Brooklyn’s Black Owned Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation and The Stars of New York Dance Partner to Create the Dance and Beyond Program for 60 Students

Two Brooklyn-based Black owned nonprofit community arts programs, Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation, which is celebrating the twenty-third year, and The Stars of New York Dance have partnered to establish The Dance and Beyond Scholarship Program. The tandem’s initiative has granted 60 scholarships of $2000 each for students ages 4 – 16 years  old to attend Asase Yaa’s highly-respected School of the Arts throughout the current school year. The Stars of New York Dance has donated the full cost of the scholarships,( $120,000) to Asase Yaa from a $500,000 federal Community Project Fund that  they received which was supported by House Democratic Leader and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries.

The groundbreaking initiative by The Stars of New York Dance and its founder and Executive Producer, Cheryl Todmann, is the largest scholarship fund in Asase Yaa’s history. “We extend our heartfelt appreciation to Cheryl Todmann for her visionary commitment to help us provide numerous youths of diverse ages and backgrounds with a chance to become a part of our vibrant artistic community and learn dance and drumming,” enthused Kofi Osei Williams, the Executive Director of Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation.

All participants of The Dance and Beyond Program are currently attending the Asase Yaa School of the Arts fall/winter semester in Brooklyn. The $2000 scholarship pays for their tuition, which enables them to take classes in three genres of dance, African, Jazz, and Hip Hop. They also receive uniforms (leotard, tights, and Asase Yaa tee-shirt), and costumes for each dance discipline, which they will also wear for the  school’s annual finale dance recital in June 2024.

The full grant of $500,000 is providing 250 children with a $2,000 dance scholarship that covers free dance education and training with dance organizations within Jefferies  8th Congressional District.

Asase Yaa has supported The Stars of New York Dance since its inception in 2009 with scholarships totaling $1000 per year. The organization just celebrated its 14 annual gala and dance competition (Friday, November 17^th), which was won by Asase Yaa Youth Ensemble, earning them the dance competition’s grand prize, $5000.

ABOUT ASASE YAA CULTURAL ARTS FOUNDATION

Asase Yaa (“Mother Earth”) Cultural Arts Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit organization that is dedicated to fulfilling its core tenets to Enrich, Educate, Entertain, and promote the importance of cultural performing arts to youth and adults in their community. 

What began as the vision of brothers Kofi Osei Williams and Yao Ababio to start African dance and drumming workshops in the `90s, has grown into a thriving School of the Arts, for youth ages 3-18, an annual six weeks Children’s Summer Arts Camp, an Arts Outreach Program that serves many public and charter schools throughout Brooklyn, Manhattan, Bronx, and Queens, an internationally renowned and award-winning professional dance ensemble, Asase Yaa African-American Dance Theater, and a Youth Ensemble that features African dancers and drummers who perform throughout the greater New York metropolitan area.

Asase Yaa aspires to empower and strengthen youth by offering them an opportunity to learn, study and experience the history, movement and beauty of African Diasporic dance, music, and culture at its highest level. Their programs are designed to ensure that youth understand the roots and value of culture in the arts, which they hope will inspire and propel them to become strong leaders capable of preserving and elevating their culture and communities in the future.

For more information, visit www.asaseyaaent.org.

ABOUT THE STARS OF NEW YORK DANCE

The Stars of New York Dance makes children’s dance dreams come true. Founded by Executive Producer, Cheryl Todmann, in 2009, they use their annual programs and events to raise dance education funds for children from low-income communities to help them develop discipline, confidence and self-esteem to succeed in school and in life. For the past 13 years, The Stars of New York Dance provided nearly 12,000 days of free dance education and training to New York City children. The Stars of New York Dance is a 501 c 3 not-for-profit organization. 

Dance has a tremendously positive influence on children’s academic attainment and social development. We use dance as a tool to enhance children’s education. Children learn creativity, discipline, focus and problem-solving when they are engaged in dance.  We also use dance as a tool for social justice that invites national and local leaders to help create equity and access to the arts for all children in our community.

Bringing diverse New Yorkers together, The Stars of New York Dance is an innovative, collaborative and imaginative experience between community leaders, professional dancers, performing artists, dance students, dance enthusiasts, and is creating new audiences for dance throughout New York City each year.

For further information go to: https://www.starsnydance.org.