By: Courtney Lyons, Contributor
A brand new artistic club has begun at Canisius University: the Dance Dynasty team. Ami Sow and Vivian Etim — two of the driving forces behind creating this organization — wished to showcase and celebrate diversity through movement in a supportive, uplifting environment. Sow states that Dance Dynasty “gives everyone the ability to be a leader and engage with different kinds of people on campus, learn different cultures … and [learn] the significance behind dances.”
Thus far, the club has performed predominantly Afro-Jamaican styles. However, Dance Dynasty is open to all forms of dance, since — according to Sow — the club’s goal is to bring “different kinds of culture, songs, music [and] traditions into one group, where people from all places, all cultures get to perform … [and] just basically learn about each other.”
Separate from the already-existing Canisius University Dance Team, the Dance Dynasty team is more akin to a “club that dances” than a “dance club.” The organization intends to collaborate with other Canisius clubs that share similar values and host events that they can perform at. While Dance Dynasty hopes to one day perform during halftime at basketball games, in the meantime they “step” — that is, create “a beat with your hands and feet,” per Sow — to support Canisius athletics and hinder the opposing team’s communication.
Dance experience is not a prerequisite for membership, “as long as you are willing to learn, try and just do it,” Sow explains. Sow and Etim each stressed that Dance Dynasty is not a “competition”, instead, Sow is passionate about the team being, “a bonding club,” where “none of us are professionals, we’re just learners just trying to create something.”
Etim implements the importance of community, urging students to, “Feel free to join: everybody’s welcome. We are a loving … group and we just want you to be part of something.” Anyone interested in joining the Dance Dynasty team is encouraged to sign up via the QR code on the Today@Canisius emails to be a part of Sow’s attempt to “make the campus alive.”