Gastlezing: Thomas Talawa Prestø

African & Caribbean Peoples Dance - Ancient Power - Modern Use

Performing Arts in a New Era

Guest lecture - meetup event by: Thomas Talawa Prestø and IDlab

Due to unavoidable circumstances the guest lecture of Thomas Prestø is postponed. We apologise for any inconvenience and will let you know of a new date as soon as it can be scheduled.

  • Read the newsitem about Expanded Contemporary Dance students and teachers working from 9-13 January with Thomas Talawa Prestø, visiting artist within the ATD Artist in Residency programme. 

Thomas “Talawa” Prestø is the founder and artistic director of Tabanka African & Caribbean Peoples Dance Ensemble in Oslo, Norway. The company and its associated movement technique, the Talawa Technique, has been 21 years in the making. The Talawa Technique is one of few fully codified techniques drawing from Africa and the Diaspora. Tabanka Dance Ensemble company works outside the western canon of art production creating highly kinetic contemporary work drawing from African, Caribbean and Diasporan movement practices.

The main slogan, technique and core principle of the company is Ancient Power - Modern Use

Are you ready to delve into the Talawa Technique?
Join us for a conversation and lecture led by Thomas Talawa Prestø, Laura Cull and Erik Lint of IDlab. Thomas is the founder of the technique and will open the meeting with a theoretical session exploring the potential of decolonizing dance through the use of Africana aesthetics and ancestral dance practices.

Developed through an extensive research and adaptation process, the Talawa Technique is a comprehensive and structured approach to Africana dance that combines elements of African and Diaspora movement practices. With a foundation of common positions, placements, and movement qualities, as well as additional movement research phrases to train specific skills and coordination, the Talawa Technique offers a unique and empowering way to connect with the ancient traditions of African and Caribbean dance. Ancient Power - Modern Use. 

Performing Arts in a New Era

Within the context of a larger research project, Horizon Europe PREMIERE: https://premiere-project.eu/ IDlab is a consortium partner and ready to explore Ai and XR tools for a better understanding, preservation, enjoyment and accessibility. IDlab recently started to research the question whether the Talawa Technique is compatible within existing Motion Capture hardware and software of Rokoko and Xsense. Or whether there is a 'euro centrist development in the field of deep learning and Ai when it comes to automated motion analysis for the purpose of creating dance avatars in the metaverse. A pilot en test setup with Xsense and GoPro11's marks the start of research in the week before this guest lecture and meetup event. 

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This event is co-produced and co-financed by IDlab en AiR

 

 

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