Join us as we voyage through Puerto Rico, Cuba and Guadeloupe and discuss the connections between colonial legacies, race and how Bellydance/Raqs Sharqui manifests in the Caribbean. Race scholar and Caribbean expert Dr. Danielle Pilar Clealand, Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin and author of The Power of Race in Cuba: Racial Ideology and Black Consciousness during the Revolution will open the discussion by framing histories and cultural context in the Caribbean.
Puerto Rico and Guadeloupe will be represented in the conversation by dancers Valerick Molinary and Imane Sioudan, respectively, as they share how their island identities have shaped their international bellydance careers, dance schools and creative vision. Program moderated by Tiffany Hanan Madera, Director, Hanan Arts.
Presented as part of Shift. Shimmy. Pivot. - an initiative of Hanan Arts, in partnership with Havana Habibi Festival.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Dr. Danielle Pilar Clealand received her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Political Science. She also holds an M.A. degree in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from New York University and a B.A. in International Relations from Tufts University. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Mexican American and Latino Studies and holds a secondary appointment in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research examines comparative racial politics, group consciousness, black public opinion and racial inequality with a focus on the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and the United States using an interdisciplinary approach with mixed methods.
Dr. Clealand’s book, The Power of Race in Cuba: Racial Ideology and Black Consciousness during the Revolution, outlines structural racism on the island and the experiences of discrimination that create a foundation for black solidarity. The Power of Race in Cuba won both the Best Book Award from the Race, Ethnicity and Politics section of the American Political Science Association and the W.E.B. Du Bois Distinguished Book Award from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists. Dr. Clealand is currently working on two new projects focusing on blackness within Latino communities. The first, Black Migration Into a “White” City (co-authored with Devyn Spence Benson), is an oral and political history of black Cubans in the United States. The second project will examine political attitudes, experiences with racism and identity among Afro-Latinos in the United States. This project will be carried out as the director of the first Afro-Caribbean sample of the Collaborative Multi-Racial Post Election Survey in 2020. Dr. Clealand’s work can be found in Ethnic and Racial Studies, Politics, Groups and Identities, Journal of Latin American Studies and SOULS. She serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies and the National Review of Black Politics.
Valerick Molinary is an award winning artist known for her unique and elegant style, which flows seamlessly while having that touch of sassiness resonant of her native Puerto Rico. She has taught and performed at international festivals across four continents. For over 15 years Valerick has dedicated herself to the in-depth study of Arab dances and folklore, traveling to study at diverse Arab countries such as Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco. She has a BA in Hispanic Studies and Comparative Literature, the influence of which can be seeing in her creative and poetic approach to choreography, dance teaching and production. Since 2015 she organizes the Lebanese Love Affair, an annual event in Miami dedicated to providing a platform for dancers to study directly from renowned and dedicated Arab dance artists, all in a big celebration of love for Raks Sharqui and the countries that gave birth to it. She’s also the co-owner of Creative Hips Studio locates in Miami, Florida.
From Guadeloupe island, mixed in the soul, Imane Sioudan is passionate about oriental dance and trained with the best choreographers in Egypt, Europe and the United States for more than 19 years. Rewarded at prestigious competitions such as the RAQS CONTEST in Berlin or at MIAMI BELLYDANCE CONVENTION, her talent is widely appreciated and recognized.
Desirous to share her passion, she organized the first dance Festival "MOZAIK, dance festival with his company AL MASRYAH and opened the first oriental dance school in 2015 in Guadeloupe the ORIENTAL SHIMMY Studio.Wishing high quality education for her students, she continues to train and regularly invites national and international teachers within her structure like Mohamed Shahin, Mercedes Nieto, Virginia Mendez, Natalie Nazario, Faith Chang, Florence Leclerc and many others…
Her company AL MASRYAH conveys the essence of Egyptian oriental dance by promoting this artistic discipline in Guadeloupe to the public and institutions in order to contribute to its professionalism.
Since 2020, Imane is part of the international bellydance ballet of Munique Neith and continues to master her dance being mentored by Nada el Masriya.
About the Moderator:
Tiffany Hanan Madera is an artist at the intersection of film, dance, contemporary art and social justice. Anchored in Caribbean aesthetics, Madera’s work is provocative and global, bridging movement and visual vocabularies from North Africa, the Caribbean and Americas to examine diasporic thought and bodies. Working with feminist and post colonial theories, her projects seek to reconcile gender and diasporic trauma. Through her films and projects, Madera creates transformative opportunities for healing and building community.
Based in Miami Beach, Madera directs Hanan Arts, an intersectional feminist arts non profit and produces festivals, social practice interdisciplinary projects, curates contemporary art exhibitions, performs and choreographs dance and directs and produces documentary films. As an educator, Madera serves as Adjunct faculty at Barry University. In collaboration with various non profits, Madera has taught dance and performance extensively in a women’s correctional facility, with adjudicated, homeless, marginalized and immigrant youth, adult survivors of child sexual abuse, rape and sexual assault, all using bellydance as her unique calling card.
Her award winning films and projects have been funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Ware Foundation, state and local government and others. Tiffany Hanan Madera holds a Masters Degree in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from Florida International University and a Master’s Degree in Performance Studies from New York University Tisch School of the Arts.