The Educative and Creative Interventions of Ghana’s Contemporary Art Visionary, Elisabeth Efua Sutherland
Accra choreographer and performance artist Elisabeth Efua Sutherland, founder of the Accra Theatre Workshop, dances out new variations on traditional Ghanaian stories, incorporating sound, emerging technologies, and creative writing into moving collaborative performances that engage children, among others. In this 360-degree video, Elisabeth Efua Sutherland choreographs and dances in “Spirit Moves” (aka How does the Spirit Move You?), which she describes as a “funky hymnal to the Modern Ghanaian soul.” This performative installation critically explores the embodiment of spirituality in Ghanaian society, and the way that spiritual practice transcends religious dogma and is iterated through individual experiences of worship—or, as Elisabeth eloquently puts it, “the core of the individual practice of worship that is located in a person’s very essence, their spirit or ‘sunsum’).” (Chale Wote Spirit Robot 2016).\
Learn more about Accra Theatre Workshop.
Alissa Jordan 