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LEGACY AND CONNECTION
PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE IN CONVERSATION WITH DR S. AMA WRAY
BY DR ‘FUNMI ADEWOLE WWW.EMBODIOLOGY.COM
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From 2000 to 2001, Dr S. Ama Wray was Chair of the Association of Dance of the African Diaspora (ADAD), which is now part of One Dance UK. She is currently Associate Professor of Dance at the University of California, Irvine, USA, and received her PhD from the University of Surrey in 2016. As part of the anniversary celebrations of HOTFOOT, we talk about the magazine’s initial development, the importance of dance writing, what archiving and legacy can mean for dance, and about Dr Wray’s current work. Dr Wray’s career has taken her worldwide. Within the realm of contemporary dance, Wray danced with flagship UK dance companies including London Contemporary Dance Theatre and Rambert Dance Company. As founding Artistic Director of JazzXchange her collaborators included Wynton Marsalis, Gary Grosby, Bobby McFerrin, Julian Joseph and Zoe Rahman. Her academic work led her to develop Embodiology® – a neo-African improvisation methodology that is integral to her teaching, artistic practice and interdisciplinary scholarship.
SOME EXCERPTS FROM THE INTERVIEW What brought about HOTFOOT magazine during your time at ADAD, 20 years ago?
Dr S. Ama Wray © Aliza Rand
Firstly I want to congratulate everyone on sustaining the magazine up to this point. One never knows when one starts something how it’s going to be sustained because we are always in transition. When I became Chair what was then ADAD, which was a tightly-knit group of dancers and administrators, I thought ‘what’s next?’. We thought about how we could take our regular newsletter and create something that has a wider and deeper reach and impact. The initial steering committee of yourself, ‘Funmi, Judith Palmer, Robert Hylton and Kwesi Johnson formed the Steering Committee, and with Debbie Thomas as Co-ordinator and Alicia Howard as