African Dance Workshop with Gladys Lowe

Join us Sunday, February 26, 2023 11AM-12PM! Free for all participants!

This African Dance Workshop will focus on dance movement, self-expression and identity which offers participants an opportunity to understand specific dance movements and their connection to traditional and daily life practices such as birth, marriage, harvest, transition, rain, fertility etc. In this program, traditional dance rhythms will be explored to create emotional and physical connection through storytelling and rhythmic drumbeats.

The program includes:
– A warm-up: designed to stretch while focusing on breathing to release stress and prepare the body to move freely.
– A breakdown of the steps: Learning simple and basic steps that relate to daily life activities to illustrate a story
– Upbeat execution of dance moves: Choreographing dance steps learned at a higher speed with live drumming around a circle
– Solo improvisation: Showcasing steps learned inside of the dance circle and or free-style movements inside of the dance circle to self-express and connect movements to the exhilarating sounds of the drum to create rhythm.
The duration of the workshop is 60 mins and this class is accompanied by live drummers!

This program was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and The Paige Fraser Foundation.