Speaker: Prof. Ananya Kabir

Ananya Kabir, Professor of English Literature at King’s College, London, has been researching Afro-Latin and African-heritage social dances for several years now. Thanks to the networks and communities of salsa, kizomba, and samba de gafieira dancers she has been able to travel between continents pursuing her passion for both research and dance. Her research on the history of these couple dances and on their transnational appeal has won her awards, prizes, and big grants; but most important of all is the recognition from fellow dancers that she has something interesting to tell them about the dances they love. She has given interactive seminars and lectures on her research at kizomba and salsa festivals worldwide, and she is looking forward to sharing her work with the dancing thinkers and thinking dancers at the Launch of the Johannesburg Afro-Latin Festival – particularly as one of her research themes is the ‘return of salsa’ to the African continent.