West African Dance

Professor Shani Collins led a West African dance workshop in February

Associate Professor of Dance Shani Collins led a West African dance workshop for participants in the groundbreaking “Igniting Emancipatory Possibilities through African Diaspora Dance” summit held on campus Feb. 8-10.

More than 100 dance enthusiasts, artists, scholars, students and practitioners gathered at Conn for workshops, presentations and a keynote performance from legendary choreographer Ronald K. Brown’s dance group EVIDENCE. The summit was designed to celebrate and explore the richness and diversity of African diaspora dance, delve into its historical and cultural significance, and create a community particularly to envision and embody emancipatory possibilities for the future of African diaspora dance in predominantly white contexts.

“This is the future of dance in higher education—focusing on the decolonization of dance education,” said Dance Department Chair Rachel Boggia, who co-organized the summit.  

Professor David Dorfman ’84, founder of the influential modern dance troupe and Conn’s company-in-residence David Dorfman Dance, said it’s a particularly important focus for Conn, a leader in dance education since the 1940s.

“We have been working avidly on an anti-racist curriculum that centers African diasporic dance as a source of not only so much of the movement experienced in all dance today, but as the cultural underpinnings of the art form we love so much,” he said. “The summit was absolutely transformative for our students in and around our incredible dance department here at Conn.”

In her welcome address, Collins called the summit “a magical moment” a long time in the making.

“We want to take a moment to think about how many people’s shoulders we’re standing on to be here today,” she said. “We are the manifestation of our ancestors’ dreams.”