Road To Ose Tura
A Prayer Is Not A Prayer Unless You Say It Out Loud
ABOUT ROAD TO OSE TURA
The Road to Ose Tura is a Danced Prayer Meditation. Working with the premise that prayers unspoken are merely thoughts. The dance will be the prayer. A declaration. A movement interpretation of an ancient ritualized system of prayer and worship, using established philosophies and abstracted philosophies adopted along Efeya’s journey as the soundtrack and framework to this Prayer. The primary mode of expression is dance, with the support of music and visual arts. A dance of an existing prayer ritual, where we are invited to speak to, and petition benevolent forces for blessings, and in turn be heard and spoken to. The Road to Ose Tura is a movement interpretation of a coded communication ritual called “Ose” from the African spiritual tradition Ifa, with its origins in Yorubaland (specifically Nigeria). Using the literary corpus of Yoruba culture which are compiled into Universes called “Odu”, The Road to Ose Tura is a live exploration of these Universes.
Photo Credit: Tracie Williams
ABOUT EFEYA MAKALA SAMPSON
Efeya Olaberinjo Sampson, a native of Brooklyn, NYC is a Dancer, Educator, Performing Artist, and African Diasporic Physical Archivist. As an African Spiritual Tradition practitioner and devotee, Efeya traveled to Osogbo-Osun State Nigeria to became an initiated Priest in the tradition of Ifa. Efeya is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College (MFA), Temple University (BFA), and former full scholarship student at The Charles Moore Dance Theater, in Brooklyn, NYC. She has held apprenticeships with Ronald K Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company and Urban Bush Women. Efeya is a performing company member with Ase Dance Theater Collective and The Ring Shout Musical Ensemble .She has worked with Movement for the Urban Village ,The Fritzation Network (Fritzlyn Hector) , Marjani Forte/The Work, and Marc Bamuthi Joseph . As a member of The Charles Moore Dance Theater, under the direction of Ella Thompson Moore,Efeya served as an assistant to Ms. Moore in the resetting of the seminal Asadata Dafora classic “Awasssa Astrige” on the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. Her work has been presented at Harlem Stages E-Moves 12 Festival and at St. Joseph's University. Efeya has lead workshops and taught classes in African Diasporic and Contemporary Dance for the Black Girls Rock Queens Camp, Barnard College Summer Intensive, The Brearly School, Spoke the Hub Dance, Bailey's Cafe, Cumbe Center For African and Diasporic Dance, Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education, and the Mark Morris Dance School. Efeya is an adjunct lecturer/guest faculty member in the Dance Department of Sarah Lawrence College, and a Teaching Artist with Dream Yard and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Efeya is the Creator and Chief Archivist of "Efinitives" an upcoming web series dedicated to digitally archiving African Diasporic Dance , and the stories of influential figures in the field.
