African American Dance Company offers workshops

The African American Dance Company is presenting its 14th annual dance workshop this weekend.

Guest artists and dancers from across the state will travel to IU for the two-day event.

The African American Dance Company workshop is the only workshop in Indiana offering various dance classes taught from the perspective of the African diaspora.

The guest artists are dancers, percussionists and instructors well-known in the African-American dance community, including Joel Hall, Alfred Baker and Rogelio Kindelan. They will teach technique and choreography classes in Afro-Cuban, modern, salsa and West Indian dance styles.

Professor Iris Rosa, director of the African American Dance Company, said people often assume the workshop only focuses on African dances, but the dance opportunity offers tutelage in many different movement genres.

“People like to put things in boxes,” Rosa said. “Just because a class is taught by a black man does not mean he just does African dance. This workshop is an opportunity to learn outside of the box.”

The workshop’s coordinators aim to expose students and community members to different dance forms from the perspective of the African and African American diaspora, as well as the aesthetics and techniques of the dances.

“The dance workshop is unlike any other workshop I’ve been to,” said senior Rachel Livingston, a dancer in the African American Dance Company. “It is about the experience more than the dancing.”

When Rosa developed the workshop in 1998, she saw a need in the IU community for dance taught from the African perspective, she said.

“Most dancers are used to taking classes with white dancers taught by white teachers,” Rosa said. “(The workshop) gives people a chance to explore the aesthetic and experience that these black artists bring to dance.”

Students in the workshop will also have the opportunity to perform the choreography they learned in a showcase Saturday night in the Neal-Marshall Grand Hall. The performance is open to the public and will feature the guest artists, workshop students and the African American Dance Company dancers.

Rosa said no dance experience is needed to participate in the workshop, but an open mind and a desire to learn are necessary.

The enriching nature of the workshop attracts dancers of all ages and dance backgrounds, from 16-year-olds to 60-year-olds, Livingston said.

“It is a lot deeper and more meaningful than other workshops,” Livingston said. “The teachers don’t just teach you movements. You learn about the music, religion and culture behind the dances.”

Students and community members can sign up for the workshop on the African American Arts Institute website, as well as in the Neal-Marshall Center the day of the classes.

“At the end of the two days, even if you haven’t danced before or dance every day, you will be sore,” Livingston said. “It’ll mean you learned and really worked.”
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