited In-Person tickets available to observe COVID-19 protocols + Masks a Must

Workshop Description

This workshop is an opportunity to provide a live drumming and dance healing session for Black and Brown people in the Bay Area to have an exclusive access to ancestral healing without interruptions. I have a vision of having Djembes, Dun Duns, shekeres, bells and other indigenous instruments played by African descendants with some facilitated movement to address the high levels of stress we are all experiencing today. This will be a 2 hour workshop lead by Mandjou Kone, an indigenous African woman from Burkina Faso/Mali and Uzo Nwankpa and Igbo womyn from Nigeria.

Live drumming by Richmond Wiggins and Bumpity Thump

ABOUT

Mandjou Kone-Mali/Burkina

Mandjou Koné was born and raised in West Africa in the countries of Mali and Burkina Faso. She was born into the Koné family, a well-known Griot Family. The Griots people of West Africa are world renown for their unique ability to record events carefully and accurately, passing history from one generation to the other. One cannot learn to become a Griot; rather one is born into it. Being a Griot there is a responsibility to preserve the culture.

As a young girl Mandjou assisted her Griot father in keeping his band alive by singing, dancing and playing instruments like the Djembe, Bala, Dundun, Kora and Tama. She also danced and performed with the National Ballet of Burkina Faso. With her brothers group ‘Surutukunu’ Mandjou toured Europe extensively as lead singer. Mandjou was then invited to come to the UniteD States to help translate a documentary about the last 40 years of her family’s musical tradition and history.

Taale Laafi Rossellini met the Kone family in Burkina Faso in the late 60’s. He produced a documentary about the Kone Family, titled “Great Great Great Grandparents’ Music” The film’s US premiere was in the National Museum of African Art in Washington DC, Best Documentary Nomination, Los Angeles PanAfrican Film Festival, the biggest Black film festival in the U.S. and later on the west coast at the Cascade African Film Festival in Portland Oregon. “Great Great Great Grandparents’ Music” was praised by documentary critics, and received several awards and nominations, including: * Prix Spécial Award, FESPACO (Festival Panafricain du Cinéma de Ouagadougou), the biggest Black film festival in the world. Awarded by Ousmane Sembene, internationally acclaimed author and filmmaker.

Mandjou is a very popular dance educator and has been teaching and performing over the past eleven years throughout the US. In March 2003 in Santa Cruz, CA she was honored with the ‘Calabash Award’ for her excellence in the ethnic arts.

Uzo Nwankpa-Nigeria

Uzo Nwankpa is a fourth generation descendant of healers from Southeast Nigeria. Uzo is the creator of the Uzo Method Project- A Public Health Solution which is used as a means to fulfill their mission to ignite a billion souls rising in the divine. As first generation immigrant to Turtle Island, and global visitor, Uzo is committed to decolonizing patterns, being a bridge between the world of Africans in the continent and the diaspora. This Igbo womyn is committed to learning and healing through her body. As an advocate for communities that use the arts to heal, Uzo is dedicated to creating and exploring diverse ways to combine ancient practices with innovation. The body is magical.

http://www.theuzo.com

West African Drum and Dance Workshop in Dunedin, New Zealand

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Drum and Dance Workshop Dunedin

September 19th 2015 1pm-3pm

283 Princess street (old post office building)

This 2 hour movement and percussion workshop provides the opportunity to experience the healing power of the ancient African rhythms with a unique style of guided facilitation using ritual practices, songs and dances from Nigeria, West Africa.The crippling fear that prevents the natural state of the dancing body will be explored with ease allowing a gentle progression of the dance movements with the use of the vibrations of the drums. Come and experience self transformation through dance facilitated by Uzo Nwankpa, a global figure who is merging ancient knowledge with innovation and feel the rhythm on the drums with Koffie Fugah a Chief Drummer, dancer and performer from Ghana, West Africa.

No experience necessary.

Limited spots. Register early to reserve your spot. call Koffie 021 02680964

Cost: $35 (Includes drum if you don’t have one)

Event Page on FB

Reflections and gratitude- The journey of the 2015 Caroline Plummer Dance Fellow

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My welcome message at the Auckland airport
My welcome message at the Auckland airport

I am finally here in Aotearoa!!!!!

I am ecstatic about this moment. I remember when I was informed  about this fellowship and I thought to myself ” This is perfect for me and I must go for it”  and then the self doubt began. Am I good enough? What about my full time job? What about my living arrangements? Would they care for what an African woman living in the U.S has to say? Would they care that I am not a trained classical dancer? Would they care that I am not a stick figured dancer? What if they don’t understand my accent? Are there black people there? (this was before I found out the meaning of black in Aotearoa is different from  where I live). I pushed through all the doubts and moved  forward  with the application. The application process was much simpler than I had expected. I had to send in a proposal about what I planned on doing through a paper and an unedited video. I had so much anxiety around making the video. I looked through youtube and could not find any previous winners of the fellowship posted. I had one week left to go before the deadline and no video. A friend suggested the interview style I used which made it less nerve racking and it worked. I had sent in numerous proposals  which all got rejected so why would this time be different?  sent it in with crossed fingers hoping they wouldn’t judge all the background noise and my hair (its a black girl thing to be worried about the perception of the hair). It was less than perfect but because of the timeline, I sent it in anyway. I prayed that it would be selected. I envisioned myself jumping up and down from hearing the good news. Once it was submitted, the anxiety dissipated and all I had control over was my mantras, visualizations and positive thoughts.  

On June 26th 2014, I received an email that stated “Great news, I’m pleased to advise that you have been shortlisted for the Caroline Plummer Fellowship for 2015. Your application will be considered by the full board in mid-July. We will be in contact with you again following the boards consideration of the short-listed applications”. I was ecstatic!!!! I prayed, mediated and envisioned the possibilities of this opportunity. In July 2014, I received a phone call from the Dean of the School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences personally to notify me that I was the chosen recipient. I of course dramatically fell on the floor from shock of the great news and was in shock the rest of the week. It’s been almost a year since I received the initial information and since then, the press release went out, I notified my friends and family, left my full time nurse consultant job,  and I have moved to a foreign country. I am here in Dunedin NZ reflecting on how I got here to this moment. Six months seems like hardly enough time to accomplish the work I have set out to do researching the effect music and dance has on mothers and babies. I hope that I am able to connect with the right people, learn what needs to be learned, honor and respect the people of the land and be present in the precious moments that are yet to come. Stay tuned for more of my reflections.
In gratitude
Uzo

The first African to recieve this prestigious fellowship-2015 Caroline Plummer Dance Fellow, Uzo Nwankpa

~ The Uzo Method Project- A Public Health Solution ~ 2 Comments

Dance Shot

Photo Credit : Jade Beall

I am super excited to share with the world this wonderful news. I have been awarded a fellowship to work with a population that is near and dear to my heart women, children and their family. Check out the press release below.

University of Otago Arts Fellowships for 2015 announced

 

In my last blog post, The Uzo Method Project- A Public Health Solution- Community Based Resource Center for PMAD, I shared some research data that shows the importance of music and dance on energy and stress levels. This curiosity about music and dance continues as I continue to tie my graduate studies work to the power of music and dance. I am striving to build the relationship between being a health care provider in public health nursing and my gift and passion for dance, it is a no brainer to explore and study the best way to merge the two disciplines and worlds.

I was fortunate to be awarded this fellowship at the University of Otago. Yes!!!!! I am going to Aeotoera (New Zealand) as the 2015 Caroline Plummer Dance Fellow. I get to live my dreams combining dance with Maternal and Child Health nursing. This opportunity involves working with the community members of Dunedin NZ as well as the health care providers exploring the culture and perceptions around pre-natal and post-partum mood disorders (PPMD). This would lead to an informed community dance experience and a performance/arts installation at the end.The goal of my Maternal-Child Dance project is to share cultural ideologies around PPMD and engage in community awareness of the benefits of music and dance as a support for the mother, babies and their families and communities as a whole as members experience disturbances due to PPMD.

My dream…..

I wonder what it would be like if nurses, nurse home visitors, nurse midwives, doulas, lactation consultants, OB/GYNs, mental health providers, and family members used music and movement as a part of relieving the anxiety, preventing further depression, decreasing stress, building community, developing positive pathways in the brain, building relationships, improving caregiver child interaction, and improving communication through everyday practice.

Uzo Nwankpa

Founder Uzo Method Project

Global Youth Service Day

~ The Uzo Method Project- A Public Health Solution ~ 1 Comment

Healthy Belly

 From children making coconut oil sugar scrubs, to juicing Ayurvedic style.

From visual sugar content in drinks to children under ten cooking for the public with their mother.

Haile Thomas and the HAPPY organization along with the Tucson YWCA went through a great deal to feed the community with healthy delicious meals.

 

What an amazing experience it is to be in the Tucson community.

I was honored to be a part of an amazing family that inspires me. The thomas family have together supported Haile in her ventures following her dreams.

Photos to come soon.

I was asked to be a speaker and of course I spoke about music and movement and  self-healing practices.

 

See Presentation details here 

“The Healthy Belly Community Dinner is a creative and engaging approach to addressing the issue of childhood obesity, malnutrition, and hunger all in one fun, delicious and informative evening with a community of deserving families and supportive community health & wellness presenters.  HAPPY Organization Founder, Haile Thomas created this event for Global Youth Service Day, as a Service-Learning Project, and in support of her overall mission to inspire healthier generation”

Uzo Method Project @ First Fit Saturday Tucson AZ

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This winter is HOT with community healing events all over Tucson.

This Tucson community in AZ continues to thrive for lifelong wellness and ofcourse WE are here to support the community bringing balance to health and illness. We will be facilitating community engagement at  Healthy South Tucson’s First Fit Saturday: A Victory Party!

SO after the wonderful Family Fitness Fest, we will be headed to South Tucson to continue the wellness excitement. Come join us in some dancing, movement, music and community building. Image

Hope to see you all there.

Keep moving.

Uzo

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Uzo @ Congress for World AIDS Day- The wellness perspective

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We will be here. Community healing at its finest. What better way than to play Live music and motion towards wellness.

It is all a balance.

The Uzo Method Project is proud to support the Tucson community in promoting wellnesss and elevating the spirit through music and movment. Lets celebrate hope.

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Richard Noel and Uzo Nwankpa at Cyclovia Tucson AZ 2013