February 27–March 1, 2015

Lyman Hall

Contemporary Mande Performance as Cultural Diplomacy

The Rhythm of Change Festival 2015 supported the exchange of art and ideas between transnational art-makers, social activists, and embodied ideologies to address gaps in understanding, consciousness and social action. Through engagement, inspired performances, Open Café discussions and workshops on the role of Mande Performance to enact Social Justice, artists, students, and scholars from around the world congregated and collaborated.

The Rhythm of Change is an initiative that has emerged from years of Mande West African Dance as a historical and embodied study at Brown University. Since its inception in 1989, Brown’s program has pioneered the study of Mande performance; it is now a transnational program with a research center in Mali and has served over 2000 students from around the globe. The Rhythm of Change Initiative builds directly upon projects pioneered through the Mande program, including The Bloodline Project, which developed performance pieces on malaria prevention, and the hugely popular Africanist weekends, which have brought African performance artists to the Brown community for over 10 years.