The International Institute for African Dance and Well-being

Overview

The International Institute for African Dance and Well-being is an organization that promotes healing in mind, body, and spirit through practicing, performing, and celebrating various African dance forms. Our institute creates meaningful experiences that inspire participants to use dance as a means for cultivating personal and collective liberation. Our institute is for dancers and non-dancers. People who are interested in using dance as a form of therapy and renewal; as well as, a space for seasoned performing artists who would like to produce work that promotes social justice, liberation, and freedom.  

Our goals

• We aim to honor and appreciate the timeless wisdom derived from African Dance forms
• We explore the healing benefits comes from an African dance practice
• We use our work to dismantle negative stereotypes and assumptions about African cultures
• We ground our work in Africanist principles such as collectivism, unity, and radical hospitality  
• We create choreography and performances that preserve the stories of the African Diaspora
• We believe in the power of our individual and collective stories

Our Conceptual Framework

Mind + Body + Spirit = Liberation 

Mind: Intellectual and scholarly aspects of our work

• Creating new knowledge through reconstructing our stories
• Challenging negative stereotypes about African cultures
• Creating work that centers and appreciates Africa’s contributions
• Putting forth the idea that dance is one of the many oral traditions and a legitimate form of knowledge

Body: Dance, movement, and performance that inspires action and activism

• What does it mean to have black and brown bodies on stage?
• What does it mean to create choreography that helps us to imagine new possibilities?
• Dance can be used to practice liberation and how can we use dance as a form of activism?

Spirit: Healing, wellbeing, and cultivation of joy

• Movement accelerates the healing process
• Using dance as a healing modality to alleviate stress, trauma, and illness
• Is the spirit about lifestyle? Is this part about leverage energy
• Understanding the power of chakras 
• Healing imbalanced chakras through dance
• We are an extension of our ancestors

Our Big Ideas

• African Dance can change the world
• African Dance can accelerate your manifestation process and understanding your life’s purpose

Timeline 2007-present :

2007- 2009-Shani travels to Senegal to research West African Traditional & Contemporary Dance practices while persuing her MFA. She performs at the 

2009 Kaay Fetch Festival in Dakar, Senegal and connects with incredible artists and scholars. 

Fall 2017-Travel Research Immertion Program (TRIP)  application to Senegal with Connecticut College Study Away Program. Truth and Shani collaborate, planting a seed through submitting an application to teach a Spring 2018 special course in the Department of Dance & Race & Ethnicity Programs, that would take students to Senegal to train and perform during Spring Break 2018. 

Fall 2017- The Travel Research Immertion Program (TRIP)application is granted! This opportunity gifted 6 undergradualte students, 2 staff members, and 1 faculty  to collaborate through performance and intense training in a Dance course offered in Spring 2018 at Connecticut College, with a 10 day cultural immersion program in Senegal. 

Spring 2018-TRIP course (15 weeks) and 10 day immersion program in Senegal – The impact/expereince on participants proved to be deeply transformative in how they saw themselves and the world. 

Fall 2018- Shani travels to Ghana with Connecticut College Study Away exchange program to Ashesi Univerity. 

Jan 2019- Shani travels to Ghana for a site visit with Amanda Woodson (Goucher College faculty, Chair) for a new course in partnership with the Goucher College Dance Department. 

February 2019- Truth & Shani present: Using African Dance as a Tool for Deepening 

Identity Exploration at the Nankama African Dance Conference, Howard University

March 2019- Truth and Shani present: Teamwork Makes The Dream Work: 

How Campus Partnerships Enhance the Learning Experiences of Underrepresented 

Students Studying Abroad

August 2019– Shani travels to Ghana for resear ch with Andrea Vonn Lee (Laney College Faculty, Dance Chair) on an Integrated Study Abroad Program to Ghana. 

October 2019– Using African Dance as a Tool for Deepening Identity Exploration, digital pulication, Evoke: A Historical, Theoretical, and Cultural Analysis of Africana Dance and Theatre

Fall 2020- Ghana International Course Abroad (ICA) offered at Connecticut College in partnership with Goucher College. Participants perform and train intensely in West African Contemporary and Traditional Dance, while participating in pre-departure workshops in preparation for cultural immersion in Ghana.

Winter 2019/ 2020– Amanda & Shani travel with 21 students to Ghana on a 3-week  intedeciplinary cultural emersion program, rooted in dance training, performance, and cultural/community engagement. 

Spring 2021, forthcoming book publication, “African Dance as a Practice of Liberation,”

Black Feminist Epistemology and Praxis: Narratives In and Through the Academy.