Ninoska M’bewe Escobar, a dance scholar and Postdoctoral Fellow in Dance at the University of New Mexico, discusses her focus on bringing more awareness to the legacy of Pearl Primus, as well as why it is important to teach the history of dance forms alongside technique.
Maguette Camara, a globally recognized West African dancer, choreographer, teacher, and drummer based in New York City, shares how African dance is at the root of most dance forms and thus benefits any dancer to train in, as well as how New York City has a flourishing African dance scene.
Momar Ndiaye, a dance artist from Senegal who is on faculty at the American Dance Festival and is an assistant professor at Ohio State University, talks about the political, technical, and social aspects of why Afro diasporic dance forms deserve equal footing with European classical dance forms in American college dance programs.
Etienne Cakpo, a dance artist originally from Benin and the director of Gansango Music and Dance Company in Seattle, shares how his classes at the University of Washington have positively affected many of his students and how there is abundant cultural value in learning the dances of Africa.
Rujeko Dumbutshena, a Zimbabwean-born dancer, pedagogue, performer, and Assistant Professor in the School of Theatre and Dance at the University of Florida, discusses how she has seen major shifts in how Afro Diasporic dance is valued within college dance curriculums over the past couple years since the Black Lives Matter protests.