Dance Workshops - Residencies
African Dance Residency: In these residencies, the artist helps students explore Traditional & Contemporary African culture by dancing to live traditional or recorded music. Artists connect the rhythms & dance movement, to a choreography back to the country in which the rhythm and movement style originated, by incorporating the history, people, and the meaning of each dance. Students experience dancing in a group, and develop memory skills and total brainpower using both the right & left side of the brain while discovering the joy of cardiovascular exercise through an artistic form. In addition, they work together to create choreography and respect each person's artistic abilities as well as their own ability to be creative and understand how to express themselves freely through movement. Everything that the students learn can be used for performance-based activities, in school, in church, or at home during family activities.
African Drumming Class and Residencies
African Drum Residency: The African Drum has a healing force that all should experience. There are hundreds of rhythms and many different traditional and contemporary drums. The student will experience traditional and contemporary rhythms firsthand by playing a variety of rhythms from, north, south, east, and West Africa. Also, students will have hands-on experience playing a variety of other instruments and polyrhythms. In the residency, students develop their musical, mental, social, physical, and cultural selves by utilizing motor coordination and right/ left brain power to create and perform traditional music in an ensemble. Also, the students will be taught the rhythms for dance and how to play for the dancer. Everything that the students learn can be used for performance base activities, in school, in church, or at home during family activities.
West Africa Dance Focus: Community Dance
Have Fun and Learn Some: This class will teach the basic movement, movement technique, and the art of flowing. The focus of this class is to teach controlled movement, the discipline in African movement, it also offers a cardiovascular workout for those needing an energizing workout to relieve stress, helps people suffering from insomnia, aids in weight loss, balance, and toning of the body. West Africa has an enormously rich cultural heritage in the arts that have long been traditional sources of self-knowledge, community cohesion, and spiritual connection. Come and learn traditional dances, rhythms, and songs from Senegal, Mali, Gambia, The Congo, and Guinea, West Africa. All progress to energetic dancing. At the same time explore the functions of these dances in relationship to your own life. Class warm-up includes working on building strength, flexibility, stamina, movement control, and rhythmic sensibility. Recorded & live drumming is used for this class.
Our Products
We offer arts and cultural workshops (Short & long term), specialized open community African dance and drumming classes for children and adults.
Other offerings: Modern, jazz, interpretive dance, performance choreography and custom design. Performance production assistances. Specialized programs for in school and out of school time. We work closely with school admins to design & develop the program desired from start to finish.