Pausing for reflection in January 2016, a mix of tracks that I couldn’t include in the feature shows of ’15, that are still on high rotation in my mind.

Collaborative poetic jazz, organic electronics. From New Orleans to New York; France to Brazil; Poland to Trinidad; Mali to Cape Town; Portugal to Suriname. Stretching and tensing, sincopando.

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

Rêver en français… storytelling of emotion and delirium of loops, Being in transit in between times and places, in a woozy mood, a loose mix from a recent live set. No explanation, no reason, no solution. Just the enlightened, unapologetic emotion of French poets, under the spell of delirious analysis. From Saul Williams to Anaïs Nin, let’s hallucinate Napoléon Bonaparte together, la danse poétique!

This month I am presenting for you an excerpt of a special mix for Chimeres Radio and Circe:the Black Cut, performed live in Athens on 4 July at Kreuzberg bar, the eve of the referendum of 5 July. 

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.

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

Following on from the 1st, and the 15th edition of the podcast, we return to Italy’s songs and stories. From north to south, from folk to modern electronic dance. All rooted in the varied storytelling and dance traditions of the peninsula. 

The power of the drum, the storytelling of music. Honouring The Spaceape, oscillating with the dark and the light in between the drum beats and breaths, exploring Creole, the language of rhythm and time.

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. 

Raining sounds and stories across the planet. Many honoured ghosts this month, including the poets Rumi, Federico García Lorca, TS Elliott, Badr Shākir as-Sayyāb, Jorge Luis Borges, and Pablo Neruda. Ambient folkloric beats, Afro Latin jazz and soul, hip hop and spoken word poetry, from Ecuador to Barcelona to Melbourne, from New York to New Zealand to Rapa Nui, from Campodia to the Czech Republic to the rainy streets of Paris and London.

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...

The continuing inspiration of the rhythm poets in the Jamaican Year of Poetree. Following the lineage of the griots, voicing the Rastafari philosophy of freedom of expression and resistance, connection and protection. A mix of dub, soul and Afrobeat poets from Africa to Jamaica to Trinidad, to the UK, the USA, and Canada. The future of reggae in the electronic crossover, the global dance poetic.

Through the forests and cities of story... Explore the bright Northern and Eastern European lights of poetry and music, the 19th dance poetic.

The dance of the soul - in this month's podcast we have some dream collaborations, new soul poetry and a sampling of Australia's global music festival WOMADelaide.

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.

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.