Cultural Revival VI: One World, One Heart

31-Oct-2011

Please join us on December 11th at 5:30pm as  D'AIR teens in collaboration with IRC (International Rescue Committee) Youth Futures Program teens present 'Cultural Revival 6: One World, One Heart', an aerial dance production followed by a culinary taste of their cultures.  


 One of D’AIR’s major initiatives is to provide cultural arts education to our youth, teens and community. In May of 2008 DAIR partnered with AfriSalsa Cultural Organization to develop the first of our Cultural Revival Series – an event for the community and by the community.  This family-friendly event provides a unique opportunity for participants of all ages, ethnic, and economic backgrounds to celebrate the beauty of diversity and to find a common ground through the arts. The first few Cultural Revival Series events each celebrated a different population in our diverse community and explored the richness of their culture, such as ‘Mardi Gras’ celebrating New Orleans and ‘Arabesque,’ exploring the Arab culture.  Our youth, teen and adult students recognized the beauty of different cultures by borrowing certain elements from the traditional culture and adding our own modern twist, culminating in an evening performance and celebration. 

 In 2010 we took the Cultural Revival Series in a new direction by partnering with Atlanta’s IRC (International Rescue Committee) Youth Futures Program.  The IRC is one of the largest refugee resettlement organizations in the United States, with a large presence here in our own backyard.  We decided to focus on our teens and form a long-term residency program with our community partner. As part of their ‘pay it forward’ program, D’AIR teens dedicated every Saturday in the fall to pass on the skills they had learned in aerial dance with teens from IRC, acting as mentors and friends.  In 2010 the efforts culminated in an evening performance and celebration ‘Cultural Revival 5: East meets West’.  We feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to collaborate with a group of teens from the IRC again this fall and are looking forward to presenting ‘Cultural Revival 6: One World, One Heart’.  While mentoring the teens of IRC who come from countries as diverse as Ethiopia, Somalia, Thailand, Myanmar, and Kenya, D’AIR teens not only had the opportunity to learn a little about all each of these cultures, they also explored their own roots.  Please join us in this celebration with performances and culinary tastes from around the world on Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 5:30pm at D’AIR.


Go Back