Several groups on campus provide events and activities that focus on the often-unnoticed culture behind music, dance and art.
There is so much negativity surrounding hip-hop dance and music
said Chanel Miller, a founder and current member of the Athens Black Contemporary Dancers (ABCD) and a senior studying dance and video production. Most people only see what's on TV but (the artists) are trained also. It's more than what is on TV.
ABCD is a contemporary dance organization for Ohio University students and Athens residents that provides free shows to the campus and the public. The student dance members choreograph all routines and rehearse regularly.
OU's Hip Hop Congress also saw a need to educate about hip hop - not as a genre, but as a culture, said Chris Crosby, the vice president of Hip Hop Congress and a senior studying English. Hip Hop Congress helps teach students about a culture that isn't seen much on campus.
Hip hop isn't just about degrading women Crosby said. It's also about educating people about (issues such as) culture and politics
and expressing opinions in a non-negative way.
Other opportunities for international dance include the OU African Ensemble and an African dance group called Azaguno.
In Azaguno, students have opportunities to perform international dance in international venues with other groups from around the world, said Zelma Badu-Younge, the choreographer and dance director of Azaguno and an associate professor in the School of Dance.
International dance is important because we live in a global community now; no one's in isolation
said Badu-Younge. The more I learn about a people's dance
the more I learn about the
people and their culture
and the more I recognize my own American culture.
Learning another culture's dance also allows people of that culture to let you into their world, said Badu-Younge, adding that knowing about another country even helps students get jobs.
Badu-Younge also started the OU African Ensemble, which was invited to perform in Cincinnati at the National Music Education Conference in January. Azaguno's first performance of the quarter, called Moving Bodies, is on Oct. 3 and will feature Euro-African dance and a dance group from Switzerland.
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Culture
Emma Morehart
