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Professor continues work on African diaspora

Professor Umi Vaughan continues to explore the African diaspora with his work on a dance festival and symposium this month in San Francisco. Dr. Vaughan, a faculty member in the Division of Humanities and Communication, is one of the curators and a panel moderator for Performing Diaspora at the CounterPULSE theater.

The festival features dance, music, theater, media and interdisciplinary artists who use traditional forms as a basis for experimentation and innovation. The symposium, set for Aug. 10, will kick off the three weekends of events. Performances will follow Aug. 15-18 and Aug. 22-25. The symposium will feature a discussion of the complexities of African dance, practice, production and teaching in the Bay Area and explore how artists address injustice and violence through their performances. Dr. Vaughan will moderate a panel titled “Spirit Moves: Sacred Dance Onstage.” Dr. Vaughan is also one of two featured artists in an upcoming exhibit in Oakland to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Called “Ritmo Negro: Visions of Afro-Latin America,” the exhibit will be on display at the East Bay Municipal Utility District office during September and October. In October, he will give a talk about the African diaspora in Latin America, based on photographs in his books. An anthropologist, musician, dancer and photographer, Dr. Vaughan has published two books recently: Carlos Aldama's Life in Batá: Cuba, Diaspora, and the Drum; and Rebel Dance, Renegade Stance: Timba Music and Black Identity in Cuba.

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