LIFE / SOCIETY & CULTURE / ETHNIC CULTURES

1st Intercultural dance festival proves an

opportunity for cultural exploration
February 26, 2011
12:36 AM MST

Bichini Bia Dance Company: Socially connecting and creating a support network, all while dancing away to
Congolese Music
Vic Divecha

February 26th The first Intercultural Dance Festival at University of Michigan was held February 18th
to 21st 2011. The festival hosted a variety of dance companies, classical, modern and ethnic. Student
organizations and professional dancers showcased their art forms too.
At one of the workshops on Saturday the 19th of February, 2011, one could participate in one such
lively learning opportunities with local Congolese dance company, Bichini Bia Congo. The dancers
are excited about putting their best dance moves on display and hope to generate participation from
other dance enthusiasts like undergraduate student Michelle Chirby.
Michelle Chirby is one such participant, who is a modern and ballet dancer. She confesses that she is
nowhere close to home in terms of her main dance interests. However, the intrigue of Congolese
dance brings her to the Intercultural festival workshop. She also attends the course offered by Bizu
Sampo, the founder of the dance company. Michelle explains, "I love trying out different kinds of
dances, that's why I came out here today.
Bichini Bias repertoire is not limited to dance performance alone. They also drum and sing

Congolese music as a part of their mission to preserve an art from their roots. Antoinette Williams,
who acquired her doctorate after joining the company after her Mother passed away in 2004,
explains the full scope of the dance companys vision, which includes preservation of larger cultural
facets of the US-Congo connection. She personally feels at home amongst other female members of
the troupe.
The feeling of family and social connection is one of the major incentives for the members to join and
stay a part of the company. Krystal Williams, a doctoral student in Higher Education Policy, explains
the need for a social circle felt by many students like her and how the dance company fulfills this
Maslowian need of social connectivity. "We really find this to be like family", echoes Zakiya Sayyed,
another troupe member who signed up in 2005 as an engineering undergrad at Michigan.
As the troupe regroups from the interview break, they quickly get into the rhythm of the Congolese
music, played off a CD on the PA system in a studio in the Dance Building at Michigan. With smiles on
their face, they slip into their heightened state of being secure in movement amongst their fellow
dancers.

SUGGESTED LINKS
New African dance fitness workout great for getting in shape
Contemporary Joins with Traditional African Dance

Vic Divecha

Ann Arbor Culture & Events Examiner

 2006-2015 AXS Digital Group LLC d/b/a Examiner.com