Lenfest Outreach & Engagement Winter Series Calendar of Events

Winter Indigenous-Led Events
The Jaku Mumor outreach program will gift students with a fresh perspective of the Gadangme of West Africa, a viewpoint that highlights the abundance of the continent, not what it lacks. The outreach will pay respect to the wise ways of Okaidja Afroso's elders and ancestors and their reverence for and connection to the natural world. The program centers around the elements of nature and the wisdom of the elders that is communicated through music, dance and storytelling.

One of the main themes of the outreach program is an inquiry into the element of water and it's role in both traditional and contemporary Gadangme society, as an invaluable resource, a powerful symbol, and a sustainer of life. Afroso utilizes Gadangme fishermen kpaa songs and stories to bring attention to the power of the nature-based rituals and the connections that his ancestors had to the elements, particularly the Ocean. In Afroso's culture water represents "the energy that builds and destroys" and he uses this meaning to promote cross cultural understanding by engaging students/audiences in looking at how every day we make choices to build or to destroy and how we must live with the consequences.

Outreach & Engagement Programs
Through Lenfest partnerships with academic departments and faculty, meaningful engagement programs are offered that connect artists to students/audiences of all ages in the most stimulating ways.

Master classes offer opportunities to student artists to get personal instruction from some of the very best in the field. Taught by guest musicians, dancers and choreographers, master classes provide a spark of inspiration to continue on the path to artistic excellence.

Sponsored in part by Class of ’64 Performing Arts Fund, Pickens World Fund and Department of Theater, Dance, and Film Studies.