SPIRIT OF UGANDA ARTISTS

Produced by Empower African Children, Spirit of Uganda is a professional training and touring program that tours North America every other year. In 2012 the company traveled to 23 cities performing at leading performing arts centers and universities coast to coast. Under the artistic direction of Peter Kasule, these young dancers and musicians share cultural traditions from East Africa and introduce some of the dynamic music and dance forms that are being created now.

Impassioned ambassadors of their rich culture and articulate advocates for their homeland these children are joyous, thriving examples of what is possible when potential is recognized and realized. At home and abroad these artists of the highest caliber play a significant role. Their activities also raise funds to support the many other orphaned and vulnerable children who are being served by Empower African Children, a US non-profit organization and Ugandan NGO.

Spirit of Uganda has been seen at NYU’s Skirball Center and NYC’s Joyce Theater, UC Davis and Santa Barbara, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Annenberg Center, the universities of NC, IL, MI, & MA, at the Vancouver Cultural Olympiad and the UN General Assembly. Special appearances also include Macy’s Passport AIDS benefits in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Spirit of Uganda is a program within Empower African Children (EAC), a non-profit organization based in Dallas, TX and Kampala, Uganda. The troupe exemplifies Empower African Children’s three strategic initiatives: to provide a transformative whole-child education, to create global connections, and to prepare students for a lifetime of leadership.

Empower African Children mentors and supports 55 young Ugandans with a goal of increasing this number every year. Each student attends one of the best boarding schools in Uganda. Each student is supported with individual counseling, community service opportunities and a network of services that promote healthy child development. Every student receives post-secondary counseling, vocational training, or advanced education to meet their career interests and goals.

A college-level US Scholarship Program makes it possible for some of these students to deepen their education at leading colleges and universities. Currently 3 students are working towards completing their bachelor’s, engineering or master’s degrees in the USA. In the fall of 2011, Empower African Children founded Uwezo Brands, a sustainable clothing and accessories line. Made in Africa by Africans, and using African materials, UWEZO shoes and boots are fair trade, and locally made specifically for the American market. They are produced in environmentally friendly factories that employ workers under humane conditions. Every pair of shoes purchased supports EAC’s programs.

Director’s Note
The arts have survived in Uganda and throughout all of Africa though borders may have shifted and country names changed. Dance, music, and storytelling record our histories and instill values.

They help raise children, celebrate milestones, provide assurance, dispense justice, proclaim beliefs and sustain societies. For those of us who have lost our parents, our elders and neighbors, who witness the daily struggle to carry on, these rhythms and patterns are a comfort, they are our teachers and tools of survival. Music and dance in Uganda today are fluid and dynamic – a shifting mix of traditional and new forms that celebrate the country’s rich and multiple heritages and embody the connections among peoples and across borders. This oral and visual language knows no boundaries; it is everywhere and always.

Our performance has its roots in Uganda’s diverse cultures and is also the result of research and collaboration with teachers, elders and artists from Tanzania, Rwanda, the Republic of Congo and other of our Ugandan neighbors. Depending on the originating culture, these expressions can encompass court, sacred and folk traditions. Improvisation is a hallmark of creativity and the best performers are great innovators whose moves and sounds are absorbed, transmuted and transmitted. In this way, traditions are continually evolving; as they draw from the past, each generation adds its own voices, rhythms and movements.

Repertory works may be named after a featured instrument, a song’s lyric, a particular rhythm or phrase or its place of origin. Some pieces are drawn from specific peoples―such as the Acholi who live in northern Uganda and southern Sudan or the Baganda whose centuries-old kingdom Buganda is rooted in the court. Other pieces are suites that may link rhythms and phrases from several regions, playing with differences and similarities to combine sounds and movements in new ways.

“To empower children, to make a change in this world, nothing is better than letting their voices be heard. Our performers are the young faces of Africa, the leaders of tomorrow, the composers of our stories, and the makers of our memories in this new century. It is my pleasure to introduce you, to welcome the Spirit of Uganda into your lives for even a short time, and to share the roots and newer offshoots of our lush, beautiful and diverse cultures.” – Peter Kasule, Artistic Director


 

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Artist's website
Facebook: SpiritOfUganda
Twitter: @spiritofEAC