USC Sidney Harman Academy For Polymathic Study: POLYMATHICS: VALUES OF THE POLYMATH: Session 2: Creativity

Event
September 16, 2020 - September 16, 2020
5pm
Online Event

POLYMATHIC PIZZA SERIES PART I

POLYMATHICS: VALUES OF THE POLYMATH

What are the internal workings of a polymath?  What do they value?  Our founder Sidney Harman emphasized that to understand polymaths the focus should rest not on what they did, but how they did what they did.  Leonardo surrounded himself with those he sought to learn from; creativity for Maya Angelou was the connective heartbeat of the universe; and Marie Curie cherished childlike wonder as her entry point to understanding Nature.  Our fall 2020 series explores the pathways and insights from select faculty among us who employ these polymathic values and more in their scholarship and lives.  And to what end?  To learn how.

Session 2: Creativity

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

When: 5:00 p.m. PT

LOCATION: ONLINE (Zoom)

“Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances. ”

― Maya Angelou

Creativity emerges from a dialectic relationship between the imagination and intellect.  Imagine how the art of Hip Hop dance, grimes tells us, “brings a plethora of pedagogical tools, really thought through technical methodologies, and community building practices.”  Within this framework, creativity possesses the power to transform art into the sublime, resulting in the elevation of humanity. Professor grimes will engage with students the polymathic value of creativity in his work and life, and explore its application across all disciplines.

d. Sabela grimes, Associate Professor of Practice in Hip-Hop, Dance History, and Improvisation

d. Sabela grimes, a 2014 United States Artists Rockefeller Fellow, is a choreographer, writer, composer and educator whose interdisciplinary performance work and pedagogical approach reveal a vested interest in the physical and meta-physical efficacies of Afro-Diasporic cultural practices. Described by the Los Angeles Times as “the Los Angeles dance world’s best-kept secret” and as “one of a mere handful of artists who make up the vanguard of hip-hop fusion,” Grimes is considered one of the most imaginative and innovative artists in his field. His AfroFuturistic dance theater projects like World War WhatEver, 40 Acres & A Microchip, BulletProof Deli, and ELECTROGYNOUS, consider invisibilized histories and grapple with constructed notions of masculinity and manhood while conceiving a womynist consciousness. He created and continues to cultivate a movement system called Funkamentals that focuses on the methodical dance training and community building elements evident in Black vernacular and Street dance forms. Previously, Grimes co-authored and performed as a principal dancer in Rennie Harris Puremovement’s award-winning Rome & Jewels. He received a BA in English and MFA in dance and choreography from the University of California, Los Angeles.