West African & Modern Dance Technique with Erika Stowall, SMTD Alumni Award Winner

September 13, 2024 | 2:00 pm

Dance Building
1000 Baits Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Free - Registration Recommended

Erika Stowall presents a master class with a mixture of West African and Modern dance technique, consisting of grounded movement and floorwork. Students will explore movements which will incorporate the whole body through polyrhythms and syncopation. Free and open to the public; located in The Berg (1020 Dance / Studio 2).

Winner of the 2023 Emerging Artist in Dance Award from SMTD Alumni Board, ERIKA “RED” STOWALL (BFA ’08, dance) is an educator, dancer, and choreographer residing in Detroit, Michigan. Stowall is a recipient of the Kresge Artist Fellowship, Applebaum’s Emerging Artist Award, and a Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad grant, awarded through the University of Detroit Mercy. Stowall uses her classical training, combined with her background in West African dance, as the foundation of her work. She also enjoys adding her love of mythology, anime, and comic books/graphic novels into her dances.

Many of her works explore her real-life experiences navigating being a Black woman in society. Her work is based on positive portrayal of Black stories and advocating for Black women’s voices. Stowall sees dance as a calling and is passionate about creating performance pieces that invite conversation on safe spaces for women of color, restoration, and positive narrative/images of Black communities. She is currently the dance teacher at Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Detroit, her alma mater. Stowall is the founder and current artistic director of Big Red Wall Dance Company, which has been active since 2011.

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