Thursday, February 24th
Harris Bank, 111 W. Monroe, Chicago, IL 60603
5:30 - 6:30 reception
6:30 - 8:00 program

Renee Ferguson, Master of Ceremonies
WMAQ-TV, NBC-5

Julieanna L. Richardson, Executive Director
The HistoryMakers

Panel Discussion
Featuring
Joan Gray, Muntu Dance Theatre
Joseph Lewis Hall, Chicago City Theatre Company
Najwa I, Najwa Dance Corps
Muriel Foster, Sammy Dyer School of Theatre & Dance

Moderated by
Renee Ferguson

Questions and Answers

Joan Gray is President of Muntu Dance Theatre.  She became involved with the theatre after meeting a drummer who introduced her to the company.  In 1984, Gray became a dancer at Muntu, and in 1987 she was named president of the theater, where she remains today. Muntu was founded in 1972 to give artists an opportunity to express their African heritage, and today performs around the world, giving displays of traditional African, Caribbean and American dances.

Joel Hall began his dance career in 1968 under the tutelage of Ed Parrish, and the following year he moved to New York City, where he studied under Denise Jefferson. In 1974, Hall and Joseph Ehrenberg co-founded the Chicago City Theatre Company, which later came under the direction of the Joel Hall Dance Center. Since then, Hall has created more than forty ballets for his company and toured internationally. He has also gained wide recognition as a jazz dance instructor, and has taught classes at universities throughout the U.S. and the United Kingdom. The Joel Hall Dance Center in Chicago currently heads more than 150 classes a week.

Najwa I is the founder of the Najwa Dance Corps.  She began dancing as a child through classes at the Marcy Newberry Association.  Later, under the instruction of the late Panamanian performer, Jimmy Payne, Najwa studied Afro-Cuban and Calypso dance. After graduation from high school, she joined Larry Steele’s Smart Affair tour in Australia. Najwa performed on stage with icons like Duke Ellington and Count Basie. In New York City, she studied African dance. At the Cat and Fiddle Club in the Bahamas, Najwa learned to dance with fire. She also taught ethnic dance at the Julian Swain Dance Theatre and at Chicago’s Better Boys Foundation. In 1977 she launched the Najwa Dance Corps in Chicago. The group offers classes in Dances of West Africa, Dances of the Caribbean and Dances of Contemporary African American Culture and holds public concerts and events.

Muriel Foster was a member of the sensational “Dyerettes” and all female dance group from the Sammy Dyer School.  The Dyerettes often shared the stage with Sammy Davis, Jr. and performed until the late 1950’s.  Foster has been involved with the school after the Dyerettes becoming the director of the Sammy Dyer School of Theatre and Dance in 1998.

This program is free and open to the public. Please RSVP by calling 312-674-1900 or sending an email to info@thehistorymakers.com.

This program is co-presented by Harris Bank and is made possible through the generous support of The Chicago Tribune, American Airlines and partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council.

Special thanks to Carson Pirie Scott for their generous support and Aly’s Posey Patch for the donation of beautiful floral arrangements.