BODY AND SOUL: Ricarrdo Valentine: Rest for freedom

Ricarrdo Valentine (photo: Orlando Zane Hunter Jr)

A Black man wearing a salmon-colored sweater is looking directly into the camera, wearing a gold ring on the left and a silver and blue ring on the right with a multicolored Kufi hat.

During the pandemic, dance artist and photographer Ricarrdo Valentine continued to work towards a graduate degree in Dance, keenly aware of academia's toll on body, mind, and spirit. Influenced by healing philosophies, such as the famed Nap Ministry of Tricia Hersey, Valentine shares what he has learned about self-compassion and rest, critical tools of liberation from capitalism and grind culture.

To listen to today's Body and Soul podcast with Ricarrdo Valentine, click here!

Bio: Ricarrdo Valentine is a second-generation Black, Jamaican American/estadounidense, Same-gender-loving photographer and dancer who finds value in collaboration, individuality, and intimacy. I move and take photos from intuition. Ricarrdo’s photographic work has been exhibited at Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Centro Universitario de las Artes (MX). He has presented his choreography at Bates Dance Festival, Brooklyn Museum, El Museo del Barrio, LaGuardia Community College, and more. Ricarrdo continues to collaborate and work with Christal Brown/INspirit, Edisa Weeks/Delirious Dance, Paloma McGregor, Dante Brown/Warehouse Dance, Malcolm Low/Formal Structure, Jill Sigman/Thinkdance, Sage Ni'Ja Whitson-Adebanjo/NWA project, Andre Zachary/RPG, Emily Berry/B3W, and Barak ade Soliel. Ricarrdo is also the co-founder of Brother(hood) Dance!, a Brooklyn-based dance collective and a 2020 Bessie Award honoree for Afro/Solo/Man.  He is working on an ethno-visual project, Where My People At?, as a 2020-2021 NorthStar Art Incubator Fellow in addition to pursuing an MFA in Dance integrating agriculture and technology at The Ohio State University.  To view Ricarrdo's images, you can visit www.ricarrdovalentine.com. Also visit www.bhooddance.com.