Milwaukee Ballet Hosts an African Dance Class for the Community

Dance is universal. That's what the Milwaukee Ballet hopes to highlight with its upcoming performance of Lambarena, an innovative work that weaves classical ballet and African movement into one glorious celebration of dance. The piece by Val Caniparoli, which first premiered in 1995, was inspired by a musical composition that merges Bach with melodies from the Gabon region of West Africa. Consider these ears perked.

"The score is a marriage of these two kinds of music, and I wanted the choreography to be the same thing," Caniparoli said. "I wanted to show that you can do either kind of movement to both kinds of music." By joining forces with distinguished African dancers and choreographers Zakariya Sao Diouf and Naoi Geo Johnson-Washington, Caniparoli ensured that his choreography for Lambarena was authentic and crafted with the blessing of these experts in African dance.

In the days leading up to Lambarena, the Milwaukee Ballet has taken great care to educate its own dance company and the Milwaukee community in the art of African dance. Roxy Kess and Yaya Kambaye of local ensemble Xalaat Africa Drum and Dance for Life taught a class to the Company and Milwaukee Ballet II (MBII), as well as all Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy locations. Kess and Kambaye also attended two of the rehearsals for Lambarena to offer feedback.

Last weekend, a free class was held for the public: "No previous African dance experience is necessary," claimed the Facebook event. Well sign me up!

The dance class took place at the Milwaukee Ballet headquarters on National Avenue, soon to be relocated to the Baumgartner Center for Dance in the fall of 2019. About 50 people from all corners of town poured into the rehearsal hall: eager little boys and girls, older gals in socks, tall and toned dancers, average joes like me, and gorgeous women in vibrant skirts for whom African dance is clearly already a passion.

For one hour, we learned by doing. There was hardly any verbal instruction, rather we simply followed Kess and her team of dancers. Dance itself was our communication, and we all grew a little that day in the ways we understand each other and move our own bodies. The class certainly served the Milwaukee Ballet well in its message surrounding Lambarena: that dance really is its own language.

"We hope people had a fun hour trying something new or connecting to something they already love, and being part of something communal," says Alyson Chavez, Director of Community Engagement for the Milwaukee Ballet. "While we're experts in ballet, we are always looking for new ways to connect people to our Company and our art form."

I was so overjoyed (and sweaty) by the end of our one-hour session that I had to ask Chavez about their plans for other such experiences in the future. "The Baumgartner Center for Dance will have a Community Studio in it," she explained. "While it will be the Milwaukee Ballet's new home for the Company, MBII Program, and Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy, we also want the community at large to feel welcome. We will be celebrating the new space with community offerings - all of this planning is still in the works. Next season is also our 50th, so we hope to have people coming in to celebrate that as well!"

In the meantime, the ballet will be back this summer with their third annual Ballet Beat, where the dancers literally take it to the streets in June and July. Per Chavez: "We're hoping to pack that month with free workshops, pop-up performances, and mainstage shows featuring seven of our Company dancers and two of our MBIIs." Stay tuned to the Milwaukee Ballet website and Facebook page for more information.

The reach of such initiatives is no small potatoes. Milwaukee Ballet's Community Engagement programs serve more than 38,000 people each year. "There are still so many people who don't know about ballet, who might think they have nothing in common with it, or just have no experience seeing it or being exposed to it," Chavez says. "We want people to know that ballet is fun, athletic, relevant, and interesting! Our programs seek to break some of those barriers that surround 'classical ballet' and open a door to the arts."

Come see what wonders arise from the barriers being broken in Lambarena, on stage April 4th-7th at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Information and tickets at milwaukeeballet.org.

Photo credit: Milwaukee Ballet

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