Exploring Culture: Spelmanite Meets Black British Theatre

Gilayah Mc Intosh Start Date: Jan 18, 2025 - End Date: May 17, 2025
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Professional Development
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • England, United Kingdom

My Travel Story

by: Gilayah Mc Intosh Start Date: Jan 18, 2025 - End Date: May 17, 2025
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Professional Development
  • Educational/Research Trip
At the beginning of my college career, I attended the University of Michigan, where I studied theatre arts. The joy and importance of Black theatre and Black artistic spaces have been discovered. I made the decision to Transfer to Spelman College after my sophomore year to study Sociology; however, my primary interest/research focus is the role of Black artistic performance in social movements. Since transferring from the University of Michigan to Spelman, I have approached theatre from a more academic lens and discovered the African diaspora's beautiful nuances. BADA’s Black British Theatre and Performance program will enhance my research while developing my creative practices from a diasporic view. Gaining a deeper perspective on a branch of the African diaspora, such as the African British experiences, is pivotal for my creative pursuits, mainly translating the lived experiences of Black communities into performance, creating pieces that connect the Black expertise globally.



  • England, United Kingdom

Updates

2

  • My Why

    My Why
    Below is my personal statement from my application to BADA.

    As a transfer sociology student at Spelman College, my primary research focus is the role of Black artistic performance in social movements. My interest in sociopolitical theatre began when I was introduced to Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed and Brectian theatre. Experimenting with Image theatre and Brect’s dramaturgical analysis exposed how these techniques could engage communities in critical conversations necessary for revolutionary action. Then, in my first year at the University of Michigan (U of M), I rediscovered my love for dance through physical improvisation and independent research into Towards a Poor Theatre and expressionist movement artist Pina Bausch.
    In my sophomore year, I choreographed a production of For Colored Girls Who’s Considered to Suicide when the Ranbow’s Enuf and an original piece, STREET. To ground these pieces, I integrated Boal and Brecht's socio-political, community-focused practices with Gretwoski and Bausch's creation philosophies. Additionally, I collaborated with performers to facilitate channeling the experiences of Black people to translate them into a performance. Since transferring from U of M to Spelman, I approach theatre from a more academic lens and have discovered the beautiful nuances of the African diaspora. BADA’s Black British Theatre and Performance program will enhance my research while developing my creative practices from a diasporic view.
    “Developments and Contexts of Black British Theatre” will expand my understanding of the Black experience outside the United States. In my African Diaspora class, we have discussed how the United States is a society centered around race and the existence of WEB Du Bois’s “double consciousness.” I wonder if double consciousness exists for all African descendants and if it informed the Black British Theatre genre. It’s known that Africans often grapple with the legacies of colonialism and the complicated sense of identity. Unlike the U.S., though, where African Americans' relationship with white America is famously complex, there’s little I know about the Black British experience. I wonder if this history could be shaped by the same “double consciousness” African Americans face—one tied to both their diasporic heritage and their position in post-colonial Britain.
    The works of Inua Ellams and Bola Agbaje in African-British Narratives discuss themes of identity, inequality, equality, and intersectionality, which resonate with my interests in socio-political and community-engaged theatre. The way both Ellams and Agbaje use theatre as a platform to engage communities in critical conversations about race and existence in Britain’s context draws an interesting comparison to these same conversations in the United States. I am curious to uncover how and if Brechtian and Boal-inspired principles were applied in these stories. Gaining a deeper perspective on a branch of the African diaspora, such as the African British experiences, is pivotal for my creative pursuits, mainly translating the lived experiences of Black communities into performance, creating pieces that connect the Black expertise globally.
    Participating in BADA’s Black British Theatre program would allow me to immerse myself in a unique learning environment for socio-political creative practices.


    ?>

  • It’s Official!!!

    It’s official!!!
    Feeling so blessed!
    ?>

More Travel Information