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Street Dance Activism

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GLOBAL DANCE MEDITATION FOR BLACK LIBERATION // We #EmbodyLiberation

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Dr. Shamell Bell is a mother, educator, cultural strategist, dancer/choreographer, documentary filmmaker, Emmy nominated producer, and visionary leader who holds a Ph.D. in Culture and Performance from the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance. She currently serves as the Visionary Escalator for the Debt Collective, our nation’s first debtor’s union co-founded by UCLA faculty member Hannah Appel, where Bell designs imaginative, healing-centered strategies for social impact and advocates for debt-free higher education. As the founder of Street Dance Activism, and the Global Dance Meditation for Black Liberation, Dr. Bell bridges performance, somatics, and organizing to uplift global movements for Black liberation.

She has held teaching appointments at Harvard University, Dartmouth College, Berea College, and across the University of California and California State University systems. Her research and artistic practice center Black street dance forms such as Krumping and Jerkin’ as radical tools for resistance, healing, and the reclamation of public space. An interdisciplinary scholar and documentary filmmaker, Dr. Bell explores embodiment, collective freedom dreaming, and multimedia storytelling as pathways to disrupt oppressive systems and ignite transformation.

Whether in classrooms, on stages, or in the streets, Dr. Bell invites people to move together spiritually, somatically, and politically to heal, imagine, and build liberated worlds.

In our Q&A with Dr. Bell she shares what drew her to UCLA, which professors and courses shaped her creative practice, and what it means to dance for a purpose.

Read the full story at the link in bio. by @streetdanceactivism

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8 months ago

On the ground at “Alchemizing our Rage” discussing the importance of healing and breathwork to liberation with @ancestralbreathenergy, @thedebtcollective member @ancestralbreathenergy !!! by @streetdanceactivism

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a year ago

We come together, in a collective street activation, across coasts, to channel our rage into movement and breath. We build an altar on the plaza and are led into movement and song that embody our ancestral technologies. This way, we can process and keep in motion.

In Los Angeles, some of us will split off into procession work for an hour through downtown (including the Metropolitan Detention Center) while others can stay at la plaza to continue to build connections and alchemize our rage.

Bring items for the altar. Bring instruments for the jam.

At 5pm we all reunite at the plaza to transition into the music offering that night that continues until 7pm. 8pm Downtown Curfew is expected so please plan accordingly.

A proud part of:
SUMMER OF RESISTANCE
@summerofresistance

Summer of Resistance. 30 Days. 30 Artists. 30 Days to Push back. Taking over the heart of Downtown Los Angeles, the SOR coalition — composed of a growing network of Worker Unions, Non-Profits & Music + Cultural Workers — is creating a cultural safe space for our outrage.

Check out updates from @shayshotz for NY’s alchemizing rage! by @streetdanceactivism

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a year ago

ALCHEMIZING OUR RAGE
A CONTRA-TIEMPO and Street Dance Activism
Cross-Racial Solidarity Event
Friday, June 20th, 2:30-5pm
Olvera Street, Downtown Los Angeles

We come together, in a collective street activation, to channel our rage into movement and breath. We build an altar on the plaza and are led into movement and song that embody our ancestral technologies. This way, we can process and keep in motion.

Some of us will split off into procession work for an hour through downtown (including the Metropolitan Detention Center) while others can stay at la plaza to continue to build connections and alchemize our rage.

Bring items for the altar. Bring instruments for the jam.

At 5pm we all reunite at the plaza to transition into the music offering that night that continues until 7pm. 8pm Downtown Curfew is expected so please plan accordingly.

A proud part of:
SUMMER OF RESISTANCE
@summerofresistance

Summer of Resistance. 30 Days. 30 Artists. 30 Days to Push back. Taking over the heart of Downtown Los Angeles, the SOR coalition — composed of a growing network of Worker Unions, Non-Profits & Music + Cultural Workers — is creating a cultural safe space for our outrage.

@contra_tiempo
@thedebtcollective
@streetdanceactivism by @streetdanceactivism

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a year ago

Repost @shamellbell JOIN US THIS SUNDAY 4/30 & WED 5/3! As a part of my classes moving their engaged pedagogy in the classroom into practice and community engagement, we partnered with TDM @harvardtdm and Mindich Program in Engaged Scholarship @harvardserves, Dartmouth's Hopkins Center for the Arts @hopkinscenter alongside community based organizations such as The Debt Collective @thedebtcollective , Street Dance Activism @streetdanceactivism, and Until Freedom @untilfreedom !! Our ACTION is to mobilize everyone to attend their "Virtual Teach In" on May 3rd in solidarity with @kimberlecrenshaw @aapolicyforum Freedom to Learn - National Day of Action with esteemed special guests LROD @lrod_work, Tiffany D. Loftin @tiffanydloftin, Tyree Boyd-Pates @tyreebp, and Angelo Pinto @angelopintoesq, Jason Wozniak and many others! #freedomtolearn #freedomdreams #bellhooks by @streetdanceactivism

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3 years ago

We are honored that our dear mentor, Sacred Marlies @sacredgaze_awakenings will be grounding the space both THIS Sunday 4/30 and WED 5/3!!!!

Marlies Yearby is an artist, choreographer, and director with a global perspective who has created work across various platforms including theater, film, and diverse multimedia. Ms. Yearby has developed a creative process called “In Our Bones Technique” as an acknowledgment of the legacies, lived experiences, memories, and day-to-day energies ever-present in moving bodies at work. In Our Bones Technique centers on the practices of observation, discovery, and play. Her creative practices develop a visceral connection to the work, which brings forth integrity and authenticity in its performance.
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Repost @shamellbell

As a part of my classes moving their engaged pedagogy in the classroom into practice and community engagement, we partnered with TDM @harvardtdm and Mindich Program in Engaged Scholarship @harvardserves, Dartmouth's Hopkins Center for the Arts @hopkinscenter alongside community based organizations such as The Debt Collective @thedebtcollective , Street Dance Activism @streetdanceactivism, and Until Freedom @untilfreedom !! Our ACTION is to mobilize everyone to attend their "Virtual Teach In" on May 3rd in solidarity with @kimberlecrenshaw @aapolicyforum Freedom to Learn - National Day of Action with esteemed special guests LROD @lrod_work, Tiffany D. Loftin @tiffanydloftin, Tyree Boyd-Pates @tyreebp, and Angelo Pinto @angelopintoesq, Jason Wozniak and many others! #freedomtolearn #freedomdreams #bellhooks by @streetdanceactivism

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3 years ago

Join us for Harvard Summer School's "Street Dance Activism" class community gathering! by @streetdanceactivism

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4 years ago

Messing around & getting free from the D-word (debt). It’s illusion does not serve us so we release it TOGETHER! It is not ours to manifest or affirm. We release the bondage of “owing” & receive the shawl of abundance—because the collective “WE” truly is all WE NEED. 💓💫 by @streetdanceactivism

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5 years ago

TODAy 4:44pm ET!! Street Dance Activism will be on IG LIVE here with Katrina Battle @laviedejoie and Tiffany Pitts! @ratchetbuddhatiff

Reposted from @shamellbell Pick Up The Pen, Joe!!!!!!! Join us in Washington, D.C. on April 4th to pressure Biden to #CancelStudentDebt #pickupthepenjoe by @streetdanceactivism

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5 years ago

Reposted from @shamellbell Pick Up The Pen, Joe!!!!!!! Join us in Washington, D.C. on April 4th to pressure Biden to #CancelStudentDebt #pickupthepenjoe

Street Dance Activism and Throne Dance Crew are in DC for a Radical Joy Intervention with the @thedebtcollective !!!Shout out to @thequeenofkrump @dioncardell and @thronedancecrew !! And 4:44 ET we will be on IG LIVE at @streetdanceactivism with Katrina Battle @laviedejoie and Tiffany Pitts! @ratchetbuddhatiff by @streetdanceactivism

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5 years ago

SEE YOU IN ABOUT 30MINS! CHECK IN 10MINS EARLY IF YOU CAN!

DONT MISS IT! My gift to my students and the community is to end our gathering with a healing sound bowl meditation by @streetdanceactivism's beloved Sound Bowl healer Devon Cunningham, @sacredsoundsbydevon!!!

Bring your headphones!

Link in bio! by @streetdanceactivism

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5 years ago

The purpose of these Community Gatherings is for the student organizers to move their class projects into their communities... Come join us! by @streetdanceactivism

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5 years ago