SUNDAY, JUNE 12

Guinea Style Dance with Matumbe Himons

Growing up in The Country Music Capital of Nashville, TN, Matumbe Himons began studying dance and drum at the age of 5 at The Village Cultural Arts Center and graduated from Nashville School of the Arts, while also performing professionally with Found Movement Group. He studied Dance Performance and Choreography at The University of Southern Mississippi, performing with the Repertory Dance Company and N'kafu Traditional West African Dance Company. Brother Matumbe has studied across the country with teachers such as Andre Fuentes, Mouminatou Camara and Youssouf Koumbassa. Recently relocating to Chicago to work with Muntu Dance Theatre, Brother Matume enjoys sharing his knowledge with our village and is constantly working to expand his knowledge of traditional West African rum and dance.

SUNDAY, JULY 10

Contemporary Dance with Nicole Clarke-Springer

Nicole Clarke-Springer is the Artistic Director of Deeply Rooted Dance Theater. She began formal training under the guidance of Claudette Soltis (Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and Joliet Ballet Society) and the Indianapolis Ballet Theatre under Dace Diodonis. Shortly after graduating from Butler University, Clarke-Springer found her dance home within the Deeply Rooted Dance Theater family. As a member of DRDT, she had the opportunity to perform with Roberta Flack in Kevin Iega Jeff’s Flack, as well as Jennifer Holiday in the world-renowned Penumbra Theatre’s Black Nativity. She briefly left the company in 2007 to serve as adjunct professor in Western Kentucky University’s Dance Department. While there, she was asked to join the Clifton Brown Dance Company, performing on tour in Istanbul, Turkey before returning to the Deeply family as program director of its Summer Dance Intensive.

In 2013, Mama Nicole joined Kevin Iega Jeff and Gary Abbott as a member of the Deeply Rooted Artistic Team, later traveling with DRDT to participate in JOMBA! Dance Festival hosted by Flatfoot Dance Company. Mama Nicole has since choreographed for the nationally syndicated Steve Harvey Show, and she continues to teach and choreograph throughout the country, including at Chicago State University, Western Kentucky University, and Northwestern University.

Crediting DRDT’s mission, Mama Nicole works to create an environment where artists participate in a process that is not only spiritually affirming but requires open and honest dialogue that leads to self-reflection, constructive feedback, and accountability to the work required.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 14

Tap Dance with Bril Barrett

Bril Barrett is a dedicated tap dancer whose mission is to preserve and promote tap dance as a percussive art form, foster respect and admiration for the history and culture of tap, and continuously create opportunities for the art form and its practitioners.

Baba Bril is the founder of M.A.D.D. (Making A Difference Dancing) Rhythms, director of The Chicago Tap Summit and founder of The M.A.D.D. Rhythms Tap Academy. His Performance opportunities include Riverdance, Tap Dance Kid, Derrick Grant, Aaron Tolson’s Imagine Tap, The Kennedy Center, Jumaane Taylor’s Supreme Love, the Democratic National Convention and many others. Television appearances include The Oprah Winfrey Show, Steve Harvey Show, Jenny Jones Show, NBC’s Someone You Should Know and ABC’s Windy City Live. Bril has taught and performed in Prague, Canada, Germany, Finland, Turkey, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Albania, Amsterdam, Brazil, the Bahamas, the U.K. and across the United States. He was named A Chicagoan of the Year and has his very own Ted Talk. 

Baba Bril  is determined to make a difference in his community by using tap and its history to expose youth to the art form that saved his life! Respect The Dance!

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11

Hip Hop Dance with Tanji Harper

Tanji Harper is a proud south Chicago Native. Born to parents who balanced their artistic skills with their ability to blend into the working class profession, Mama Tanji has a gift for understanding the power of entertainment, professionalism, and accomplishing time-driven goals.

Mama Tanji has trained with Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Theater, Chicago Dance Medium, Homer Bryant, Joel Hall, and is a 4 year alumni of The Chicago Academy of the Arts under the instruction of Anna Paskevska, Winifred Haun, Claire Bataille, Roger Turner and Randy Duncan. Harper has since performed for mainstream music artists, including R. Kelly, Sparkle, Do or Die, Avant, and Busta Rhymes. After touring and performing all over the country Mama Tanji returned to Chicago, becoming artistic director at the Happiness Club and piloting dance programs that would grow into 4 different Hi Def dance Ensemble apprenticeships through After School Matters. A constant mentor and seeker of solutions, Mama Tanji created Blu Rhythm Chicago, a crew that performs and hosts workshops, and the Collective which creates artistic works that push the boundary of what Chicago artists can produce and perform on a professional level.

A master of engagement, Mama Tanji uses dance, hip hop and the power of positivity to influence the choices young creatives in Chicago are faced with making; uplifting the words Unity and Community, and continuously pushing urban artistry.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9

Kutiro Dance with Rakel “Aissatou” Bey

Rakel “Aissatou” Bey is an accomplished dancer in African and Caribbean dance forms, and has studied under many noted dance masters from Africa, the Caribbean and the US. She holds a BS degree of Medical Laboratory Science from Northern Illinois University and is pursuing a MA degree in Forensics, and she received a Diploma of Appreciation from the American Folklore and Center at the Library of Congress for contributions to the study of Ethnic Folk Arts in Chicago.

A member and principal dancer for Muntu Dance Theatre from 1978 to 2019, Mama Aissatou has performed extensively and internationally, including the “FESTAC” Festival in Lagos, Nigeria with the Darlene Blackburn Dance Troupe, and a residency at Walt Disney’s Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida with the Koumpo West African Dance Company of Senegal. International performances also include: “Panafest” Historical Theatre Festival in Accra and Kumasi Ghana, West Africa, England, Scotland, and throughout Mexico for the Festival International Afro-Caribbean and for the 2nd annual Cultural Festival of Talpan. Aissatou Bey has toured SeneGambia, Guinea & Mali, and West Africa, studying art and culture. Her studies include Jazz, Swing, Modern, Afro, Oriental Classical Dance (with The North African Dance Experience-Nubian Dance Troupe), and other contemporary dance forms. She also frequents Jamaica, West Indies, where she continues to study traditional folkloric dance, music and culture of Rastafari. Ms. Bey has had newspaper highlights in the Defender, The Chicago Tribune, The SunTimes, amongst others in Chicago and abroad. Mama Aissatou currently guest teaches and lectures throughout the midwest and internationally, concentrating on the arts, folklore, songs, language, music and dance of the African diaspora.

SUNDAY, APRIL 10

Kutiro Dance with Vaune C Blalock

Vaune C Blalock is an accomplished dance historian, technician, choreographer, instructor, performer, storyteller, costume designer and seamstress. A dance studies graduate of Meredith College, Blalock’s professional training credits include the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, University of Cincinnati Corbett Center of Performing Arts, Southern Illinois University Dunham Dance Department, CoSaan African Dance Company, International African American Ballet, Muntu Dance Theatre (MDT), College of Lake County, and the African American Dance Ensemble (AADE).

Mama Vaune’s curriculums for dance and music studies have been published in the Chicago Guide for Teaching & Learning the Arts, and her choreographic attributes include original works for Muntu Dance Theatre, Pegasus Players, Chicago Theatre Company, Walkabout Theater Company, Eta Creative Arts Foundation, Fleetwood Jourdain Theater, Domba Soli, Alyo Children’s Theater, and Meredith College.

Mama Vaune has extensive performance credits for both film and stage, including Jacob’s Pillow, Stevie Wonder’s Circle Tour, the film ‘Believers’ directed by John Schlesinger, Cervatino Festival Vera Cruz Mexico, ‘Brighton Festival’ England, Dance Festival Scotland, and Ghana Panafest(s). Vaune worked with Muntu Dance Theatre from 1990-2012, moving through the company as a performing artist before offering her expertise as an assistant artistic director, choreographer, costume designer, and ultimately the program director of MDT arts education.

SUNDAY, MAY 8

Wongo/Serer Dance with Idy Ciss

Originally from Senegal, Idy Ciss is a teacher and singer of traditional African songs. After making his professional debut with Les Ballets Africans Kolaam Serere, Baba Idy became a full-time member of Muntu Dance Theater and now offers his expertise as a consultant and choreographer, teaching at Northwestern University, Columbia College, and Old Town School of Folk Music. Baba Idy credits his grandparents with his natural dance ability from a young age, and credits the love and support of his family and neighbors as the catalyst which ultimately led him to the field of professional dance.