Next week, a group from Cary will become the first American dance company to perform in Kibera, Kenya — often cited as the largest slum in Africa. In an area where 95% of people live below the poverty line, dance gives hope and inspiration.
Graceful Expressions Dance Company focuses on community service through dance. Carolina Dance Theater, a division of Graceful Expressions, partners with Project Elimu in Kenya to “bring the two cultures together through the universal language of dance,” says Director April Schweitzer.
We chatted with Schweitzer for details about the upcoming trip and cross-cultural collaboration.
What is Project Elimu, and how did you learn about it?
Project Elimu dancers. Photo by April Schweitzer.
Project Elimu brings arts and extracurricular activities to children in Kibera, Kenya. Their work focuses on giving children skills, confidence, hope and a path out of poverty to children in one of the most impoverished areas in Africa.
I first learned about Project Elimu when its founder, Mike Wamaya, was featured in CNN and National Geographic in 2017. You can learn a lot about Mike and his passion for using dance as a tool for hope through this video.
How did the partnership take shape?
I emailed and asked Mike if he would be interested in having any visiting dance teachers from the US, and then we set up a trip for myself, Willie Hinton (director of Carolina Dance Theater), and Princess Johnson from Royal Expressions Contemporary Ballet in Greensboro. One of our missions at Graceful Expressions is to extend the benefits of dance – the discipline, the confidence, the creativity — to as many young people in our community and beyond as possible, so the mission and work of Project Elimu felt like a natural fit.
When we traveled to Kenya in 2018, we were so inspired by the work that Mike is doing that we’ve stayed connected and found ways to support what they do. Profits from our spring shows each year are donated to their program and provide the after-school meal for the kids throughout the year. In 2019, we shared a performance onstage at the Cary Arts Center, with the dancers in Kibera performing via video. In 2020, our donation from our performance was able to provide a month of groceries for all of the families in Project Elimu during the pandemic when unemployment rates in their community soared.
When we launched our professional dance company, Carolina Dance Theater, in 2022, all of the dancers were familiar with the Project Elimu partnership and wanted to get involved. We set a goal of someday being able to travel to Kenya — and then we were invited by Mike to perform this summer!
Carolina Dance Theater performers. Photo by David Cain.
How will this collaboration benefit people in Kibera?
While our partnership financially benefits Project Elimu, we hope that our trip will show our commitment and the high regard that we have for the work that they are doing in their community. Mike told me that this is a “full-circle moment” and that he is really excited to have an American dance company come to perform in Kibera for the first time ever.
What do the CDT dancers have in store for their time in Kenya?
Some of the dancers, our directors, and our resident choreographer Juliet Celeste Malit will teach dance classes. We will also take ballet, contemporary, and African dance classes alongside the advanced students in Project Elimu, and each day we will work on new choreography and rehearse together for our performance in Kibera on August 14. Thanks to donations from the families at Graceful Expressions, we have been able to purchase pointe shoes to take to the dancers, so we will also be doing pointe shoe fittings. In our downtime, we’ll be able to visit the baby elephant orphanage at Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, and one morning we’ll tour Nairobi National Park.
Project Elimu dancers. Photo by April Schweitzer.
How can our readers support this venture?
Anytime you come to a Graceful Expressions Dance Company or Carolina Dance Theater performance at the Cary Arts Center, profits are donated to our partnership with Project Elimu. We also accept donations by check to the studio at 2438 SW Cary Parkway, Cary, NC 27513 or PayPal to info@gracefuldance.com. Find out more about Project Elimu and ways to donate directly at projectelimu.org.
