What up doe, Detroit! Welcome back to Culture Canvas!

This is Bryce Huffman, BridgeDetroit’s new Engagement Editor, filling in for the one and only Micah Walker this week. But don’t worry, she’ll be back next week. 

Ajara Alghali, a dancer and performing artist born and raised on the west side of Detroit, has been dancing since before she could walk. And she wants to spread that passion and excitement for dancing with everyone in the city. 

Alghali is the director of the TéMaTé Institute for Black Dance and Culture. The institute is gearing up for its fourth annual Convening for Dance and Culture Conference, which is scheduled for October 19th and 20th. 

The conference focuses on teaching traditional African dances, Alghali told me when I talked to her Monday. The conference is for “Detroiters of all ages” who want to celebrate the contributions of the African diaspora and will focus on the “generational nature of teaching and learning to dance,” Algahli said.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to learn about and watch traditional African drum performances. 

You can learn more about the conference and register here. 

EDITOR’S NOTE: This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

BridgeDetroit: When did you start dancing and what about dance really attracted you? What made you so passionate about it?

Ajara Alghali: Well, my parents say that I was dancing before I could walk, so let them tell it, I was bouncing well before I could walk, but I’ve always danced right whether if it was making dance routines with my friends at our middle school dances, to when I first got into the traditional African art. 

That was about 20 years ago, so I’ve been learning and researching the traditions of West African dance and culture. And I would say professionally, as like my full-time has been about 10 years. So I’ve been a dancer all of my life.

BridgeDetroit: Tell me about the conference. When did it start and why was it started?

Alghali: So the Convening For Dance and Culture has been around since 2020. We skipped 2021 because of the pandemic, but in 2020 we had our conference online. We were supposed to have it in person, but we pivoted and had it online. We had dance classes, and we had dance companies record performances, so we showed them online, and that was done in collaboration with the Carr Center. 

Fast-forward, two years later, we brought everyone together to experience a dance class in person, and very much to our elation, people said that they wanted to do this yearly. And so we’ve had it in 2022, 2023 and now 2024 in-person, and the attendance has been growing. 

We have African diaspora dance, right? And so this is about showing the linkages between dance arts and the dance forms across the African diaspora. So this year we have Brazilian folklore, we have Congolese dance, we have dances that are done in Senegal, Guinea and Mali. And so the conference really represents a networking of artists and dance enthusiasts that want to learn more, that want to be able to develop their understanding of the African diaspora dance forms, because there’s so many disciplines. 

On top of that, the weekend also has a concert in which we bring in artists from around the Midwest. This year, we will be hosting Afriky Lolo, who are based in St Louis, Missouri, and we will also be having House of Jit to showcase the similarities, but also the rooted connections between dances that developed on the African continent, but as well as dances that are done here in Detroit.

We really wanted to highlight that, because Detroit is where we’re based. It’s our home, and it is also a much-needed tool to get people invested in the local dance art form known as jit. 

BridgeDetroit: Who is the conference primarily for? Is it for people who already have a background in dance, or are you trying to attract any Detroiter who finds an interest in this?

Alghali: Any Detroiter who finds an interest in cultural arts and dance is welcome. We have young people –  five, six and seven – that are performing with us on stage, and our oldest member of our dance company is 71. So that means that dance is multi-generational. There is no beginning age and there is no ending age, as long as you have the passion for wanting to learn more and to be able to share within your community dance is for you.

The traditions of African dance, and West African dance particularly, is a community. It’s a community movement, so dancing is done to celebrate and highlight many particular things that go on in the community, whether it’s harvesting rice or when a baby is born, or the celebration of religious holidays, dance is done to celebrate all walks of life, but also everything that makes us connected as humans.

BridgeDetroit: For people who may feel like they have two left feet or don’t have the internal rhythm to dance, why should they come out?

Alghali: They should come out really, because (dancing) is about leaving those inhibitions behind. Children get up and walk, and even if they fall down or bump something like the table, they continue to walk. So it’s really thinking about ourselves as learning like that, because the only reason that we have any apprehension regarding dance is because, “oh I don’t want to look silly,” or,  “I don’t want to embarrass myself,” but if you really think back of your think back when you were a child, we didn’t have those fears.

We got up and did it. And as I look at children now, you know whether, if it’s riding a bike or playing an instrument, you only learn from continuing to do it. I use those same examples when it comes to dance. Dance is enjoyment. It’s fun, but also it is a time to express yourself. And so this is class, this is learning. And this isn’t about doing it as a professional or anything. This is about being with other people and experiencing the joy that comes from dance. I think it is a great place to start for anyone who is an aspiring dancer that wants to learn more. 

As Micah usually says to end the newsletter, enjoy your week, Detroiters! 

Cheers,

Bryce