Nita Liem (NL) and dance researcher and storyteller Funmi Adewole (UK / NG) dive into the roots of popular urban dance styles. Together with dancer Steven Lima they use live performance and film fragments to demonstrate the interconnections of the various African-American and African dance styles.

From her knowledge of social and ritual dance forms, and inspired by her own perspective on migration, Nita Liem knows how to connect different worlds. Together with Bart Deuss, she has been the artistic director of dance theater Don't Hit Mama since 2000. They base their dance theater work on hip hop, African-American dance traditions, migrant themes and social dance forms which form the basis for many urban dance styles.

Funmi Adewole has a background in media, education and performance. She started as a media artist in Nigeria and left for England in 1994. Adewole obtained a PhD in Dance Studies at De Montfort University Leicester and recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Dance of the African Diaspora.

The dance acts with four dancers during the demolecture  are led by dance theater maker Honey Eavis who is closely related to Don’t Hit Mama.

image: Antoine Tempé