Sung Dances, Political Practices of Resistance

bailes cantados - sung dances - is a practice that affirms and sustains histories of resistance rooted in the Afro-diasporic community of the Colombian Caribbean. It is based on forms of spirituality and philosophy that have been used for centuries as tools for healing and resilience. Now widely used, it activates mutual awareness and a sense of connection and belonging, and is consolidating as a very powerful tool of resistance.

There will be a drum, clapping, singing, dancing and creating songs of resistance and community building. The workshops will be led by Susana Ojeda, who will facilitate the methodology for creating a song dance of resistance together. Sebastián Fonseca (drummer) and Jenny Durán (dancer) will accompany the process of joyful collective creation.

The workshop welcomes people of all ages, musicians or not, those interested in anti-racist, queer feminist activism. It will be held in English with a dash of Spanish.

Susana Ojeda, (Bogotá / Vienna) Anthropologist, filmmaker, activist with a profound interest in decolonial and ecofeminist issues, and actively merging art with activism. Through her work in short films, installations, and readings, she explores the connections to non-human beings and honors ancestral knowledge. It is part of the activist groups: Feministisches* Bloco Descolonial, Alerta Feminista Austria, Antikolonialer Interventionen in Wien. Co-president of the Association of Austrian Women Artists (VBKÖ) since 2023.

Juan Sebastian Fonseca (Bogotá / Vienna) is a prominent Colombian drummer and percussionist living in Europe. He started playing and learning in his homeland and in the following years also in the United States, Switzerland and Austria. Sebastian works as a session musicianand is part of several musical projects. In addition to Latin American music, he specialises in pop, rock, jazz and Latin jazz.

Jenny Durán, coregrapher and dancer of traditional Afro-Caribbean music