About this Event
Old Town School of Folk Music and Music Moves Chicago is bringing Asase Yaa African American Dance Theatre to Chicago to perform in Africa Out West on Thurs October 1. at Kehrein Center for the Arts, 5628 W Washington Blvd | Chicago, IL 60644, as a part of DCASE's World Music Festival Chicago! Click here to reserve your FREE seat for the show!
While here, they will be offering two FREE community workshops!
RSVP here for the drum workshop!
Asase Yaa Workshops
🗓️ Saturday October 3
⏳ 12:30 PM Djembe and Dun Dun Orchestra Workshop
⏳ 2:00 PM West African Dance Workshop // RSVP here
📍Washington Park Fieldhouse • 5531 S Martin Luther King Dr, Chicago, IL 60637
• South Side of Chicago
💸 FREE! (Gratis!)
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More about Asase Yaa:
The Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization established in Bed-Stuy, NY in 2001. They are celebrating their milestone 25th anniversary this year with the theme "We Strive to Thrive." Its African American Dance Theater is making their sixth appearance (2005, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2022) at DanceAfrica 2026, with its revamped production of The Revival: Djembe in the New Millennium. The ensemble is also presenting the show on its current national concert tour, its first since 2017. The show fuses traditional West African music and dance with urban music genres from the 1990s to present day New York.
Asase Yaa and its Dance Theater were founded by Yao Ababio, a master Djembe drummer, director, and choreographer who serves as its Artistic Director. K. Osei Williams, his brother, serves as the Foundation’s Executive Director. The Foundation is dedicated to preserving African American and African diasporic dance and drum traditions through performance, education, and community engagement. In addition to the Dance Theater, they oversee several youth programs; School of the Arts, (youth 2 –18); Youth Ensemble; Children's Summer Arts Camp, (4 – 13 years old); and Arts Outreach Program, which performs interactive entertainment for schools throughout New York.
Since its inception Ababio and Williams have collaborated on creating 35 original independent productions. The Dance Theater was the first US-based African dance company in history to be nominated for a coveted Bessie Award for the initial production of “Djembe in the New Millennium” (2014), just one of their numerous accolades. More than 1000 performers have graced their stages for over 5000 performances domestically and internationally. This includes appearances by their abbreviated ensembles (dancers and drummers) as featured performers at corporate, private events, music festivals, schools, and collaborations with dozens of the most prestigious African dance companies in the nation.
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Music Moves Chicago (MMC) is Old Town School of Folk Music's a place-based, youth-focused, intergenerational initiative that aims to inspire, restore, and transform communities by providing access to high quality arts education, concerts, and workforce readiness through partnerships with community organizations, schools, and other institutions located in South and West side neighborhoods.
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Event venue & nearby stays
Washington Park Fieldhouse, 5531 S Martin Luther King Dr, Chicago, United States
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