Breathing is universal

Embody
Image: Embody, Erica Hansen, 2012. Description: X-Ray photo of Shodekeh’s lungs taken at Harbor Hospital.

Listen Now: Shodekeh Talifero Gives a Master Class on Breath Art

For the last few years, I’ve been exploring the possibility of something much deeper taking place at the core of my practice as a Beatboxer and Vocal Percussionist and found that breath is at the very center and foundation of what I do. This has inspired me to go deeper into how breath has been and can be used creatively beyond the functional necessity of it all, in music, dance, art, speech, meditation, and so on. So when Covid-19 emerged, and the centuries-long narrative of people of African descent living in an institutional & ideological chokehold around the world re-emerged, my practice and research of Breath Art has become a much larger focus of how I see everything around me.

by Melissa Katz ’19

Breathing is universal, but not only that, we live in a “Breath Culture” all over the planet, with each other, our environments, everywhere, and our current way of thinking, appreciating and understanding our relationship with the air that we breathe will probably never be the same. So if breath can be thought of as an artistic medium all unto itself, which is what I maintain Breath Art to be, can it also be weaponized in a way to fight back against these systems of crisis and oppression?

Before the world caught on fire, I was already experiencing a deep, personal crisis of my own, which became amplified by everything going on around the globe, but I’ve also never been more inspired and activated by the very air I breathe and the way I use it as a musical creation of expression and intention. Clearly the air that surrounds me every single day is a constant reminder and reflection that there is something much bigger than myself that I need to focus my energy on.

I don’t have a single moment or experience of air to waste. I have to strike with everything that I have inside of me, right now…

–Shodekeh, Innovator-in-Residence

About

With 34 years of personal, professional and community-based experience, Dominic “Shodekeh” Talifero continues to make musical strides as a groundbreaking and highly adept Beatboxer, Vocal Percussionist and Breath artist who pushes the boundaries of the human voice within and outside the context of Hip Hop music and culture.

Shodekeh currently serves as TU’s very first Innovator-in-Residence anchored by the College of Fine Arts & Communication, allowing him lecture, collaborate, experiment & perform within the departments of Music, Art + Design, Art History, Art Education, Dance, Communication Studies, Electronic Media + Film, Mass Communication, Theatre Arts, Arts Integration & Interdisciplinary Arts Infusion, as well as the Asian Arts & Culture Center, the Community Art Center & the Center For the Arts Galleries.

Biography  | Follow Shodekeh on Facebook  | shodekeh@gmail.com

“It Takes Courage” by Joe Kraemer

Photo by Nick Sibol

It Takes Courage is an upcoming advocacy short film on the topic of campus sexual assault, with the goal of promoting increased awareness about this serious problem for Towson University and college campuses across the country. The film will be produced by the Department of Electronic Media and Film – under the leadership of Screenwriter and Producer Marc May (Assistant Professor, EMF), Co-Director and Producer Joe Kraemer (Assistant Professor, EMF), and Co-Director and Producer Chung-Wei Huang (Adjunct Instructor, EMF) – and created in partnership with the Office of Inclusion and Institutional Equity, under the leadership of Vice President Dr. Leah Cox and her team.

This film seeks to educate students, faculty, and staff about the importance of reporting sexual misconduct and to demonstrate the resources and support offered to victims by the university. By addressing this difficult-to-discuss problem head-on in a dynamic way that engages and educates students, It Takes Courage will demonstrate how committed TU is to solving this problem and protecting its students. As President Kim Schatzel wrote in her October 3rd email to the university, there is “the need for more education about sexual assault prevention, consent, and bystander training for students throughout their years at TU.” This project intends to help meet that need.

It Takes Courage will follow the same model as another film produced by the EMF Department for TUPD titled Just Another Day: How to Survive an Active Shooter Event on Campus (2018). Depicting what to do in the event of an emergency, the film conveys important information for our students within a cinematic story. After its launch in 2018, the film went viral, reaching four million viewers on YouTube, and was honored with industry accolades, including a Regional Emmy Award nomination.

It Takes Courage will utilize the apprenticeship model used in the film industry, where working professionals (including TU alumni) are hired in key leadership roles, while hiring students to apprentice with them in order to gain valuable job training and networking opportunities with industry veterans, thus becoming a service-learning opportunity. Students will get to work on-set alongside faculty and professionals, where they will gain not only a credit to list on their resume, but also an experiential, hands-on learning experience that provides professional development.