October 14, 2010 – New York City-based Battery Dance Company (BDC) are promoting international cultural engagement through workshops and performances in Nairobi that started on Tuesday the 13th.  Through its Dancing to Connect program, BDC’s dancers will spend several days in Kenya training two groups of young performers (Bone Marrow and the University of Nairobi’s GOMAD group) in the process of creating their own dances.  Local dance teachers have partnered with BDC, sharing their knowledge of Kenya and learning the skills of Dancing to Connect.  Three of the company’s dancers arrived in Kenya on October 12 from Algeria where they worked with local performers.  They are headed to the DRC and Namibia following their Kenya tour

Since the launch of its 35th Anniversary Season on July 1, BDC has performed and taught in Germany and Japan and produced its 29th Annual Downtown Dance Festival.  The Company has previously toured 40 countries on five continents around the world.

Workshops have been underway since Tuesday at The Go Down from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and at the National Conservatoire of Kenya from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday and 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.  On Saturday, October 16, the BDC professional dancers, the two Nairobi-based dance groups, a newly formed Pokot acrobatic troupe, and the dynamic Iddi Achieng will perform at the U.S. Ambassador’s residence.  The performance will take place from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

For day-to-day impressions of the tour see:  batterydancecompany.tumblr.com and http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Dancing-to-Connect-Africa/136353136407454

BDC’s international cultural engagement programs are sponsored through a generous grant from the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, and this multi-country tour is funded by the U.S. Department of State.