Part 2 - Honouring The Past... Restoring The Future Of Black Dance

Since 2022, Woezo Africa hosted four impactful discussion panels: Honoring the Past and creating the future in Black dance. It’s important to talk, train, and hear about the Black dance culture through those who have been immersed in it culturally. The panelists shared about studio responsibilities, proper education in Black culture, commodity vs profit, and what it looks like to create safe spaces for Black dance to thrive with respect.

This year, Woezo Africa has gathered two new panelists to continue the conversation on Black dance's rich and complex history. It’s important to talk, train, and hear about the Black dance culture through those who have been immersed in it culturally.

Woezo Africa Music and Dance Theatre Inc. is excited to further contribute to this expansive conversation in preparation of hosting 5 international dance artists for our second Black Arts Development Program - 3 Week Dance Intensive from July 8 – 27, 2024.

Join members of Woezo Africa Music and Dance Theatre Inc. and leaders in Black dance in a Q&A discussion of experiences, culture, and social issues that are communicated through the language and movement of dance.

Sharon Harvey is a Performing Artist, graduate of York University with a BFA in dance,  Masters degree in Dance Choreography, A background in Aerial Arts, and a personal trainer in all things Pilates! She has been crafting her training style and promoting Wellness within the dance community for over 20+ years as a certified Pilates instructor, Dance conditioning specialist.

She has taught many  Professional Training Programs including Oakville professional training program, St Lawrence College Music Theatre Department and workshops within Dance studios throughout Ontario, Central America, and the Caribbean. Sharon also had extensive involvement with the Regional Arts program in the Toronto, Halton Peel, and York Board of Education’s dance curriculum.

She aspires to uncover stories untold, strengthen the athleticism and artistry of contemporary dance and encourages the empowerment and presence of the female voice.

Sharon is currently a teacher at Sheridan College in the Performing Arts program, teaching flexibility and aerial skills at Brass belles and a Guest host Pilates teacher on television Onetv.

Kieron Dwayne Sargeant was born in the twin island state, Trinidad and Tobago. He is an interdisciplinary artist, choreographer, drummer and dance researcher emerging out of the African-Caribbean Diaspora tradition. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Dance at Skidmore College NY.

Over the past 20 years, he has been involved in documenting, assessing, and analyzing dance traditions of the Caribbean and establishing a canon of dance teachings and workshops, informed by his research, to popularize the ancestral survival of movement traditions between the Circum-Caribbean and Western Africa.

Mr. Sargeant has conducted African Diaspora and Caribbean dance Masterclasses and showcased his choreography in New York, Vancouver, Senegal, Florida, Colorado, Sacramento, Jamaica, Nigeria, Mexico, London, Barcelona, Portugal, and Malaga and the International Association of Blacks in Dance Conference (IABD).

Mr. Sargeant holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Dance Performance and Choreography from Florida State University, a Master of Arts (MA) in Community Dance Practice from Ohio University and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Dance from the University of West Indies.

Most recently, he was honored with the 2021 International Artist Award - Ayjano Folklore Heritage and Performing Arts Institution of Nigeria. From 2021, he was selected to join the coordinating team of the Emerging Black Choreographers Incubator as a mentor by Mojuba Dance Collective Company based in Ohio and in 2022 was appointed to the advisory board of the company.

Cindy Ansah is a multi-hyphenate artist playing, creating, and collaborating in Mohkínstsis (Calgary) and across Turtle Island. Since completing her BFA in Dance from the University of Calgary and rounding out her undergraduate career with a minor in English, Cindy has had the opportunity to engage as a dynamic member of the performing arts community in Mohkinstsis, collaborating with local organizations such as Woezo Africa Music & Dance Theatre Inc., Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, Village Girls, Aluma Studio, Casa De Naz, kloetzel&co, Forcier Stage Works, Arts Commons, and Theatre Calgary.

Cindy’s recent choreography and dance film works have been presented at WildDogs International Screendance Festival, DanceWorks’ Moving Online Film Showcase, the MOVING BODY Festival, Dancers’ Studio West’s Quick + Dirty Festival, and Fluid Fest. In 2022, Cindy made her short film debut as the lead in Misha Maseka’s Not That Deep which was an award-winner at the Berlin Short Film Festival. Her literary ambitions earned her a feature in the 4th iteration of Configurations in Motion: Performance Curation and Communities of Colour.

Cindy also devotes her creative capacities to her roles as Artistic Director of the emerging all-Black contemporary arts collective, Not Another Political Playground Y’all (NAPPY), where she amplifies Black artistry and Black collectivity in all its breadth, depth, and nuance.