Hybrid
In person donation $5-25 | Online $12
Join us for an exploration of West Africa through dance! Class begins with a warm-up that is designed to improve flexibility, strengthen the core, improve stamina, and get acquainted with West African music. The second part of the class starts with a brief history and context of the dances (that will inform your execution of the movements) and continues with an extensive breakdown of technique. Then, you’ll practice what you’ve learned in repetition.
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.
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