The Outlet (Art & Culture)

 

Art is without a doubt, a powerful tool during the most painful and challenging of times and this was more than ever underscored in 2020 with the coronavirus pandemic that caught the world by surprise. People found an outlet and solace in the arts and artistic activities.

 

Being a global language that cuts across divides, art has been known to reach people when all else fails. Its ability to influence humans and help shape minds has been proven time and again. In Echoes Africa Initiatives, we strongly believe art is a communication that facilitates relations and remove barriers so people of different cultural backgrounds can interface through sound, stories, and images.

 

The Outlet, our art and culture program is born out of the need to create a safe space where kids in the communities we serve can have the opportunity to learn, and express themselves through the art of dance. Our focus is African dance and cultures.

 

Conceptualized to be a summer program and eventually morph into an after-school program, “The Outlet” will see dance specialists from across Africa come to train kids in the program on the art of African dance, music and their origin.

 

Designed for kids of ages 5 – 12, the program is geared toward helping the children discover and explore inherent talent in this area while learning about the origin and history of each African taught. The kids in the low-income communities we serve who are interested in the program will not be disenfranchised due to the economic status of their families.

 

The program is specifically created for kids who ordinarily, due to their families’ financial situation, may not have opportunities to explore their talents in dance.  It is scheduled to kick off in the Summer of 2023 and will start with 3 groups: ages 5 – 7, ages 8 – 10 and 11 – 12.