Diversity Scholar to Present Programs on West African Dance

Andrea Markus

MEADVILLE, Pa. –  – Andrea Markus, diversity scholar-in-residence at Allegheny College, will present two free programs open to the public in February. She will give a presentation, “The Arts and Social Change in West Africa,” on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. in Quigley Hall auditorium on the Allegheny campus.

Markus also will teach a workshop in West African dance forms on Friday, Feb. 19 from 3 to 5 p.m. in the college’s Montgomery Performance Space. Space is limited and reservations are requested. For more information or to register, call the Dance and Movement Studies office at (814) 332-2813.

Markus holds a master’s degree in dance and dance education from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Ithaca College.  She teaches at the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University, where she explores both modern dance and West African/Afro-Caribbean dance.

Markus has traveled to Guinea, West Africa, to study dance and drumming with members of the national companies Les Ballets Africains and Ballet Djoliba.  She performed with the Alpha Omega 1-7 Theatrical Dance Company and co-directed Magbana Drum and Dance NYC, a West African-based performance group of percussionists and dancers.

Markus also served on a panel at the 2008 National Dance Education Organization National Conference on “Dance Education Curriculum as a Medium for Social Change, Cultural Awareness, and Personal Empowerment: Stories from the Field.”