Sung poetry, the oral tradition, passed down from generation to generation, continuing today, no break in the chain…

Eclectic electronic, folk and poetic wavelengths from Greece. Featuring electronica pioneers Lena Platonos and Stereo Nova, fascinating composers and bands Carte Postale, Imam Baildi, ION, Anna Stereopoulou, and May Roosevelt (mixing the poetry of Dinos Christianopoulos), hip hop / low bap from Active Member with Luka Lesson, and Poetic [Low Bap], a new album from Savina Yannatou, postcards from the multicultural history of Thessaloniki, and honoured ghosts, rebetika singers Stella Haskil and Sotiria Bellou, who are the waves beneath all of our boats. 

Australia is, on the ground and in the streets, a place of amazing diversity. We celebrate the multitude of voices speaking up. Two new spoken word LPs from Joel McKerrow and Adam Gibson, and a new compilation from Melbourne Spoken Word. Poets Sean M Whelan, Andrew Galan, Randall Stephens, Eleanor Jackson, Sista Zai, Ebony MonCrief, Jacky T, Common Ground Collective (L-Fresh the Lion, Nayana Bhandari), REMI, NYUON, Cazeaux O.S.L.O. Diverse musical threads woven into the fabric of a still-evolving Australian identity - from Iran to Oz, Amin Payne; from Punjab to Caribbean to Oz, Sikander; from soul to Oz soul, Hiatus Kaiyote; from Tatarstan-Udmurtia to the Universe, Starship Z! And from the absolute heart, Jimblah re-calls Yothu Yindi’s anthem for Aboriginal sovereignty. This is Australia, a land of many cultures, beholden to one.

Following on from #6, Northern Soul dives into the deep, orchestral spaces and provocative political and social stories of Canada.

"Words can be bullets or butterflies. The truth uplifts, while lies destroy. So, say what you mean and mean what you say."—Piri Thomas

A joyful noise unto - yourself! The December podcast is up now on Mixcloud.

Entering my third year at Groovalizacion - happy birthday to La Danza Poetica! The 24th edition is intercontinental, transnational - a world of poetics, mainly new releases, ranging far and wide in the spirit of the dance. 

In August 2008 the great poet Mahmoud Darwish left forever. But his voice is still here, more heartbreaking than ever. Now I ask myself to stop, turn off the newsfeed, clear my mind of prejudice, and listen. This is a mix of the amazing diversity of poetic expression from Palestine and the diaspora. 

Many cultures, languages, religions, rhythms make up the continent and the neighbouring islands of the oceans of Australia. This is a rich tapestry of a place. Enjoy some of the threads...

Hip hop. The voice is the drum. The voice is rhythm, melody and story as one. From Australia to Latin America to the Caribbean to Africa, this is where poetry really dances.

Start 2014 with some conscious dance! Mixing passionate, compassionate dance releases from 2013 together with the hearts and voices of indigenous resistance in South America, and some truly powerful spoken word. Music and story as uniting and empowering force - the word, the silence, the global dance poetic.

In this December edition of La Danza Poetica we travel through poetry, song, hip hop and folk traditions down the peninsula of Italy through the Magna Graecia and the Griko culture of Greek settlers on the Italian coast.

Recorded on the weekend of el Día de los Muertos, raising honoured ghosts and calling on their descendents to speak the border ... la poesía y la música de la frontera, Mejicano, Americano, Chicano, the word and the silence.

LDP 013, ‘Poetree Caan Nyam’, aims to go deeper into the dub poetry groove. I wanted to really get into a poetic dancewith this one. And if any poetry can be danced to, it’s this! We dive into the deep dub seas of Jamaica, and sail around the worldwide ocean of reggae dub poetry. From Africa to the Caribbean, via the States, France, Canada, and the UK, with those poets who speak of identity, history, love, struggle, politics, belief, and society.

Through the voices of poets and musicians, those who have sought asylum, and those who speak up on their behalf, this edition of La Danza Poetica is a prayer for compassion to prevail in all countries’ treatment of those who arrive desperate on our shores. Mostly in English this month, voices from Australia, America, England, Africa, Cambodia, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Algeria, Palestine, Syria ... Across borders, through bars and wires, defying attempts to divide us, we are all united by creativity, love, and story.

Ideas arrive late in the night, explode in passionate flame, burn out fast. Passion that consumes itself, but does not destroy the structure. Like forests that need to burn to burst the tree seeds. What is left is a deeper inspiration and beautiful - perhaps a little sad, even a little dehydrated, but unquestionably beautiful, as experience, and wisdom, and soulful living is beautiful. It's in the music, too, and in the poetry, of Spain, all Latin countries. Fire is at the heart of it all.

Solidarity with Istanbul. Spirit and poetics from Turkey.

Music and poetry - creative acts of resistance. Voices from the revolution of feeling. Take your heart and mind to Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Iraq, Iran. This month's show crossed political and cultural borders and boundaries, as well as centuries. From medieval Sufi poetry and folk song, traditional Arabic revolutionary poetry, through modern fusions of jazz and electronics, today's hip hop underground, and poetic diaspora. Voices that emerged in the Arab Spring, enlightening our world with calls for peace and justice.

This month's Groovalizacion dance takes us into the heart of mother Africa. Voices beating the skin of the drum, calling it jazz, hip hop and afrobeat rhythms, poets calling from the heart of the heart

The sixth dance for Radio Groovalizacion covers a bit of ground in the great northern american landmass we know as Canada. Français Canadien, Québécois, Acadien, English, Inuit, Huron, Algonquin, Métis, Cree ... the French and English heritage, the African heritage, the Inuit and the First Nations heritage - this is the rich turmoil of Canadian cultures.