8 February 2023 19:00 - 20:00

On Inclusive Dance Education in Contemporary Times: In Conversation with Alfdaniels Mabingo and Kristie Mortimer

The third event in our Guest Lecture Series 22-23 features invited speakers Dr Alfdaniels Mabingo (University of Makere, Uganda) and Dr Kristie Mortimer (University of Auckland, New Zealand).

Our guests will speak about their contributions to the field of dance education, and their recent dance education books published in 2021 by in the series Critical Studies in Dance Leadership and Inclusion by Palgrave Macmillan.

What does ‘inclusive dance practice’ look like in Uganda and New Zealand? How dance practice and education is perceived and positioned in local contexts can tell as us much about people and cultures as it does about ‘difference’ in practices and perspectives. Turning our gaze to our dance communities in Africa and Aotearoa, there is much to be gleaned on in terms of diversity of practices within our global connections. In this session, we will address:

• How can dance education and indigenous considerations help us understand and recognise difference as well as forge connections across communities?
• How can ‘Ubuntu Philosophy’ and ‘Ethnorelative Practices’ help us understand cultural difference within and beyond the dance studio?

More about our invited speakers

Dr Alfdaniels Mabingo (Makerere University) is a dance researcher, scholar, performer and educator. He holds an MA in Dance Education (New York University), and MA in Performing Arts (Makerere University) and a PhD in Dance Studies at the National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries, at the University of Auckland. His research engages the philosophies of Ubuntu to examine the interplay between individuality and communality in pedagogic applications of Ugandan traditional dance teachers in central Uganda. Alfdaniels is Lecturer of Dance in the Department of Performing Arts and Film, Makerere University. He is author of Ubuntu as dance pedagogy in Uganda: Individuality, Community and Inclusion in the Teaching and Learning of Indigenous Dances (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021).

Dr Kristie Mortimer (University of Auckland, NZ) holds a PhD in Dance Studies from the University of Auckland, and was awarded the Caroline Plummer Fellowship in Community Dance 2020 at the University of Otago, New Zealand. She has worked extensively in dance education and community dance, engaging with diverse groups of people both in New Zealand and abroad. Kristie’s research utilizes ethnographic methods to explore dance education, pedagogies and practices in diverse socio-cultural contexts. She is author of Dance and Cultural Difference in Aotearoa: Finding Common Ground in Rural Dance Studio Education (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021).

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