[What follows is] a list of Greater Hartford area artists and organizations [as of 2014] whose missions give priority to the preservation and dissemination of dance forms rooted to a particular geography. It is important to note that languaging this important part of our dance community is not without challenge because there are many individuals and groups among us who find consistent inspiration in a specific geographic or diasporic cultural tradition. It seems others face the same challenge. [This page is intended to serve as an archive for The Invisible City Project website. While this list is not up to date, it is my hope that its contents continue to provide a point of entry.]
Asian Performing Arts
Stephanie Sum, Director
Asian Performing Arts is a group of dedicated and talented performers and artists with the goal in promoting and retaining Chinese Cultural Arts. The performing troupe consists of youth artists from ages 10 through 17 as well as adult artists and has performed in numerous international festivals across the Connecticut and Massachusetts. Co-founded by Stephanie Sum and Julie Lai, dance instructors at the Chinese Language School of Greater Hartford, both have many years of experiences in teaching, choreographing, and performing Asian cultural dances.
Berzelis Lithuanian Folk Dance Group
Dalia Dzikas, Director
Berzelis Lithuanian Folk Dance Group performs traditional Lithuanian folk dances while introducing audiences to Lithuanian culture, history, folklore, and costumes.
Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program
Lynn Williamson, Director
The Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program (CHAP) helps to express and enhance community cultural vitality through transforming research material (observations, recorded interviews, collection of artistic histories and music) into activities of interest to audiences. Commitment to authenticity of cultural representation and inclusion of members of the communities in research and program development are fundamental characteristics of CHAP’s projects. A central program objective is to bring the excellence of traditional arts, which speak volumes about a community’s history and values, to greater public attention. Ethnic, immigrant, and occupational communities in Connecticut have an extraordinary commitment to maintaining their cultural heritage and identity while experiencing and adapting to new social and cultural environments. CHAP encourages and promotes traditional artists and their communities through an active process of documentation, technical assistance, and public presentation to bring their work and the history of their communities to new audiences. The fieldwork-based program is unique in Connecticut, with goals and methods consistent with the Institute for Community Research’s mission emphasizing the use of original research to strengthen community-based resources. CHAP documents tradition bearers across the state whose work would otherwise remain unknown or under-represented, collecting this material into a valuable archive of Connecticut traditions that is open to researchers and the public by appointment.
Cultural Dance Troupe of the West Indies
Val Coleman, Artistic Director
The Cultural Dance Troupe of the West Indies, Inc. was founded in 1982. Based in Hartford, Connecticut, The Cultural Dance Troupe of the West Indies is the premiere center for the study of Caribbean dance in New England. With its studio in the heart of Hartford’s dynamic and fast-growing West Indian community, the Cultural Dance Troupe is dedicated to preserving traditional Afro-Caribbean dance forms and infusing them with modern, jazz, and other contemporary North American dance forms. It is also dedicated to the education of young people, using the arts to instill in them pride, perseverance, and a deeper understanding of their culture and history.
Island Reflection Dance Theatre Company (IRDTC)
Stephen Hankey, Artistic Director
Island Reflections Dance Theatre Company is dedicated to the improvement of society through the exploration of diversity and physical movement. Stephen Hankey, IRDTC’s Artistic Director, is a native of Trinidad who has traveled the world as a performer and teacher of cultural dance and diversity. With an emphasis on Caribbean dance, the Company teaches jazz, modern, ethnic and many other disciplines. Performances have taken members to perform at Sporting Events, the Today Show and many more as individuals. As a company, the dancers have performed around the New England Area, forging partnerships with community based organizations everywhere they go. Many of IRDTC’s dancers are themselves teachers, therapists and parents themselves, highlighting their unique ability to use dance as a tool for supporting therapeutic relief, diversity and social acceptance.
Sankofa Kuumba Cultural Arts Consortium
Christine Dixon-Smith, Director
Sankofa Kuumba seeks to perpetuate African culture through instruction and performance of traditional performing and visual arts. Sankofa is a consortium of performing and teaching artists in many disciplines including dance, music, and visual and textile arts. Our programs are designed as imaginative journeys that promote cultural enrichment, arts education and a greater understanding and appreciation of African culture by all. Based in Hartford, Connecticut, the company provides a vehicle for teaching, learning and experiencing the arts of Africa and the African Diaspora. Sankofa Kuumba has created dozens of educational programs for Hartford city children. Sankofa Kuumba also collaborates with local dance and performing arts groups in the Greater Hartford area to present full-scale performances and innovative new theater pieces.
