Archives

Joy Resides Here: An Interactive Justice Journey of Oral History/Telling and Diasporic African Drum and Dance Traditions

Uncover how Diasporic African Polyrhythms from Africa, Brazil and America create mechanisms for place-making. Experience a Porch Choreo-Story from a Historically Black Neighborhood while learning about the Great Migration. Oral History/telling practices allow us to document our own stories, and speak for ourselves. Using dance as text, students will dance a friendship quality in the […]

American Dance: From Africa to Broadway

Two versatile dancers the OKRA Dance Company take you on a cultural tour through three centuries of American history to explore how the combination of migration, culture and communication created the popular American theater and stage dances we know today. From European classical court and folk dances and African plantation narratives, to vaudeville, tap, the […]

ERACISM: Erasing Visual Racism

Stereotypical images have negatively impacted the self-esteem of people for hundreds of years. We will examine how these negative images are used in media, cartoons, and in art. During this interactive workshop students will learn the power of anti-racist art by creating photography portraits and photo-collages. By students learning about and then confronting stereotypical images they […]

No Mystery in Black History!

  This interactive program is filled with story, rhythm, history, and song. Featuring a call and response song followed by “An African Drum Story,” Queen Nur introduces various drums from West Africa and describes their communal importance. Engagement continues with Black History in the U.S. through freedom stories, civil rights chants, poetry, music and empowerment […]

Sweet Potato Pie and Such

Queen Nur, international storyteller and Dwight James, renown jazz drummer present a flavorful seasoning of interactive tales from the African and African American Oral Tradition that will ground you in tradition, butter you up with joy and delightfully sweeten your mind. Designed for audiences to participate, celebrate and “Jubilate.” Values are indelibly remembered through lively […]

Tap LIVE!

The Tap Live! assembly features award-winning performing artist, Quynn Johnson. This interactive and rhythmic performance shares the traditions and history of the American art form of tap dance, highlighting Quynn’s personal journey of perseverance to overcome challenges through dance. Tap Live! combines dance and music with storytelling to inspire and impact students through rhythmic expression. […]

The REMIX

The REMIX is an action-packed, rhythmic roller coaster, that explores the five elements of percussive dance (rhythm, energy, musicality, improvisation, and our x-factor). This interactive performance, featuring three dancers, fuses Hip Hop music with Tap and Stepping, bringing audiences dancing along the way. The REMIX creates a safe space for students to become both dancer […]

Feet, Drum, Voice: A Soul Steps Workshop

This Soul Steps program explores the rich African-American cultural tradition known as step. Students use their bodies to create hip-hop infused rhythms through call and response patterns and foundational step choreography. They also examine step’s early roots in the mines of South Africa, through South African gumboot dance. If time permits, students can share a […]

From Africa to Brazil – The Afro Brazilian Folkloric Show

The ensemble brings the rich African influenced rhythms and dances originating in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, a region known for customs deeply rooted in the traditions and spirituality of ancestral Africa. Our ensemble tells the story of Africans brought to Brazil as slaves. To alleviate the suffering and preserve their identity they maintained their rituals, dances […]