Motif: Kinetic Orality

Kinetic orality – ‘walking the talk’ or the inseparability of ‘dance’ (enhanced walking) and its ‘music’ (an enhanced form of speech/nommo). In the BaNtu universe of forces, music is understood, transcribed, and socially extended in the dance as the conversational exchange and community dynamics of Call-Response evolve. Kinetic Orality thus facilitates the integration of UbuNtu while transmuting and physically enhancing oral-aesthetic expression, as evident in performances of Black Popular Music…

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10 Comments on “Motif: Kinetic Orality”

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Kelly Combs
August 3, 2019

I feel enhanced by this brief reading. And honestly will admit trying to encompass this any further right now is a little much for my noggin. Haha. I definitely realize the fact that I’m only smart enough to realize how little I know. Hopefully this idea serves me well… Neat stuff, for sure!

Reply
- malaika mutere
  August 4, 2019
  
  Thank you for your kind comment, Kelly. I’ve often hesitated explaining concepts from Africa’s oral traditions in writing because they shouldn’t be intellectualized, but danced. I was taught music theory from a western perspective where music and dance are separate “intellectual” categories (& academic departments), and it’s the norm to transcribe sound to the written page with the technology of notation. I came to realize that this represented an abstractional worldview, and I wanted to find a language that might return us to oral tradition’s organic ways of being. Hence my “oral-aesthetic perspective”…
  
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Natty
May 18, 2021

Dear Malaika, I stumbled on your page in my search for the actual image of “Know thyself” in the Kemetic temples. Instead, I find your wonderful website! You have reminded me of a skill, I hope to learn and give to my children. Do you offer storytelling lessons?

Reply
- malaika mutere
  May 19, 2021
  
  Hi Natty. Thank you for your kind words. The ‘www’ is rather like rolling the dice & hoping for a satisfactory outcome 😊 My storytelling is about connecting the dots of my eventful journey in an organic & culturally-congruent way. This blog has been part of that exercise as I look forward to the next chapter…
  
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Natty
May 18, 2021

Please notify me when there are any classes or information on this topic.

Reply
- malaika mutere
  May 19, 2021
  
  I appreciate your interest & inquiry, Natty. Kinetic Orality is actually one of several motifs I’ve unearthed in my research of African oral traditions. My students (music majors & others) have been very receptive to the Africa-centered narrative of Black Pop Music & cultural agency that these motifs facilitate. I am considering how best to respond to requests such as yours to make these lessons more widely available… Hopefully over the summer I’ll be able to provide a helpful update. Thanks for sharing your interest! M
  
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