AFST 346 - Nommo Force: Black Acting Theories & Performance

Credits: (3)
Sharrell Luckett and Tia Shaffer define Black acting methods as “ritual, processes, and techniques rooted in an Afrocentric centripetal paradigm where Black theory and Black modes of expression are the nucleus that informs how one interacts with various texts, literary and embodied, and how one interprets and (re)presents imaginary circumstances” (Black Acting Methods, 2017, 2). In university training programs across the United States, the acting instrument is neutralized for use in popular references and mainstream performances (Ndounou qtd. in Perkins et. al, 2018, 124). Seldomly, if at all, does such training employ a culturally relevant pedagogy that includes the theoretical contributions or training interventions instituted by Black practitioners (Ndounou 124), nor provides opportunities for actors of the global majority to investigate the ancestral wisdom they carry and fine-tune these cultural instincts, sensibilities, and impulses. Black Approaches to Acting (Nommo Force: Black Acting Theories & Performance) adds parity to actor training at William & Mary, by training actors to identify and use practical elements of African diasporic cultural traditions as performance strategies, and to own and command their inherent Nommo Force. The course encourages Black actors to value the inherent ontology, epistemology, and methodologies they bring to bear on any text and in any performance, audition or rehearsal room.
Cross-listed with: THEA 346