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UMOJA has been recognized as one of New Jersey’s premier dance companies. Within the past nine years UMOJA has achieved many important milestones. UMOJA was selected to perform at Aaron Davis Hall as a part of the New Vision/New Voices Choreography Showcase for People of Color, curated by Gus Solomons, Jr. The company was presented for two consecutive years by The New Jersey Performing Arts Center for its Kwanzaa Celebration. UMOJA appeared on NBC Today (a Saturday morning News program) in celebration of Black History month.
In 1997, the company traveled to Durham, North Carolina to participate in the International Association of Blacks in Dance Conference held at Duke University. UMOJA was also presented by Montclair State University as part of The Great Events Performance Series. The company has performed in the following choreography showcases in New York: Dance Theater Workshop FRESHTRACKS, Symphony Space Dance Sampler, Mulberry Street Theatre: Newsteps, St. Mark’s Danspace: Food For Thought, P.S. 122: New Stuff, Fieldday at The Ubu Repertory Theatre and Joyce Soho as well as the New Generation in Dance/Dance in Education Fund Concert held at SUNY Purchase. Umoja has self-produced three concerts at Montclair State University.
The members of UMOJA have very diverse dance, theatre and musical backgrounds. The dancers have worked and, or studied with the late Pearl Primus, Woody McGriff, and Talley Beatty, as well as Katherine Dunham, Judith Jamison, Kevin Wynn, Sean Curran, Nicholas Leichter, Gus Solomons, Jr., Joy Kellman, Alfred Gallman, Andre Tyson, Jackie Villimil, Gwen Welliver, Chuck Davis, Shapiro & Smith, Donald McKayle, Bebe Miller, and Ron Brown. |
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