the Africa Diaspora Dance Class at
University Settlements Atlantic Terminal Community Center.
On Saturday February 16, 2019 I attended an African Dance class. Prior to attending this class I was skeptical about how I would feel trying out a new dance style.
Once I walked in, it was a very welcoming environment. We stretched with the instructor to warm up our bodies. We also had a live drummer. Before dancing we were told that we would be dancing a mash up of two dance styles, Kuo Kuo and Dancza, which are welcoming dances in some countries in Africa.
When we were taught the different moves, we started off on one side of the room and moved to the other side of the room while doing the dance moves taught to us. Once we finished learning all dance moves we got into windows (spots in which performers are placed so everyone is seen) and were taught the logistics of dancing with a live drummer. We learned about what a break was. A break is a signal for dancers to know when to begin or end a move. After learning everything we needed, we put all the dance moves together and danced it full out twice with the live drummer.
Overall it was a great experience, and I encourage many people to try this class especially if they’ve never done African dance before.
Thanks to Dani Criss for hosting the Africa Diaspora Dance Class at
University Settlements Atlantic Terminal Community Center.
For information about future events, which are mostly free of charge, please check out Atlantic Terminal Community Center’s Evensi page:
https://www.evensi.us/page/university-settlements-atlantic-terminal-community-center/10019415668
