Bridging dance and ecology

Who knew movin' and groovin' could be such a great way to learn about the environment? Well...Dr. Jamē McCray did! On this episode we chat with her about how she combines her work as an ecologist and as a choreographer to design innovative education and policy initiatives. She takes us behind the scenes of some of the movement-based work she has done with the Schuylkill River, and shares insights from a project on the future of agriculture in light of climate change.

Dr. McCray is also a seasoned salsera, so for this movement break we take you along with us to a local salsa night. Make sure to bring your dancing shoes!

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Produced & edited by OreOluwa Badaki and Azsaneé Truss with support from the Digital Futures Institute (DFI) at Teachers College, Columbia University. Check out more DFI podcasts here. Don't miss the latest episodes from Season 2 of the Curriculum Encounters podcast with Drs. Jacqueline Simmons and Sarah Gerth van den Berg! 

Theme music: Unrest by ELPHNT on Directory.Audio 

Licensed under a creative commons attribution 3.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 

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What is Groovin' Griot?

Groovin’ Griot is a podcast about how we use dance to tell stories. The term “griot” comes from the West African tradition of oral and embodied storytelling. Griots are traveling poets, musicians, genealogists, and historians who preserve and tell stories via a variety of modalities.

On Groovin’ Griot, we are centering the African Diaspora, honoring the legacies of the griot by talking to the storytellers in our communities who help us understand the role of dance in remembering and reimagining the lessons embedded in these stories. We’ll talk roots, rhythm, rituals, recommendations, and much more.

Episodes released bi-weekly. Email us at [e-mail] and follow us on Instagram @groovingriot!