Dance workshop sways minds

The message of the 12th Annual African American Dance Company Workshop was passing on traditions to future generations, but for participants, it was also a chance to have some fun and express themselves through dance.

The workshop took place Friday and Saturday at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. It featured professional dancers teaching a myriad of dance traditions, including Afro-Cuban, salsa, Horton dance technique, Cuban modern dance and traditional African dance.

“Every year is something new,” junior Antwonette Demming, three-year workshop veteran participant, said.  “It’s always fun and different.”

Demming, who has been dancing since she was 8 years old, said that though she is used to more contemporary dance styles such as ballet, she enjoys the different styles the workshop offers.

“I gain new experiences every time, and it gives me a new sense of expression,” she said. “I apply it to the way I dance, and I dance as a way to express myself.”

The workshop was spread through two days, with some classes beginning at 1:30 p.m. Friday and others at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Friday evening also featured a panel discussion titled “The Black Dance Experience: Passing on the Torch.”

The discussion featured a panel of all five workshop teachers, as well as discussion from the audience. Before the discussion began, professor Iris Rosa, director of the African American Dance Company, asked audience members what they wanted to discuss during the evening. Topics of humility, history, language and the different cultures and peoples involved in the workshop were all mentioned. The panel of teachers was then called on for their opinions.

One teacher, Elana Anderson, was direct in her expression of the topic of the night, “Passing on the Torch.”

“The most important thing we can do is to lay the foundation to make it possible to accept the torch,” she said. “The African-American tradition is complex, and we must understand that there are many torches.”

A full schedule of African, Cuban modern and other types of dance classes taught by experienced dancers resumed Saturday morning.

“They are very strict and precise,” Demming said. “The way they have so much energy, it makes you push harder to be better.”

Saturday night also featured a dance showcase in Willkie Auditorium to show off some of the moves learned during the workshop.

With more than 75 participants this year, the workshop had a lot of new students come and dance, Deara Ball, the dance company’s road manager, said.

“I definitely think it was successful,” she said. “We got a lot of positive feedback from the community and pretty much packed Willkie Auditorium on Saturday night for the dance showcase.”