Loyola University New Orleans' Introduction to African Dance class will be taught this year by professor Kai Knight. A choreographer, performer, and instructor, Knight is an active member in the New Orleans based cultural performance companies Kumbuka African Drum and Dance Collective and Bamboula 2000 Band. She is the Artistic Director of Silhouette Dance Ensemble and Breathe! /A Multi-Cultural Collective Breath through Movement Company. In 2017, she choreographed for Le Code Noir directed by Tommye Myrick. A resident teacher at Dancing Grounds, Knight is also the founder and director of Seasons Center which hosts multicultural programming that assists women, families, and communities by application of faith, education, and the performing arts, as well as the founder and Executive Director of Cultural Ties Dance Festival: Movement of the African Diaspora. Her goal is to better provide individual, social, and community healing through the integration of faith into the performance arts and social work.
When asked about teaching at Loyola again, Knight said, “I am excited about teaching African Dance Diaspora this Spring! It is an opportunity for me to share a rich and power-filled dance discipline that is rooted in cultural history. It is with great joy that I serve Loyola University's community as a cultural dance educator!”
By Madeline Taliancich