The Silvestre dance technique was founded by Brazilian dance master Rosangela Silvestre as an extension of the spiritual dance traditions of enslaved Africans. Their culture quashed by Christian slavers; enslaved Africans continued to practice their traditions covertly. The Silvestre technique is a modern effort to connect the present with the past with a goal to heal. Developed to help persons in the African diaspora process their heritage through somatic expression, the method is rooted in traditional tribal dance practice.

In this book, author Tamara LaDonna Williams archives the Silvestre practice and highlights the importance of understanding self-capacity and capability. The applied theory of the dance technique is explored through a series of interviews, physical practice and training.

Tamara LaDonna Williams (Ifákẹ́mi Ṣàngóbámkẹ́ Moṣebọ́látán) is an assistant professor of dance at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is the founder and artistic director of Moving Spirits, Inc., a dance company.

Tamara LaDonna Williams (Ifákẹ́mi Ṣàngóbámkẹ́ Moṣebọ́látán)
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 286
Bibliographic Info: 50 photos, appendix, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2021
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7432-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4137-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments ix
Foreword by Lela Aisha Jones 1
Preface 5
Introduction 9
I. African-Brazilian Culture in the 1970s and the History of Silvestre Technique 21
II. Creating Possibilities: An Approach to Silvestre Technique 35
III. Practicing the Technique 43
IV. Conceptualizations of Silvestre Technique 65
V. Definition of Silvestre Terms and Positions 87
VI. Introductory Sequences for Silvestre Dance Technique Class 107
VII. Methodology and Pedagogy 232
VIII. Self-Actualization 248
Afterword 257
Appendix 259
Bibliography 269
Index 273