Kariamu & Company Traditions is a contemporary African dance company that mesmerizes its audiences with its compelling dance/theater works that speak to the political, social, and spiritual experiences of African people. Under the direction of Kariamu Welsh, D. A., professor of Dance at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the first Artistic Director of the National Dance Company of Zimbabwe, Kariamu & Company: Traditions performs African dance at a heighten level of excellence that leaves audiences breathless and yearning for more. The dance company uses Umfundalai, a contemporary African dance technique developed by Welsh, and other neo-traditional African dance vocabularies allied with live percussion and selected recorded music to expand the parameters of African dance to include present-day contexts.

A concert of the emotionally rich repertoire of this Philadelphia-based company facilitates a journey for the audience &emdash; a time less journey that illuminates the beauty and complexity of African culture. With full understanding that African dance lives and breathes wherever African people reside, Kariamu & Company Traditions celebrates the Africa that exists in every day life.

 Photography: Upper Right: Patented Photos; Lower Center: Eleftherios Kostans