Dani Criss

Classes – West African Dance Adventures

Dani Criss is a multidisciplinary artist, artistic educator and community organizer hailing from Durham, North Carolina and is now based in Brooklyn, NY. She is passionate about the advancement of people of African descent and is driven by her roots and studies of the African Diaspora. Her use of the arts as an educational tool provides a foundational appreciation, acceptance, and historical context for African Diasporic cultures. Dani has trained and performed with numerous artists, companies and festivals including The American Dance Festival, The Honorable Baba Chuck Davis and the African American Dance Ensemble, Urban Bush Women’s Summer Leadership Institute, The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, Otesha Cultural Arts Ensemble, Asè Dance Theatre Collective, Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy and others. Choreographic works have been shared in various ensembles, theaters, schools, and festivals around the country. Check out www.danicriss.com for more information.

Careitha Davis

Class – Soca

Careitha Davis, a Brooklyn native with roots in Trinidad and Tobago, is a professional dancer, choreographer and educator. From an early age Careitha started training as a dancer in Modern, Jazz, Ballet and African while traveling as a young performer. Careitha attended SUNY Purchase College receiving a BA in Media, Society & the Arts and earned an MA in Dance Education K-12 Track from New York University where she practiced methods in instructing non-dancers and young learners as a practice for community building and creating art. She has performed the works of George Faison, Dianne McIntyre, Ronald K. Brown, Mouminatou Camara, Joya Powell/Movement of the People and Jemal Gaines. Careitha began teaching Soca at Cumbe: Center for African and Diaspora Dance in 2018 and established BodyRa Movement in 2020. Her teaching and choreographic philosophy for BodyRa Movement is for dancers to reach a level of freedom in their movement, building community through the rituals and traditions in Caribbean culture. In the year 2020 and 2021, BodyRa Movement has been granted the Downtown Brooklyn Rehearsal Residency Initiative and 2021 premiered ‘Trinidad Noir’, a choreographed piece highlighting the cultural traditions of Trinidad and Tobago.

Vado Diomande

Classes – West African Dance & Drum
Vado has danced since the age of four, learning the dance and drum traditions of his Mahouka people. At an early age, he was initiated into becoming the keeper of the sacred mask dance on stilts, Gue-Pelou. This distinction brought him to the Ballet National de Cote d’Ivoire, where he became a principal dancer for more than 15 years. Vado learned over 60 ethnic dance and drumming traditions from the Ivory Coast and other West African countries. His repertoire elevated his career to eventually choreographing and touring extensively throughout Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia. In 1989 he established L’Ensemble Kokiegna d’Abidjan, which has resided in New York City as the Kotchegna Dance Company since 1994. In Vado’s native language Mahou, ’kotchegna’ means messenger. His troupe’s goal is to inspire joy and understanding through the power of dance and drum, promoting the exchange of culture worldwide. He continues to strengthen his experience as a choreographer, artistic director, teacher and performer. He also takes part in many educational programs for children in New York City schools and beyond. For more information, go to www.kotchegna.com.

Penny Godboldo

Penny Godboldo trained at the Alvin Ailey School in NYC. She incorporates her larger philosophical view that dance is life — a methodology developed through research in dance history – into her pedagogy as a teacher. Her work is informed by travel to Haiti, Cuba, Benin, West Africa, Brazil, Japan, China, Italy and most recently Israel and her role as chair of Marygrove College Dance Department for two decades. She began her studies in Dunham technique in Detroit at age 14 with Clifford Fears, mentored by Madame Lavinia Williams in NYC and Haiti. She continued her mentorship with Katherine Dunham for 21 years as her demonstrator in St. Louis, Denver, Detroit, and Port au Prince, Haiti and performed in Dunham repertory: “Shango,” “Adagio” and “Americana.”   Godboldo trained with Dunham Masters: Talley Beatty, Lucille Ellis, Vanoye Aikens, Pearl Reynolds, Tommy Gomez and certified teachers Theo Jamison, Keith Williams and Ruby Streate.

Jennine 'JennyJam' Hamblin

Class – JamDown Caribbean Dance Fitness

Jennine is a dance and fitness specialist who has been teaching for the past nine years. She is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer, an AFAA Group Fitness Instructor  and a professional dancer. She loves finding fun and innovative ways to help others reach their goals and enjoy getting healthy and fit to lead their best lives! Jennine teaches JamDown Caribbean Dance Fitness.

Julio Jean

Classes – Absolute Beginners Afro-Haitian and Afro-Haitian
Julio Jean is a renowned master Haitian dance teacher and choreographer with 20 years of experience, and blends traditional Haitian forms with modern and contemporary dance to create compelling movement narratives.

Julio studied with Lavinia Williams, a company member of Katherine Dunham, at the National School of Arts in Haiti. In 1989, he moved to New York City, and worked directly with Katherine Dunham teaching traditional Haitian dance for her teacher trainings. He has been a guest teacher at Webster University in Saint Louis and Humboldt University, and has taught workshops in San Francisco, Milwaukee, and at the Dance New England Dance Camp in Poland, Maine. Among other venues, Julio’s performances have been seen at Alvin Ailey for National Dance week and at SummerStage in 2010.  Julio is also a songwriter and composer and released the album, “Kenbe la,” which encompasses the panorama of traditional Haitian music.

Tamara Jones

Class – Afrobeats Fusion
Tamara Jones is a dancer and choreographer in New York. She has been a member of several different dance companies including Harambee Dance Company and Umoja Dance Company. Throughout her dance career, Tamara has had the opportunity to perform on many stages and venues,  including Symphony Space, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), for Essence Magazine Events, Summer Stage, the International African Arts Street Festival, New Jersey Performing Arts Center NJPAC and Broadway Dance Center’s Tribute to Savion Glover 2005. She also choreographed Jona Briddle for “The Jonah Show,” a tribute to Hip Hop pioneer and for Brickhouse Studios founder Kelly Peters at Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theatre. Yearly, as a part of Nabisco’s Black History Program, Tamara teaches an Afrobeats and African dance class to employees to help celebrate African culture.

Aside from dance, Tamara Jones has also explored a career in acting as she was a dancer in the 2016  Indi Film “The Magnificent Cooley T,” starring Jackie Long and Tiearra Marie and produced by Steven Leeds. She was also in “A Meyers Christmas,” a movie produced by Will Packer and directed by David E. Talbert (2017)..  Ms. Jones shares her passion for dance through teaching. She currently teaches West African, Tap and Hip Hop to ages 6 and older. She teaches Sub African dance at Broadway Dance Center, Afrobeats at Ripley Grier Studios and  at Grammy Award Winning singing artist Chrisette Michelle’s new dance studio, RH Studios. She also shares are passion for dance through her instruction at a free class at Union Square’s Reebok store, sponsored by Reebok.

Danielle Lima

Class – Samba
Danielle Lima is a professional dancer, teacher and choreographer born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She has more than 15 years of teaching and choreographing students of all ages. In New York City, Danielle emerged as one of the foremost Samba dancers and teachers in the U.S. Danielle’s Samba class is known for its high energy, flow and a safe space for students to improve their dance skills without compromising their identities. Danielle’s teaching philosophy explores Samba as more than a rhythm and a dance. Her method presents Samba as a tradition, as an art and culture that brings people together as a powerful and united community. Danielle had been a visiting faculty and judge in several Samba events around U.S. and abroad: 
Arizona -USA Queen and King of Samba in the years of 2014 and 2018. 
Utah - Samba Fogo Queen of Samba in the years of 2015 and 2019. 
International Samba Congress in LA years 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. 
Canada Samba Congress 2018. 
California Brazil Camp-years 2016 and 2017. 

Danielle Lima is the founding director of the Danielle Lima Dance Group. A non-for-profit performance community group with a mission is to raise awareness and stir curiosity about Samba and Brazil. They strive to engage their community, evoke memory, inspire movement and honor this rich cultural history through storytelling and dance. 

NY Steppers

Class – Chicago Style Steppin’
Formed in 2007, they are the original creators of the Steppers Set in New York & New Jersey. The group has taught, workshopped, demonstrated, and expanded Chicago Style Steppin’ throughout the 5 boroughs as well as New Jersey, and they love what they do. They have collaborated with various community organizations, businesses, and dance associations, and appeared as special guests on local media outlets and at cultural events along the East Coast. They are excited about teaching new students and engaging more communities. For more information about them, go to: www.chicagostylesteppersnyc.com

Instructors
Martin Majeske- Lead Instructor
Yvette White- Lead Instructor
Brian Gholston- Lead Instructor
Devon Winfield- Lead Instructor
Willena Nanton- Lead Instructor/ Beginners

Darian Parker

Class – Beginning West African
Dr. Darian M. Parker is a guest professor at The Juilliard School where he teaches West African dance.  He also holds Guest Professor appointments at Sarah Lawrence College and The New School, and is a faculty member at Cumbe: Center for African and Diaspora Dance.  His choreography and research have received support from the Jerome Foundation, Harlem Stage, and The New Haven Arts Council.  Dr. Parker has performed internationally with artists such as Meshell N’Degeocello and Jason Moran, and in the Hollywood film Step Up 3D.  He has worked with various dance companies, including Les Ballet de Kouman Kele (Nzingha Camara), Sewee African Dance Company (Mouminatou Camara), Harambee Dance Company (Sandella Malloy), Kouffin Keneke African Dance Company (Aly Tatchol Camara), Organic Magnetics (Maija Garcia), and Opus Dance Theatre (James Grant). He has held teaching residencies at such institutions as SUNY Purchase, and has served on the faculties of Harlem School of the Arts, Forces of Nature Dance Theatre’s Youth Arts Academy, and Dwana Smallwood Performing Arts Center.

Dr. Parker’s commitment to teaching extends beyond dance. He is the Founder & CEO of Parker Academics (www.parkeracademics.com), which, in just five years, has provided 70,000 hours of test prep and tutoring to over 1000 students on two continents. As an adjunct professor at NYU, he teaches courses in anthropology and critical thinking. Dr. Parker is also active in the Yale Alumni Association, conducting dozens of interviews yearly for prospective Yale admits. He is the author of Sartre and No Child Left Behind (Rowman and Littlefield Press, 2015), and “The Haze”, which appears in Pedagogies in the Flesh (Palgrave McMillan Press, 2018). He also sits on the board of Anthropology of Consciousness, a scholarly journal commissioned by the American Anthropological Association. Dr. Parker graduated from Yale University with a PhD, M. Phil and MA in Anthropology and African American Studies, and from UCLA’s College of Honors with degrees in anthropology and English literature.

Babacar Top

Class – Experimental Sabar & Mbalax
Khalifa Babacar Top is a Senegalese artist who began his dancing at a young age with Sabar in traditional ceremonies. His interests in storytelling with the body lead him to deepen his learning and seek out more African contemporary dance forms. Top was a company member with Compagnie Jant-Bi for four years. He has worked with Regine Chopinot, Robyn Orlin, Mark Tompkins, Kristie Simon, Rosangela Slivestre, Rachel Erdos and Ido Tadmor. In 2013, he performed Bolero with Maurice Bejart Ballet Lausanne. Top has worked in collaboration with the Association Kaay Fecc in Dakar, Senegal to develop programming that exposes young dancers to a variety of dance forms. He currently teaches at Ecole des Sables. He has taught and performed throughout the continent of Africa, Europe and the USA. 

Tony Yemaya

Class – Orisha Dance

As a priest of Yemaya in the Santeria religion, instructor Tony Yemaya is frequently called upon to dance for Yemaya. Tony began singing, dancing and acting in school performances at an early age and was involved with various Off-Broadway theater companies such as TADA and AMAS, which set the stage for working as a freelance dancer and singer for community and social events. He dances Mambo with the Young Ambition Dance Company and studied Afro-Cuban folkloric dance with Xiomara Rodriguez, Rita Macias and the late great Pupy Insua. One of Tony’s notable performances was dancing onstage as Shango with the great Latin Jazz artist, Bobby Sanabria. Tony is also co-director of SalsAshé, which combines Afro-Cuban dance and Salsa. SalsAshé has presented work at the NJ and NY Salsa Congresses for the last nine years.