American Dance Company Teaches Guinean Students

Students warming up before the rehearsal (State Dept)

The Public Affairs Section (PAS) of U.S. Embassy Conakry invited the Battery Dance Company of New York’s Technical Director Barry Steele and two Teaching Artists Sean Scantlebury and Robin Cantrell to conduct a dance training workshop for Guinean youth ages 13-17. The PAS selected a group of 40 ethnically diverse males and female participants who had no prior dance experience to participate in the “Dancing to Connect” workshop program. The Battery Dance Company engaged the local youth in creativity and team-building through the art form of modern dance. These high school students dramatically improved their self confidence and tolerance for others as they merged into a functioning team and worked under the guidance of the teaching artists to create their own choreography. On November 19, 2011, the French Guinean Cultural Center hosted the group’s final performance which attracted an audience of approximately 300 international diplomats, Guinean government officials, school administers and parents. The program ended with the distribution of participation certificates by the PAS staff.