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Rejoice! Diaspora Dance Theater

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Founded and led by Artistic Director Oluyinka A. Akinjiola, Rejoice! Diaspora Dance Theater seeks to diversify the contemporary dance landscape with untold stories and under-told perspectives from communities of color. Grounded in values from the African Diaspora and using our art as activism, Rejoice! celebrates and cultivates community through artistic engagement, performances, and dialogue, weaving our stories of hardship and triumph.

Below is a video with excerpts from the ensemble’s newest creation, Been Ready: For us in the Black community, we’ve always been told “stay ready so you don’t have to get ready.” Ready as in ready for the discrimination, ready for the prejudice, ready for the racism. Well… we are ready, we’ve been ready and now it’s time to galvanize. Been Ready brings together our five personal experiences, navigating conflicts that are inherently imbued with layers of race, gender and bias. With an inward focus we find what makes us ready.

Asmara Bellydance Initiative

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The Asmara Bellydance Initiative are: Jaicyea, Sabia, Maeia, Khadijah, Hasna and Brandy. Asmara has many meanings worldwide. In Arabic, it describes a Black or Nubian woman. In Bali, it means love. In Ethiopian, is describes women who have come together. Asmara is also the capitol of Eritrea.

We are belly dancers of color who want to facilitate and fund festivals that celebrate belly dancers from the diaspora. Our mission is to inspire dancers to embrace their inner and outer beauty and celebrate themselves through performance and self-expression. We do not host competitions but rather stage shows, teaching opportunities and panel discussions, including providing subsidy for low-income, aspiring performers. This initiative is near and dear to our hearts, and we are fiercely passionate about dancing and making dance accessible to all people of color.