Our newest Associated Researcher, Dr Michael Iyanaga, recently visited us for a packed week (4th-12th March). During his time with Modern Moves, Michael taught a seminar to the project’s MA module, ‘Decolonising Bodies: Drums, DJs and Dance Floors‘. His class, called ‘Inside the Roda: the shape of embodied history and resistance’, which drew on the circle formation of samba de roda and capoeira, captivated the students and team members alike. Michael, together with Ananya Kabir, Madison Moore, and Camilo Soler, also attended a seminar on anti colonialism and slavery at the Centre for History and Economics, Cambridge, where Ananya is Research Associate, shared his extensive knowledge of samba with the team, and accompanied Ananya to her weekly samba de gafieira class in London to help her with the work of dance analysis. He also drank a lot of tea, as befitted someone on his first visit to London.
This was the first time that Michael, a veteran of the trans-Pacific crossing, had found occasion to cross the Big Pond, and we are proud to have been the catalyst! We look forward to his next visit in May.