“We use dance as a tool to change people’s lives,” said Junaid Jemal Sendi and Addisu Demissie, who founded Destino Dance in 2014. At Hay, they premiered their documentary film Movements Mean More at Hay, and their book of the same title is due for publication in the near future.
The session began with a demonstration of Ethiopian dance before the pair spoke about their background. At age 10, they were trading on the streets of Addis Ababa when they joined Dance United, a contemporary dance company that provided them with five years of intensive training. Alongside dance, they were taught English, and afterwards they set up their own company, Destino Dance.
“What’s behind the movement”? The company have two principal objectives: community engagement and cultural research. They work with disabled and blind people and empower young members of the community by providing free dance classes twice a week. The company also research the traditions, culture and history behind the distinctive moves of Ethiopian dance. With funding from the European Union, the pair set out to conduct research in as many of the 84 Ethiopian tribes as possible, in just three months. They visited between 25-30 and created the film, primarily for an Ethiopian audience, to help preserve the stories behind the dance.
The company plans to tour in the UK and Europe in the future, and to continue developing projects that help empower the local and global community
If you missed this, you might like event 457, Telling the Story of Syria on Sunday 3 June at 5.30pm.
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