Coyaba Dance Theater/Daughters of Coyaba is a contemporary Traditional West African Dance Company specializing in dance and music from the Mali Empire (Guinea, Mali, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso). DAUGHTERS OF COYABA made it's debut in February 2000 through Coyaba Dance Theater/Daughters of Coyaba, the traditions of West African Dance are passed on to the children with love and reverence to maintain the cultural fluidity of the cultures and traditions of the African Diaspora.Kn

Known as a "community" as much as a dance company by the Washington Post, Coyaba Dance Theater is a multi-aged company based in Washington, DC. Specializing in dance and music from the Mali Empire (Guinea, Mali, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso), the company has a unique energy and stage presence that fills the audience with the spirit, color, texture and perseverance of the Motherland.

GRATITUDE focuses on the gift of giving. Western society is so caught up in material things that people are disconnected from their neighbors and communities. It is important to reach out to your community, elders and those less fortunate without praise or justification. Knowing you possess everything that you need to be genuinely happy should be enough, but it is not. GRATITUDE is not only being thankful for what you have, but also being thankful for what you have to give.

Founder and Artistic Director Sylvia Soumah founded Coyaba Dance Theater in 1997, naming the troupe after the West Indies Arawak work for Heaven. Coyaba Dance Theater presents traditional and contemporary West African Dance and Music focusing on the diverse ethnic groups and various humanitarian themes of West African culture. The 12-member company consists of dancers ranging in age from 12 - 29. Some of the young dancers have studied with Ms. Soumah since the age of three. Coyaba Dance Theater has been featured at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Dance Africa/Chicago, and the Barns of Wolf Trap and the World Culture Open in Seoul, South Korea.

This presentation of Coyaba Dance Theater is one of a series of programs designed by the National Performance Network (NPN). NPN is an independent organization begun by Dance Theater Workshop and is comprised of arts organizations in 42 cities and 27 states. NPN is made possible through major funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For further information, visit the NPN website www.npnweb.org or write: National Performance Network, 1712 Baronne Street, Ste. 1712, New Orleans, LA 70112. Funding has also been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Tickets are $9.50 for children under 12, $13.50 DU members, students and seniors, $16.50 General Admission in Advance and $11.50 children under 12, $18.50 for DU members, students and seniors and $21.50 for General Admission at the door. Advance tickets are also available for purchase on our site.