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Rara Tou Limen

@ashade411

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Healing Arts Practitioner • Choreographer • Dance Educator • Dancing Spirit • Artistic Director • Culture Guardian • Curator of Sacred Spaces•AYITI🇭🇹
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A FULL Circle Moment ⭕️✈️🇯🇲 Hey ya'll! I'm in Kingston, Jamaica having the time of my life. Now that the work is complete, I can breathe and share! Honored to journey to Jamaica for the first time to participate in the Rex Nettleford Arts Conference at @ednamanleycollege. This is a continuation of my presentation first shared at Yale: "Connecting Through the Waters: Haiti, Benin & Artistic Expression” This offering weaves together sacred ritual, altar activation, film screening, deep discussion, and an embodied movement experience honoring the spirits of the sea: Agbe & Agwe. It's a return to the waters that connect us across spirit, culture, and time. This work keeps giving and GIVING! 🌊 It’s been a gift to connect and network with scholars and artists from around the world. The dancers at Edna Manley are FIERCE! You should know libations were poured during my presentation. Paying homage to the Dance Mama's in the spiritual realm, we called upon Manbo Katherine Dunham and Madame Lavinia Williams. Their dance research in Jamaica laid pathways for dance researchers/scholars like myself. Tears of joy! Tears of appreciation cause I accomplished what I set out to do this year, while healing and coming back to SELF. This moment feels like coming home. It's a sacred return through dance, research, and preservation. Spirit got a sister moving in new spaces and locations. This is the third and final conference of 2025. I did it! It feels so damn good to have this work accepted in these spaces, and to actually complete the assignment(s). ✔️1. Yale Sacred Arts Conference 📍New Haven, Connecticut ✔️2. KOSANBA | The Scholarly Association for the Study of Haitian Vodou 📍Fort Lauderdale, Florida ✔️3. Rex Nettleford Arts Conference 📍 Kingston, Jamaica 🕯️In gratitude for the ancestors, lwa, the waters, and the movement that continues to guide the steps. AYIBOBO. #HaitianDance #VodouArts #SacredArts #Agwe #Agbe #RexNettlefordConference #DanceResearch #EmbodiedScholarship #DiasporicConnections #FullCircleMoments #AncestralMemory #DunhamLegacy #LaviniaWilliams #Jamaica #Haiti #Benin #DanceConference #Ritual #PortshaJefferson #Priestess #Manbo #ManboAsogwe taken in Kingston, Jamaica by @ashade411
26
a year ago
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3 months later... Still floating. What a blessing to STILL seamlessly move + flow through two worlds, artistically & spiritually. To have had the honor of presenting "Connecting Through the Waters: Haiti, Africa, and Artistic Expression" for the first time at Yale University's Black Sacred Arts conference feels like a full-circle moment. Upon receiving the acceptance, and also learning I was graciously given a stand alone, 60 minute session, caused instant anxiety. My nerves! Yall, my nerves! 🤣 THIS is the time to call on your people, the spiritual realm squad + physical village, your sisters and brothers, the coaches, the public speakers, the scholars, to assist in the opportunity for growth. We do not do this work alone! Entering with ritual theater, sharing the dance film, then transforming the space with a collective embodied movement session for Agbe & Agwe was everything! Feeling the energy shift as the audience rose to move, was a testament to the power of shared ritual and a reminder that our stories continue to live and breathe in our bodies. "Go 'head Manbo, Ayibobo" were music to my ears. I was charged! To the discussion that followed, to the Q&A that sparked deep reflections on my past Vodou Voyages to both Haiti & Benin, highlighting the interconnectedness of our histories and spiritual journeys through MY lens of artistic expression. Supreme gratitude to my coach @elevate_your_now for those late night sessions while in Panama, to Yale Sacred Music Department for curating a nourishing platform. To everyone in that room who watched, listened, asked questions, and trusted the space to get out of your academic comfort zone to dance, after a long day of presentations, I offer a grand Ayibobo! Feeling humbled, inspired and ready for what comes next. 📷 @alixintheworld x Iya Yanique x Yale #yale #blacksacredarts #conference #haitiandance #portshajefferson #dancer #priestess #research #africanspirituality #dancefilm #embodied #movement #knowledge #haitianvodou #ritual taken in Yale Institute of Sacred Music by @ashade411
57
a year ago
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I'm tapping in to share some exciting news! "Connecting Through The Waters: Haiti, Africa, and Artistic Expression" has been selected as a presentation at Yale Institute of Sacred Music's Black Sacred Arts Conference, May 12-14! I'm beyond thrilled to include my dance film IMAMOU: Hotô to Shore | Agbé ⚓️ Agwe in the presentation, as it is an educational tool to teach! Here is a glimpse of the offering: 🌊 Dive into the depths of cultural and spiritual connections in IMAMOU: Hotô to Shore – a dance film by Portsha Jefferson that explores the sacred bond between water deities as they manifest in Haiti and Benin. 🩵 Through striking visuals, Vodou chants, sacred drumming, and embodied choreography, the film illuminates the shared spiritual legacies of Vodou and West African traditions, revealing how the waters that separate these lands also serve as a bridge uniting their histories, cultures, and beliefs. ⚓️ This special event features a screening of the film, followed by a discussion and participatory presentation. Portsha will unpack the profound themes of the film, delving into how sacred waters connect communities across continents and inspire artistic expression. For those who are in the know, I'm most comfortable behind the scenes creating. Ya'll, I'm being pushed + encouraged to step into this arena to share my work, share my voice and the years of study/research. SUPREME GRATITUDE to my DANCE VILLAGE! I could not have accomplished this project without YOU! 🩵🤍✨🙏🏽 As uncomfortable as it may be, I'M READY! Divine Timing with Spirit guiding the way, LET'S DO THIS!!! 🙏🏽✨🙌🏽 #ritual #sacred #movement #agwe #agbe #haiti #benin #blacksacredarts #conference #portshajefferson #educator #dancer #haitiandance #raratoulimen #embodiedmovement taken in Yale Institute of Sacred Music by @ashade411
80
a year ago
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Rabòday to the world 🌎🇭🇹🔥🔥 First Rabòday class in Oakland, it was a success. We had so much fun. Thank you all for dancing with me , thank you @ashade411 for inviting me. Till next time 🇭🇹🇭🇹 by @ashade411
78
13 days ago
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taken in Berkeley Finnish Hall by @ashade411
2
16 days ago
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A Night of Sounds + Scholarship + Performance & Konpa! In addition to our fabulous MC + Festival Presenters, Friday night at RASANBLE! Haitian Arts & Culture Festival is THE place to be! We’re bringing together Haitian Roots, dance, history, music, food + Konpa for a night of culture, connection and celebration. DJ Graematter @graematter_experience opens the space with a DJ set spinning Haitian Roots to set the tone. 🎶🎤🎧 Rara Tou Limen presents Zanset Ibo, a timely work that speaks to liberation, resilience and the enduring spirit of the Ibo people. ⛓️⛓️‍💥 The night ends with a fab KONPA class with Rasanble! Guest Artist @robensondancehaiti Come learn, move, connect and dance with us in a special Konpa class that's not often offered in the Bay.💃🏽🕺🏽 🍽️ And yes… Haitian food will be available. Prepared with love by our beloved Pierre-Richard, who works double-duty as Chef + Dance Instructor. Come hungry. Music. Dance. Scholarship. Food. Community. Liberation. That’s Friday night at RASANBLE! 📍 Come through. Bring your people. taken in Berkeley Finnish Hall by @ashade411
5
21 days ago
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As part of RASANBLE! Haitian Arts & Culture Festival, Rara Tou Limen + Lakou Ashade invites the community to celebrate KOUZEN + KOUZINE with us! We're opening the festival with a Ritual of Gratitude. Joined by RASANBLE!! Guest artist Vante'm Pa Fye'm Bon Manbo. @vantempafyem 👨🏾‍🌾🍠🥕🥔🥬🥑🥥 Hosted by Zetwal Ashade Bon Manbo Thursday, September 24th | 7pm 3832 MacArthur Blvd. Oakland, Ca #rasanble2026 #ritual #haitianvodou #raratoulimen #lakouashade by @ashade411
1
a month ago
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10 days and counting! RASANBLE! Haitian Arts & Culture Festival is about to be a VIBE! I'm good and crazed over here... in the thick of it all...but taking a pause to remember this Vodou goodness, cause the reinforcement gives me the needed strength to keep it movin'. This is the third year we will open RASANBLE! with a Haitian Vodou ceremony to create sacred space for us to gather, honor, give thanks, and acknowledge the spiritual traditions that continue to shape Haitian culture and our communities. I'm adamant that the spiritual component of RASANBLE! is visible, unapologetically, as it is part of the festival's foundation. Ya'll gon' get some of this VODOU! Ogou. Agwe. Now, we honor Kouzen + Kouzine! From the strength of Ogou, to the vastness and fluidity of Agwe, we've arrived at the agricultural spirits, honoring cultivation, abundance, work, sustenance, and the collective power of community. Listen, I'm already tired. They got a sista working overtime. Tired body and all... I'm smiling while watching these moments in time. I give thanks for this documentation. I give thanks for what has been planted. We will soon honor what has been cultivated. We will soon celebrate the growth of adding an extra day to the festival to honor Spirit. "Many Hands, One Harvest" ALASO KOUZEN! ALASO KOUZINE! September 24th | 7pm 3832 MacArthur Blvd. Oakland, Ca. Come through. 👨🏾‍🌾🥥🥑🥕🍠 🥔🥬 🎥 Soulajer-Yo Bon Manbo by @ashade411
5
a month ago
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NOU WE // RASANBLE! 2018 FLASHBACK When Spirit Moves... A spontaneous RASANBLE! moment in time. Ansanm Tanbou Trinite, led by Daniel Brav Brevil, offered an outstanding presentation, showcasing months of hard work, learning Haitian drum rhythms + traditional Vodou songs. Nou We, is a favorite song, and so is the rhythm Parigol. As the ensemble played and sang, I was on the side of the stage swaying to the rhythm and moving my feet. I looked in the audience and noticed both Pierre and Sebastien sitting in their chairs, bodies swaying, both heads bobbin’, feet on the rhythm, completely in it. As dancers, we just can’t help it! We MOVE! Anywhere. I smiled and made eye contact with Brav on stage. He too saw his brothers in the moment. He gave me THE LOOK that said “Why aren’t y’all dancing?” That’s all I needed! I danced to each one of my brothers and ushered them onto the floor. No choreography. No costumes. No rehearsal. Spontaneous movement. Responding to the rhythm. Allowing spirit to move us. What a beautiful experience. As RASANBLE! 2026 preparations are in full swing, I'm so grateful for this documentation. This is one of those RASANBLE! moments I’ll remember for a long time. RASANBLE! Haitian Arts & Culture Festival will be a VIBE! Come through! 🪘🇭🇹💃🏽 September 24-27 | Berkeley, CA. | The Finnish Hall 🛜www.raratoulimen.com #parigol #NouWe #haitiandance #rasanblehaitianfestival #rasanble2018 by @ashade411
11
a month ago
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At RASANBLE! Haitian Arts & Culture Festival we proudly curate offerings that will take you beyond dance. SCHOLARSHIP MATTERS! Come through and learn a thing or two with our fabulous speakers! We've got a scholar//dancing priestess + an author//occupational therapist + a poet//novelist whose book release drops February 2027! These ladies are bringing knowledge, lived experience, research, and cultural wisdom to the lakou. @yaniquehume @diasporaliberationambassador @idrissawrites FREE! FREE! FREE! | Festival Presentations are FREE to the community. 📚📓📕📖 🎤 Now... LET’S TALK ABOUT OUR MC! 🎤 Our MC is SMOOTH on that mic. She knows how to hold a room, move a crowd, set the tone, and keep the energy flowing from one offering to the next. She is a storyteller in her own right, steeped in ancestral knowledge, genealogy, memory, and the traditions that connect us to those who came before us. CALIFAAAA! @nzocalifa We are honored to have you, Sistren. 🗓️ FRIDAY | September 25th 📍The Finnish Hall | 1970 Chestnut | Berkeley, CA ⏰ We are starting EARLY and ending EARLY! 5pm-9:30pm. More Friday offerings, including an opening blessing + libation, a DJ Set, Performance + a Konpa Dance Class, which all deserve a separate post. Stay tuned...and don't forget to come ready to eat. Haitian Food will be in the building!!! "Cultivating Connection" is our theme of the night. Inspired by the spirit of Kouzen, Friday evening invites us to cultivate meaningful relationships through learning, artistic expression, and participation. Come ready to listen, question, learn, discuss, and connect. #rasanble2026 #raratoulimen #haitianfestival #scholarship #presenters . taken in Berkeley Finnish Hall by @ashade411
4
a month ago
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We’re bringing the ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS to RASANBLE! 2026 TODAY’S FEATURE: FESTIVAL WORKSHOPS! Of course we've got dance for ya'll. 3 genres: Traditional Haitian Folkloric, Rabòday Fit AND Konpa... In addition, we've curated 3 workshops designed to give you a full cultural experience with a focus on: SONG + WELLNESS + MUSIC 🎤 🎶Vodou Song Workshop with Houngan Alain Pierre-Louis Mic check! Whether you call them prayers, chants or devotionals, come prepared to learn and sing with your chest! 🍊🕯️Traditional Haitian Ritual of Relief: Lwil Maskreti & Sour Orange Therapy with Sekou of Lemba Healing Arts Integrating the ancestral Haitian healing tradition of Lwil Maskreti (castor oil) with sour orange (zoranj si) and guided somatic movement. Participants will explore Haitian folk healing practices and learn how topical applications, breath-led stretches, and gentle movement can support relaxation, mobility, and circulation. 🇭🇹🪘Haitian Drum Workshop with Daniel Brav Brevil Get into the rhythms, instruments and musical traditions with a seasoned drummer, who not only drums... he dances a little bit too 😂 check out the video of Brav adding his flavor to the workshop experience... come on, Petwo steps! Learn more about our featured artists by visiting RASANBLE! Festival page ✨ Pre-Sale Tickets & Day Passes Available! 🗓️ September 24-27, 2026 The Finnish Hall | Berkeley, CA. Festival link in BIO or www.raratoulimen.com for info. More artists to come! 💛💙 #rasanble2026 #raratoulimen #haitianfestival #haitiandance #haitiandrumming taken in Berkeley Finnish Hall by @ashade411
2
2 months ago
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Black August 🖤// Reflection I Walked a Slave Route… RTL Vodou Voyage. August 2019. I walked along the Route des Esclaves in Ouidah, Benin, making my way toward the Zomachi Memorial. I was prepared to walk through a landscape marked by loss, forced separation, and enslavement. But then I saw it. Wait. WHAAAT?! A structure standing in Benin honoring an event that took place thousands of miles away in Haiti?! I remember the feeling of seeing it for the first time. Those who know: Imma cry when moved, without a care of who's around. I could not have imagined that while in Benin, I would encounter a physical acknowledgment of one of the most pivotal moments in Haitian history... now declared a national holiday in Haiti. Today, August 14th, 2026, I return to that memory with a deeper understanding. Reflecting on several trips later, what moves me most now is the solidarity. It is a beautiful sight to witness it firsthand. Many temples that I've visited have greeted us with a proudly displayed Haitian flag. Benin remembers Haiti. Haiti remembers Africa They remember each other. On August 14, 1791, enslaved Africans gathered at Bwa Kayiman and called upon the sacred, the ancestors, and the spirits as they organized themselves toward liberation. A grand salute to Manbo Cecile Fatiman, Boukman Dutty, and the countless unnamed women and men whose courage, spiritual conviction, and collective action helped ignite a revolution that would forever alter the course of history. BWA KAYIMAN. FREEDOM RISING. BILOLO! 📍Ouidah, Benin (2019) RTL Vodou Voyage taken in Ouidah, Benin by @ashade411
4
2 months ago
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