Earlier this year Article19 was commissioned by Norwegian dance company Panta Rei Danseteater to make a short film about a project they had been involved since 2011 in Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania.
Funded by the European Union and the Norwegian Embassy the project run by MUDA Africa (MUDA is short for music and dance) provides formal dance training for young people in Dar Es Salaam so they can become professional dancers and forge their own career in the dance industry in East Africa.
The project is run from the Nafasi Arts Space in an industrial area of the city using, mainly, re-purposed shipping containers for a number of different artistic practices to take place. In the centre of the space is a dance floor open to the world on all sides and covered by a roof. When you train in 30C temperatures walls are less of an issue. It’s within this space that the dance students do their practical training provided by a number of visiting teachers, company and practitioners.
MUDA Africa sya this much about their work;
“We at MuDa Africa believe that contemporary dance cultivates the individual and Time2Dance-Addcollective spirit of creativity, trust, cooperation, discipline and openness to change. These fundamental values and skills will help the youth of Tanzania become agents of positive change in the society.”
You can find out more about the project at the link below.