Dancers Rise Above The Ashes

Westmont’s fall dance recital, “Stories From Africa,” originally planned for the weekend after the Tea Fire, has been rescheduled now that students have returned to campus. Performances will be Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 11-13, at 8 p.m. in Westmont’s Porter  Theatre.

The program is inspired by the experiences of four current and former dance students who studied or volunteered in Africa, and pays tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, a company that has brought African-American culture and American modern dance to the world’s stages.

Creative director Erlyne Whiteman takes her cues from Alvin Ailey and from Martha Graham, exploring the role of movement in cultural exchange. Other choreographers are Westmont student Laura Mercaldo and graduate Leah Benson. The stories that inform the program come from dancers like alumna Grace Chisholm, who spent three years after graduation working in South Africa to promote AIDS education, sustainable micro businesses, and support systems for orphans.

Guest artist Linda Kazibwe will highlight the performance. Raised in Uganda and Kenya and currently residing in Los Angeles, Kazibwe is a dancer and educator who recently presented a workshop at Westmont, “An Exploration of African Dance Form.” A talk-back with Kazibwe and other participants will follow the Saturday, Dec. 13, performance.

Admission is $10, $5 for students. For more information or to reserve tickets, call the theater box office at (805) 565-7040. The program continues the theater department’s theme this season, “Think globally, act locally.”