Ballet Spartanburg will offer free African Dance Classes at their Center for Dance Education from January 8 – June 2019. The goal of the program is to introduce people of various communities in Spartanburg to the cultural traditions of West African Dance. SC Humanities supported this program with a Mini Grant in November 2018.
The dance classes will take place for one hour on Tuesday evenings starting on January 8 from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. There are no age requirements, and no dance experience is needed. The classes will take place at the Chapman Cultural Center (200 East Saint John Street, Spartanburg, SC 29306).
The Project Director Susan Woodham said, “African dance is a genre of dance which can bring people of all walks of life together, no matter the socio-economic level, gender, race, or neighborhood. It is a cultural dance that tells a story by communicating with movement, weaving in emotion and traditions of many African backgrounds/tribal communities.”
The teacher for the class is Angela Alderson, an African dance instructor who has danced all her life and who was formerly the Assistant Artistic Director of an African dance group in Colorado. Each class will have a drummer experienced in African drumming to accompany the instructor. Angela Alderson will explain the cultural, historical, and social background of each dance that she teaches.
For more information, contact Ballet Spartanburg at 864-583-0339.
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c) 3 organization is governed by a volunteer 21-member Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and/or supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually.
