I wanted to let you know that this week is one of my favorites, as the annual festival of Black Diaspora dance is taking place today - Saturday, at Better Family Life, Inc in St. Louis, Missouri. I'm on the planning committee and recently one of the members asked me, "What does Black Dance mean to you?" I paused and thought. What a great question.
Since I was young, dance has been my main mode of group and social expression. It was how my sister and I shared hours together, learning dance moves off of TV and how my best friends and I in high school, prepping for the talent show, solidified our lifelong bonds. African dance in particular was soon my passport, along with debate and journalism, across the ocean, back to my roots in Nigeria and Senegal, and it was how I exchanged international cultural currency, sharing and learning with artistic leaders in India, South Africa, New York, California and most dearly, in my hometown of St. Louis. At the center of my dance craft has always been: how do we make ourselves examples of greatness and salient instruments of history, education, possibility, and self empowerment. Black dance allowed me to sketch out creative steps, and imagine mind boggling levels of capability that translated into a life of positive social uplift and most importantly, personal cultivation and self belief that I still cherish now that I am no longer on the global dance stage. Dance has also made me a better friend of humanity, helping me to co-create better realities. And perhaps, most lovingly, African dance has made me a super fun mom, a full-of-surprises wife, and the wildest worshipper in church. For this, I am grateful and continue to invite dance into my life as a way of nurturing family bonds, praising God, clearing out stress, and refreshing myself toward the human inclination for joy, togetherness, peace, love and harmony.
Now it is my hope to share a bit of this secret magic, accessible at our toe tips, with you at BLACK DANCE - USA, a 3-day dancing, drumming, concert and vendor festival April 11 - 13. If you are available, pick a dance or drum class that you can attend, be it Percussion, Dancehall Fusion, Salsa and Bachata, African dance, Hip Hop or Afro Caribbean dance, and get ready to be re-introduced to a beautiful part of yourself!
Newsfeature: https://bit.ly/4aSTwLl
Classes: At Better Family Life, Inc., 5415 Page Blvd., 63112
Concert: 7pm April 13 at COCA (Center for Creative Arts), 6800 Washington, 63130
Thank you for allowing me to share this bit of passion with you!
