Ms. Afrika Abney previously provided dance consultant services for many small businesses and non profit organizations, including dance studios.
Joy of Motion Dance Center "is non-profit charitable organization founded in 1976, Joy of Motion Dance Center has since developed into the “the area’s most comprehensive dance institution” (Washington Post), engaging 60 faculty members and teaching artists, providing more than 400 weekly classes, and drawing nearly 9,000 unique students and artists annually to three studio locations (in two Wards of DC and in Bethesda, MD). With more than 40 years of history in the District, Joy of Motion has become the hub of a vast artistic community, committed to excellence both in high-level training and community-based arts experiences.
At Joy of Motion, Dance is for Everyone! Whether you love to dance, are a lover of the art form presented on stage, or support an emerging dancer, there is a place for you in Joy of Motion's dance family. Joy of Motion is committed to building strong, healthy communities of people who share a universal love of dance by challenging those served to reach their fullest potential, fostering authentic interpersonal connections, creating spaces for all to participate, and pursuing the highest standards of quality at all levels of dance education and performance."
Tanya Nuchols
Tanya Nuchols "is a dance fitness instructor certified in Barre Body, Zumba, Piyo and Pound. She currently teaches at several studios including Studio Body Logic and Joy of Motion Dance Center. Growing up, she trained in ballet, jazz and modern at Arlington Center for Dance and currently enjoys training in a wide variety of international styles from ballroom to bellydancing. Dance-based fitness keeps her motivated to stay active and loves to lead others in keeping exercise engaging and creative."
Sylvana Juliet Christopher
Sylvana Christopher "is a D.C. native, performer, choreographer and teaching artist. She is committed to bringing dance into people's lives as a means for expressing the inner self through physical motion. Her choreographic work has graced several spaces including The National Museum of African Arts, Museum of the Americas, The Phillips Collection, Jack Guidone Theater, The Atlas Performing Arts Center, Gallaudet University, Howard Community College and The Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage. With several choreographers and musicians, she presented 5 by 5 in 2016 at St. Columba’s Church.
Christopher believes in building community through dancemaking and used that belief to co-found Glade Dance Collective in 2009 with dance advocate Betsy Loikow as well as Dancing Rogues with Sara Herrera and Hayley Cutler. A graduate of The Washington School of Ballet, Christopher earned a BFA in Dance Performance & Choreography from The Ohio State University in 2002 and her diaspora research extends to the Caribbean, France and Senegal. She has performed with Open Circle Theater, In Series and danced works by Michelle Ava, Meisha Bosma, Holly Bass, Lucy Bowen McCauley, Rita Jean Kelly Burns, Nancy Havlik, Kate Jordan, Kelly King, Assane Konte, Sarah Ewing, Gesel Mason, Natty McCube, Erica Rebollar, Juan Carlos Rincones, Melissa Saint Amour, Samantha Sobash, Erin Tunbridge and Cynthia Word.
SylviDances recently premiered 3 dances at Baltimore Theater Project in 2018: ash, a response to her fear of nuclear winter, Charades with DancEthos about volleys between dominant world leaders, and Who by Joan Nicholas-Walker reflecting on the many roles a woman plays in her lifetime. Then She Fell, created by Maggie Lockhart and Christopher for 5 by 5, was reset on Howard Community College Dance Company and selected for Dance Place’s New Releases Choreographic Showcase.
You can catch Sylvana teaching for Joy of Motion Dance Center Atlas, The Washington Ballet @THEARC, Word Dance Theater at Dance Loft on 14, and Rainbow Dance with Inner City, Inner Child. She has also taught for Wolf Trap, City Dance, Washington Performing Arts, Dance Place and Sitar Arts Center."
The Bele Bele Rhythm Collective "is an intergenerational group of women from DC & surrounding areas who have come together to form a sisterhood of the drum.
The Bele Bele Rhythm Collective is an intergenerational group of women from DC and surrounding areas who have come together to form a sisterhood of the drum. Founded in 2008 and led by "Drumlady" Kristen Arant, the BBRC performs tightly sewn compositions of polyrhythms on West African dun-un and djembe drums, complete with exciting breaks, contagious songs, and dancing. The BBRC performs to celebrate unity and diversity, and to spread the joy and healing power of West African drumming to the community at-large."
https://www.facebook.com/pg/BeleBeleRhythmCollective
"KRISTEN ARANT is a percussionist, vocalist, teaching artist and activist living and working in the Washington, DC region. Originally a classically-trained oboe player with a degree in music, she began her drumming career upon moving to Washington DC in 2000, when she helped initiate the activist drumming ensemble Rhythm Workers Union, known for its hand-built drum cart the “MotherDrumShip,” and its legions of drummers who created a spectacle at hundreds of protests, rallies and events through 2007. Enthralled by the healing and unifying power of the Djembe drum, Kristen began to study West African drumming in 2002. She spent time with masters such as Baile McKnight, Mamady Keita and Tammi Hessen. In 2004 she began teaching drumming at DC public schools, and through these experiences discovered how the drum could transform the self esteem of young people and help them to become self-actualized. In 2005 she started a DC non-profit organization, the Young Women’s Drumming Empowerment Project, which enrolled young women ages 12 and up from across DC, taught them how to play West African drums, and guided them through poetry, song-writing, theatre and dance workshops that culminated in final performances. These performance showcases “wowed” communities across DC as they witnessed young women coming of age via drumming – an innovative Rite of Passage."
Young Women's Drumming Empowerment Project "gives rise to young women's self-esteem, positive development, and creative self expression through drumming and more."
In 2015, Young Women's Drumming Empowerment Project presented a Summer Camp at All Souls Church.
"KRISTEN ARANT is a percussionist, vocalist, teaching artist and activist living and working in the Washington, DC region. Originally a classically-trained oboe player with a degree in music, she began her drumming career upon moving to Washington DC in 2000, when she helped initiate the activist drumming ensemble Rhythm Workers Union, known for its hand-built drum cart the “MotherDrumShip,” and its legions of drummers who created a spectacle at hundreds of protests, rallies and events through 2007. Enthralled by the healing and unifying power of the Djembe drum, Kristen began to study West African drumming in 2002. She spent time with masters such as Baile McKnight, Mamady Keita and Tammi Hessen. In 2004 she began teaching drumming at DC public schools, and through these experiences discovered how the drum could transform the self esteem of young people and help them to become self-actualized. In 2005 she started a DC non-profit organization, the Young Women’s Drumming Empowerment Project, which enrolled young women ages 12 and up from across DC, taught them how to play West African drums, and guided them through poetry, song-writing, theatre and dance workshops that culminated in final performances. These performance showcases “wowed” communities across DC as they witnessed young women coming of age via drumming – an innovative Rite of Passage."
The Greenbelt Rhythm & Drum Festival is a one-day music event to celebrate drumming from around the world. The festival will feature performances from some of the area's finest multicultural drum ensembles as well as drum workshops, community drum circles, hula-hoopers, drum vendors, arts & clothing vendors, tasty food and more. Located in the Roosevelt Center in historic downtown Greenbelt, MD held from 2013 - 2015.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/GreenbeltRhythmAndDrumFestival/
The Akoma Drummers "are a West African drum troupe based in Washington DC."
https://www.facebook.com/pg/akomadrummers
"KRISTEN ARANT is a percussionist, vocalist, teaching artist and activist living and working in the Washington, DC region. Originally a classically-trained oboe player with a degree in music, she began her drumming career upon moving to Washington DC in 2000, when she helped initiate the activist drumming ensemble Rhythm Workers Union, known for its hand-built drum cart the “MotherDrumShip,” and its legions of drummers who created a spectacle at hundreds of protests, rallies and events through 2007. Enthralled by the healing and unifying power of the Djembe drum, Kristen began to study West African drumming in 2002. She spent time with masters such as Baile McKnight, Mamady Keita and Tammi Hessen. In 2004 she began teaching drumming at DC public schools, and through these experiences discovered how the drum could transform the self esteem of young people and help them to become self-actualized. In 2005 she started a DC non-profit organization, the Young Women’s Drumming Empowerment Project, which enrolled young women ages 12 and up from across DC, taught them how to play West African drums, and guided them through poetry, song-writing, theatre and dance workshops that culminated in final performances. These performance showcases “wowed” communities across DC as they witnessed young women coming of age via drumming – an innovative Rite of Passage."
The Malcolm X Drummers and Dancers are a group of tremendously talented artists that grew out of the cultural experience demonstrated at Malcolm X Park and is founded by Doc Powell. Drummers from all walks of life, and from every level of drumming abilities, other musicians of all varieties, and spectators of all nationalities and ages, come together and create a wonderful expression of creative energies. From this setting, arose a group of performing artists called the Malcolm X Drummers and Dancers.
Soul In Motion Players is a non-profit performing arts organization, founded in 1984 by Percussionist Michael Friend, specializes in African Dance, African Drumming, Theatre, and Spoken Word.
https://www.facebook.com/simpinc/
"MICHAEL Friend - Artistic Director, founded Soul In Motion Players, Inc. in 1984. Michael wrote and debuted his first theatrical production entitled, We Are Africa in 1991. His other works include Henrietta Marie, Malcolm, What If., and Ile Ife - House of Love. He started his music/acting career in 1969 with the world renowned Arthur Hall Afro-American Dance Ensemble and Theatre Advocate, in his hometown of Philadelphia, PA. Friend furthered his studies at Fisk University and graduated Howard University in 1981, receiving his B.A. degree in Communications. Michael has gone on to record/perform nationally and internationally, including a Jazz tour in 1989 to Cameroon, West Africa. As a percussionist, Michael performed with The Four Kings of Rhythm and Blues for over 10 years, featuring Jerry Butler, Gene Chandler, Ben E. King, and Lloyd Price. Friend's regional accomplishments include performing in the Arena Stage production of Derrick Walcott's The Odyssey and with The Dance Theatre of Harlem at the Kennedy Center. He's a former board member of several local arts organizations: Black Rock Center for the Arts, Joe's Movement Emporium, and The Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County - serving as Vice President of Grants for 3 years. In 2011, as director of Soul in Motion, Michael won the prestigious Montgomery County Executive's Community Award for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities, in 2014 he was the recipient of the Empower Magazine Player Award and on March 19, 2016 Joe's Movement Emporium honored Michael as a Mighty Joe with the Creative Visionary Award."
Mentors of Minorities in Education (M.O.M.I.E)'s Total Learning Cis-tem (T.L.C) provides dynamic and innovative educational programming for at-risk children, ages 4 to 15, living in Washington, DC. The mission of M.O.M.I.E's T.L.C is to nurture children's genius and develop a transformative system to improve educational outcomes. M.O.M.I.E's achieves this through high quality and culturally relevant out-of-school-time programs, parent and community involvement, and the creation of educational tools and resources. M.O.M.I.E's TLC operates programs at sites based in Ward 4 and 1.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/momiestlc
Chitra Subramanian is the founder of chitra.MOVES, which she created in 2018. This collective of diverse female dancers performs a fusion of hip hop and Indian dance. Based in Washington D.C., chitra.MOVES has performed in many venues in the Northeast and presented its first evening-length work, Temple, in December 2019. Subramanian currently works as a manager at Lee Montessori Public Charter School. She was formerly the director of M.O.M.I.E.S TLC Summer Camp held in 2015.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/chitramove/about/
"Developing talent and broadening horizons one child at a time. Through intentional inclusion and equity, the Dance Institute of Washington increases diversity at every level of pre-professional Ballet training. We provide additional training in key genres to create a well-rounded dancer that can successfully enter the dance industry at large. Through this exemplary effort, DIW positively impacts racial and economic inequities in dance globally."
https://www.facebook.com/pg/danceinstitute/about/