We Dance Before Our Feet Touch the Earth: Defining Otubere (Detachment) Theory, and Play (Egwu) in Africanized Dance /Movement Therapy (ADMT)
Conference: The 23rd Annual International Conference of the Igbo Studies Association (ISA) (2026)
Presenter(s): Gladys Ijeoma Akunna
Abstract
This analytical research examines detachment as a critical philosophy in the African worldview and Africanized DMT. Insights from my pioneering research reveal that detachment resonates deeply in the Igbo language, art symbols, and akuko iho (enlightening conversations), linked to cognition, bodily integration, and the expression of creativity in the good life (Nduoma in Igbo). However, in contemporary society, detachment is often perceived as alienating, negative, and unhealthy. It has not been adequately studied or integrated into knowledge systems and skills crucial to supporting and accelerating progress in healthcare (ile ka ta ahu) structures of post-colonial Africa and the African diaspora. I have constructed the semantic memory of detachment as the Otubere Theory. Otubere, coined from otube, the Igbo word for the umbilicus, translates as “Oneness Broken" in English, revealing it as a concept of detachment. Thus, I define Otubere Theory as the individuated practice of knowing and owning the self as onwe yaa (the possessor of the self) from afo ime (or pregnancy) and unfolding through the life span. Otubere Theory is applied to Africanized Dance/Movement Therapy (ADMT) as a pertinent foundational theory. It reinforces the ever-increasing mindfulness and control to formulate fulfilled personal and collective identities and destinies. Ultimately, this research debunks the misrepresentation of detachment and individualism, revealing how, for the global African community, dance articulates Otubere Theory within the psycho-social domains of existence.
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