From Ritual to Art: Preserving Congolese Dance
Muisi-kongo Malonga, artistic director of Fua Dia Congo in the Bay Area, reflects on what it means to preserve a living artistic tradition.
From the Village to the World and Back
Nikhita Winkler profiles Vetunjona “West” Uarije, a Namibian dancer and cultural practitioner who shares how dance connects him to his roots to heal a painful past and reintegrate a strong cultural identity.
“It Always Comes Back to African Dance”
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.
Discerning The Diversity and Multiplicity of Dances within Africa
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.
“It’s A Discipline Like Any Other Discipline”
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.