UTM’s Department of Visual and Theatre Arts presented “Night of Dance: Reflections of African Culture” on Feb. 20 in Watkins Auditorium as part of the 19th annual Civil Rights Conference.
People from UTM and the Martin community gathered to see a medley of African-inspired music and dance. The event featured many different genres of dance including hip-hop, tap, modern and step.
Dance majors and minors choreographed and performed both group and solo pieces that ranged from a joyous representation of traditional African dance to a somber, thought-provoking piece.
“Lynching”, a dance choreographed by Associate Professor of Dance Sara McCormick and performed by Keinesia Mason and Maaliyah Austin, focused on acts of violence that African-Americans had to face before and even after the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s.
African-inspired dance is not a new concept for the students of the dance program.
“It’s part of their education and curriculum. I teach it in [DANC] 110, and even before they get to me they are doing movement that is part of this,” McCormick said.
The night concluded with a “Greek Unity” step routine where members of Greek organizations on campus came together to perform pieces of their own organization’s step routines while performing one combined step dance.
“I think it is always awesome to get all of the Greek organizations involved, and I think that is what has made the event super big on campus,” Michaela Bland, a junior Dance Education major, said. Bland served as one of the two student coordinators of the event.
UTM is one of only two universities in the U.S. to hold an annual Civil Rights Conference.
Associate Professor of History Dr. David Barber has served as the coordinator for the conference the past 12 years.
“Much of the dancing you saw has African roots and it is important to acknowledge that. That’s true for much of the music we have in this country also,” Barber said about having the event join the conference.
The Civil Rights Conference will conclude Saturday, Feb. 23, with a trip to civil rights sites in Memphis.
Keinesia Mason and Maaliyah Austin perform “Lynching”, a dance choreographed by Associate Professor of Dance Sara McCormick, during “Night of Dance: Reflections of African Culture”, an event hosted during the annual Civil Rights Conference. | Photo Credit/University Relations
