Fertility, Womb Health and the Expansion of Spiritual Expression Rooted thru Afroconic™️ 'Booty' Dance

"The awareness of my body definitely had a lot to do with my experience with homebirth. [My midwife] would always bring me back to ME... bringing me back to, 'You will know." It confirmed this power that [women] hold... We're always being told, when it comes to our bodies, that we don't know... And women carry that [belief  within] themselves, that they don't know." ~ Christa "Fatoumata" Sylla

Did the dance style in title catch your attention? Take a moment and meet the GODDESS who coined that term.

Christa "Fatoumata" Sylla is the Founder and Director of Nan Nkama Pan-African Drum and Dance Ensemble. She is a DANCETHROPOLOGIST and her Afroconic™️ Booty Dance fitness class has been used to introduce individuals to many of the "sensual" movements from Africa and the Diaspora. 

I have great admiration for her contributions toward helping folks see and understand the dances of Black peoples in a new and enlightened way - a way to make spiritual connection to oneself.

​Topics discussed:

• Afro-rooted dance
• Studying spiritual and faith-based dance
• Taking on the "essence" of the dance
• Embracing the the spirituality of dance
• Ritual and spiritual practice in dance
• The origin of "Afroconic™️ Booty Dance"
• Diasporic dances that enhance and express fertility
• The benefit of movement to isolate muscles and unblock energy for fertility
• Decoding the origins of "booty" dances
• How dances are socialized in traditional Black cultures
• Differences in dances that have been commercialized 
• The sexualization of afro-rooted dances
• Teaching hip-oriented dances to children
• "Dance" as a part of Black families and cultures
• Learning through apprenticeship in afro-centered cultures
• "Roots of Rhythm"
• Being attuned to yourself in pregnancy
• Believing that "you will know"
• Spiritually preparing for birth
• The value of movement during pregnancy
• Dance as an expression of faith and spirituality

Fatou expressed gratitude for Fruitful Vine Midwifery Services and the book, In the Way of Our Grandmothers.                                     

Fatou's homebirth son

Connect with Fatou and learn more about the work she is doing:

Website: ChristaFatoumataSylla.com
Email: Christa.Sylla@gmail.com 
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/christafatousylla/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fatou_sylla/

Website: https://nan-nkama-jax.square.site/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NanNkama/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nannkamajax/