More Than an Archive
CCAIMRS is not just an archive—it is a movement elevating ACB movement systems beyond performance into the stratosphere of science, policy, and play.
About CCAIMRS
Community-Led. Research-Driven.
Building and stewarding Western Canada’s most comprehensive archive of African, Caribbean, and Black diaspora performance traditions.
Who We Are
We exist because movement carries memory.
CCAIMRS (Canadian Centre for African Immigrant Movement Research Society) is dedicated to documenting, preserving, and stewarding African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) diaspora performance traditions—centered on dance, drumming, music, and storytelling.
We exist because too much embodied knowledge is at risk of disappearing.
What We Do
We are building durable infrastructure to safeguard living traditions through:
- High-quality audio-video documentation
- Oral histories
- Notation and metadata
- Contextual scholarship
- Ethical digital preservation
- CCAIMRS is both an embodied research archive and a public-facing knowledge platform.
OUR EVENTS
Workshops & Intensives
Dance foundations, drumming technique, embodied storytelling
Talks & Community Conversations
Culture, identity, policy, and diaspora futures
Showings & Demonstrations
Research-in-performance, artist labs, community stages
Our Approach
Performance traditions are knowledge systems—ways of remembering, educating, governing culture, and sustaining identity across generations.
Our work is guided by cultural protocols, informed consent, and accountability to tradition-bearers and partnering organizations.
Beyond the Archive
We mobilize embodied knowledge for community wellbeing, education, and policy change.
By convening artists, elders, researchers, youth, and service-sector partners, we activate the archive through training, public programming, educational resources, and policy engagement.
Our Vision
Inspired by leading international models of cultural preservation, CCAIMRS is building a community-centered system focused on long-term safeguarding and meaningful access.
We aim to serve as a trusted custodian and connector across Alberta and beyond, ensuring ACB performance traditions are preserved with dignity, shared responsibly, and recognized as a vital part of Canada’s cultural record and future.