Message From The Boss

Hello Alumni and everyone,
I am so excited to be blogging for the first time. Hannah made me do it! This gives me an opportunity to engage in continuous discussion regarding the Edna Manely College Rex Nettleford Arts Conference that we (Hannah, Amelia, Lauren, Stephanie, Katie, Imani, AnnaRose and Kim) are attending in Kingston, Jamaica. The dance company representatives will be performing and I will be teaching a dance class! Who is nervous?? LOL! They have been rehearsing and I am still thinking about my session!

This conference situates us internationally and gives us the opportunity to make connections that will continue for a lifetime. It will be interesting to meet visual and performing artists who will be talking about education, psychology, race, religion, gender, sexuality, representation, etc. There are so many areas in which the arts are integrated in our lives. The black diaspora focus is exciting and will generate so many conversations about our role to keep the arts and culture as a significant and important link in our communities’ mental and physical health.

It brings me back to the year 1975 when Dr. Herman Hudson, visionary and founder of the Afro-American Studies Dept. and the African American Arts Institute, wrote a grant proposal to send five students and I to New York to study at the Dance Theatre of Harlem School and with Chuck Davis (African Dance). We also flew to Vermont one time in the early 1980’s. It has been since that time that the dance company has taken a trip several thousand miles from Bloomington. Things come full circle. We need to keep the circle unbroken.

I first want to thank everyone that supported us (AAADS, AAAI, DEMA, Alumni, friends, family and mentors). We will try to post on the blog photos and our daily experiences. Lots to think about! More to come!

Until next time!

Prof. Rosa aka ProRo!