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Brooklyn's African dance scene is in for a treat next week!
Starting on Monday, August 15 until Friday, August 19, Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation will be having an Art is Alive Free Week, where it will be offering free dance classes for adults taught by an esteemed roster of professional dancers.
Asase Yaa's line-up for the week includes Daaimah Taalib-Din, who will be teaching an Afro-Fusion Hip Hop class; Brooklyn Ed, who will teaching Urban Line dancing; and Afro-Haitian dancer Nadia Dieudonne, among several others.
According to Kofi Osei Williams, the executive director of Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation, getting these world-renowned artists to come to Bedford-Stuyvesant to teach classes at Asase Yaa is "a big deal." Though the organization annually offers a week of free classes, Williams said,"This is the first time we're doing something as this level."
Kofi Osei Williams, the executive director of Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation
However, classes led by this master teacher shouldn't be a deterrent for anyone interested in attending the classes. Williams is encouraging everyone to come out to the Art is Alive Free Week, regardless of their skill level in dance.
Photo: Alex Dumas photographyBBA
"You're going to have one of the greatest experiences dancing," he said. "We're not charging the public but you're going to get the quality as if it was a million dollar class."
Williams also explained the importance of Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation having a week of free dance classes. "We're trying to bring awareness to African and African Diasporic dance and culture," Williams said. "A lot of times when people hear African dance they just think fast, loud and energetic, but you're going to see so many different styles in one week that you're going to feel the differences and the nuances of the movement."
Check out this flyer for the schedule of classes during Asase Yaa's Art is Alive Free Week.
