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Local News: Black dance company shows roots Black Habits Articles It’s been 13 years since COBA (Collective of Black Artists) burst onto the Toronto dance scene with African and Caribbean-inspired dances showcasing the strength of black Canadian artists.

Today, there is a warm, positive energy emanating from COBA’s upstairs studio at Queen and Bathurst streets as dancers bend and stretch, focusing hard on dance sequences for Deekali: Roots Re-lived, a retrospective of COBA’s works that it is bringing to the Betty Oliphant Theatre (404 Jarvis St.) stage Feb. 16-19.

“Every year we create new work,” says company founder BaKari Lindsay, taking a break from coaching his dancers to talk about the show. “With this show, we want people to sit back and enjoy 13 years of creativity.”

Deekali means “going back to our roots,” explains COBA co-founder Charmaine Headley, who was quite sure young black people in Toronto who have never seen live contemporary dance would have an enlightening, spiritual experience at their show.

“It is important for them to see that they are being represented in a professional state in the arts,” she said. “There is an outlet here for those that are interested in dance, and not just ballet.”

West African live music, breathtaking movements, and a solo by Lindsay, inspired by his trip to Africa, will delight longtime fans of the company and make new audiences wonder where they have been the last 13 years.

Tickets are $28 and $19 students/seniors. To find out more about COBA, check out www.cobainc.com - Kathleen Lippa, 24 hours
Posted on Monday, February 13 @ 00:00:00 UTC by jcohen



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