Bridging the Gap between Gown and Town

Thursday October 26 at Crown Hill University, Ilorin (Nigeria)

Our final event will focus on the relationship between the academic (Gown) and professional dance sector (Town) and how that relationship can be enhanced. At one level, we will address the ways in which dance as a career is growing in West Africa, especially within cultural and creative industries, but higher education has yet to acknowledge dance studies as a distinct discipline. On another level, we will consider how the different learning routes that local and foreign trailblazers have taken in places like Nigeria and Senegal have influenced the teaching and performing of African, Afrocentric or Afro Diasporic dance forms in West Africa and around the globe.  Moving between Town and Gown, we will pay close attention - and in some instances problematize - the various ways through which artists and scholars might acquire knowledge and skills, from familial heritages and traditional social settings to professional dance companies, music industry or university degrees in Theater Arts.