From October 27 to November 9, 2018, the Erasmus Mundus EuroPhilosophie University Consortium and the Center for Philosophy of Law of the Catholic University of Louvain are organizing at the University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès, as part of the research seminar “Thinking about decolonizations”, in collaboration with the Festival Danses et Continents Noirs of the James Carlès Choreographic Center, under the title “Corpus africana: Current philosophies and dances of Africa and its diasporas” an important international meeting aimed at bringing to the heart of European university research; in the field of Arts and Letters; knowledge and study of “Africana philosophy”, contemporary African and Afro-descendant choreographic knowledge.

Kehinde Ishangi is a dance artist, film director, educator,  scholar, and somatic practitioner. She is a tenured Associate Professor  at Florida State University and holds certifications in Franklin  Method® (Level 3), GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM™, STOTT PILATES™, CoreAlign®, and Zena Rommett Floor-Barre®. Ishangi serves on the Board of Directors of the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association (ISMETA)  and is a Registered Somatic Movement Educator and Registered Somatic  Dance Educator. In addition, Ishangi is the Founder and Director of The Ishangi Institute,  created to further her research and application of movement science.  Her pedagogical approach integrates functional anatomy and somatic  techniques within dance studio practices. Most recently, she authored a  chapter in the 2021 anthology (Re:)Claiming Ballet; premiered Not My Enemy for which she was nominated "Best First-Time Director"—GI Film Festival San Diego 2023 ; and completed her initial season as program curator and director of Dance in Paris—a month long study abroad program for Florida State University International Programs. 

Ishangi  has been an international dance soloist. Within The United States, she  has performed with Ballethnic Dance Company, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance  Ensemble, and KM Dance Project. While residing in Paris, France, Ishangi  was a performing artist with Compagnie James Carlès and Compagnie  Georges Momboye. She has danced the repertoire of Martha Graham, Alwin  Nikolais, Ronald K. Brown, Donald McKayle, Jawole Zollar, Milton Myers,  Iréne Tassembédo, David Roussève, and Katherine Dunham. Ishangi  performed Boschimanne: living curiosities with KM Dance Project at the  2019 National Performance Network conference and Ancestors at the 2020  Festival International de Danse de Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, West  Africa. 

Ishangi  has taught at international dance conservatories and universities,  including a Visiting Professorship at Tulane University, USA. In  addition to these appointments, she served for three years on the  faculty of L’Académie Américaine de Danse de Paris in France.  Furthermore, Ishangi has used her training as a Movement Scientist  during the collaboration of  Les éscailles de la mémoire performed by  Jawole Zollar’s Urban Bush Women from the United States and Germaine  Acogny’s Jant-Bi of Senegal, West Africa. 

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Her leadership and community service is informed and supported by her work with The Urban Bush Women’s, Summer Leadership Institute. As a faculty member, she is able to offer her creativity and expertise to those whose lives are focused on service to humanity.

More information: https://www.kehindeishangi.com/

Funmi Adewole has a background in media, education, arts development  and performance. She started out as a media practitioner in Nigeria and  moved into performance on relocating to England in 1994. For several  years she toured with Physical/Visual theatre and African dance drama  companies. Her credits include performances with Ritual Arts, Horse and  Bamboo Mask and Puppetry Company, Artistes-in-Exile, Adzido Pan-African  Dance Ensemble, Mushango African dance and Music Company and the  Chomondeleys contemporary dance company. She was chair of Association of  Dance of the African Diaspora in Britain (ADAD) from 2005 to 2007. In  this role she initiated and directed the ADAD Heritage project, which  contributed to the documentation of black-led dance companies and  choreographers in England between the 1930s and 1990s. She continues to  perform as a storyteller. As a dramaturge she works mainly with makers  who are interdisciplinary or cross-sectorial in focus. She completed a  PhD in Dance Studies at De Montfort University Leicester in 2017. Her  thesis is entitled 'British dance and the African Diaspora: The  Discourses of Theatrical dance and the art of choreography – 1985 to  2005'. She is now a lecturer in the Dance Department at the same  university.

Since 2016, James Carlès has made the choice to make available to the public a selection of its videos.

Two methodologies transmitted by James Carlès and recognized internationally are part of the artistic and pedagogical project of the center :

- R.E.S.E.T. : Movement techniques with multiple applications for dancers and the person: form, health, expression, creativity, physicality are the assets of this method.

- James Carlès Dance Methodology : Choreographic technique for artists and thinkers. It allows dancers to develop their awareness and mastery of movement (flow), their gesture and their infinite technical and choreographic applications.

More than 2100 students have been trained in the span of 20 years, of which :

- 40% became artists/dancers

- 10% are working in cultural administration, in distribution or production

- 40% became teachers

- 10% are working in the body and well-being professions