Indiana Daily Student is IU’s student-run newspaper.
Professor and director of the African American Dance Company Iris Rosa is strict about how her dancers wear their hair. Black-, white- and short-haired dancers alike get their hair braided in cornrows.
So when the dance company traveled to Beijing during winter break to explore China and perform and dance with students from the China University of Mining and Technology Beijing, one dancer from the AADC sat with some of the Chinese students and cornrowed their hair.
“That was such a beautiful moment of a cross-cultural experience,” Rosa said.
The AADC spent nearly a week in China from Dec. 16 to Dec. 23. This was the company’s first time abroad as a group in Rosa’s 43 years directing the them.
“To see my students actually perform in China at formal concert and the way they were accepted and to hear the applause was really very exciting,” Rosa said.
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