Sessions 

OPTION 1: Masani St. Rose -Guinea Style Dance with Drummers Mohammed "Papa" Bangoura and Venessa Farn

Guinea Style Dance (with live drummers) An immersive movement experience of the oral culture and traditions of the Indigenous Baga people from Guinea. Connecting music and movement in a way that will move you from soul to sole.

OPTION 2: Kayla McKenzie -Performance Empowerment

Emphasis on placement of focus while in performance. This session will breakdown choreography and demonstrate a deeper dive into connection of musicality, self and story. Breeding authentic performers and performances that touch audiences with clarity and conviction. 

OPTION 1: Mohammed "Papa" Bangoura and Venessa Farn - Guinea-Style Drumming 

The workshop will include an introduction to traditional rhythms from Guinea, West Africa, specifically incorporating the spiritual connection to the music and dance practices of the Boke people, the indigenous people of Guinea. Papa and Venessa will lead participants through an authentic, immersive experience of learning various rhythms rooted in ancient traditions of the Boke people. The workshop will give participants the opportunity to experience a new and unique way of connecting to themselves and other participants in a collective healing experience.

OPTION 2: Jessica Penalver Cote - Flamenco: From Compás to Duende

Journey into flamenco through its cultural roots, rhythmic foundations and deeply expressive movement. Participants will explore compás (the rhythmic structure at the heart of flamenco), and learn fundamental elements of posture, footwork, arms and hands, bringing them together in a short choreography. Along the way, we’ll explore duende: the elusive, mystical state in which technique gives way to presence, emotional truth and profound connection between dancer, music and audience. This workshop invites participants to discover how flamenco can be heard, felt and embodied.

MONCEL DURDEN - Jazz Is a Verb: Rhythm, Improvisation, and the Dancing Body

Jazz dance is not simply a vocabulary of steps; it is a way of organizing rhythm, individuality, improvisation, communication, and relationship. Through an embodied exploration of Black American jazz dance, participants will investigate the cultural and historical principles that give the movement its meaning while dancing through rhythm, groove, gesture, call-and-response, and improvisation. The class approaches the body as both an archive and an active participant in cultural transmission, connecting movement practice to the people, communities, music, and social conditions from which these traditions emerged. Within Dance Is Medicine, we will explore how jazz creates space for individual expression while simultaneously asking us to listen, respond, adapt, and remain connected to one another.

Friday, January 22nd, 9:30 am- 11:00 am

AT THE DJD DANCE CENTRE

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: MONCELL DURDEN 

Dance Is Medicine: What the Body Remembers

What if dance is medicine not only because movement can affect how we feel, but because dancing allows individuals and communities to remember, communicate, adapt, and survive? Drawing from dance history, cultural practice, embodied research, and the Intangible Roots framework, this interactive keynote considers the dancing body as a living archive—one through which cultural knowledge can be carried across generations even as its outward forms change. Participants will be invited to consider their own relationships to movement, memory, identity, community, and belonging while examining what dance can restore that words alone cannot always reach. Rather than defining Dance Is Medicine for the audience, the keynote opens a collective inquiry into what becomes possible when we recognize dancing as a way of knowing, connecting, remembering, and becoming.

OPTION 1: Tara Wilson- The power of Hip Hop for Healing, Expression and Empowerment.

In this session, Tara Wilson will share her experiences of teaching Hip Hop to at risk youth and her current work in this area. She will share why she believes Hip Hop is unique in its ability to heal and empower: not only with reference to its cultural and historical significance, but also in the techniques themselves.

OPTION 2: Cara Big Plume and Craig First Rider, featuring Pow Wow dancers Jace Young and Natayja Bigcrow- Indigenous Dance is Medicine

Indigenous Dance is a form of medicine it brings healing through movement, songs, culture and community. The Women’s Jingle Dress Dance is known as a healing dance, with the movement of the jingles  representing prayers and healing as the dancer moves around the circle. The Women’s Traditional Dance is one of the oldest styles of women’s dance and carries teachings about strength, dignity, respect, and  connection to the land and ancestors. The Men’s Traditional Dance tells stories of hunters, warriors, and the relationship between people, animals, and the land, while the Men’s Fancy Dance uses fast, energetic movements to express strength, agility, and different stories through movement. Each dance carries its own meaning, and dancers use their bodies, movement, regalia to share their stories.

OPTION 1: Mpoe Mogale- Afro Beats

Afrobeats is a popular music and dance genre from West Africa that bridges traditional and contemporary movement. From Azonto to Galala, this session will guide dancers through the roots and influences of the various dance styles housed under the larger Afrobeats genre. We will collectively create space for connection with those around us while celebrating each dancer's unique expression in movement. No experience needed–just bring your joy and let’s move!

OPTION 2: M'Kyla Kongnetiman -Rhythm as Remedy: Tap Dance for Connection

This session explores tap dance as a rhythmic healing practice that supports connection, regulation, and embodied joy. Through musicality-driven exercises, participants will experience how rhythm can ground the nervous system, build confidence, and create community in the studio. We will examine how tap’s lineage, cultural roots, and improvisational nature offer dancers of all ages accessible pathways to expression and wellness. Educators will leave with practical tools to integrate rhythm-based activities into their classes in ways that nurture both technique and emotional well-being.

House Is a Feeling: Freedom, Community, and the Dancing Body

Born within Black, Latino, and LGBTQ+ club communities, House dance demonstrates the capacity of social dance spaces to become places of freedom, belonging, experimentation, and collective release. Through groove, footwork, rhythm, improvisation, and musical exploration, participants will embody foundational approaches to House while examining the histories and communities that shaped the form. Rather than separating technique from culture, the class considers how the dancing body responds to music, environment, community, and lived experience—and how those relationships continually reshape movement. Through the lens of Dance Is Medicine, House becomes an opportunity to investigate what happens when people gather to move, release, connect, and create themselves together.