The White House Celebrates African American Women & Dance
African American women and dance celebrated!
African American women and dance go together like beads and braids. Dance is apart of our culture and our history. As part of the White House’s Black History Month celebration, First Lady Michelle Obama highlighted the contributions African American women have made to dance by opening up her home to 51 local Washington D.C students to work with some of the most iconic leaders in dance. The students came to the White House and learned classic dance pieces like “Revelations” a signature dance piece from the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. They were able to learn in a very short amount of time from Alvin Ailey’s artistic director Judith Jamison. The young dancers were taught African dance from actress, dancer, and writer, Debbie Allen who created the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. They learned the hip-hop piece from “The Wiz” taught by Fatima Robinson, and performed pieces taught by Dance Theater of Harlem’s Artistic Director Virginia Johnson.
The young girls were not only taught dance by the iconic dancers they were also able to meet First Lady Michelle Obama and have a discussion on a variety of topics that included health, education, and self confidence. At the end of the evening the girls were able to strut their stuff, the dance pieces they learned only a few short hours ago at the beginning of their visit they showcased in front of the First Lady, all the iconic dance teachers, and it was also streamed live on social media. The girls were absolutely amazing, you would have thought they practiced those dance routines prior to their visit at the White House. The full celebration is below….
Video: Celebrating African American Women and Dance (Full Celebration)