Arts & Culture

UK Dance presents Project ChArma for week of African, modern dance master classes

Ama Law of Project ChArma.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 9, 2023) — The University of Kentucky Department of Theatre and Dance welcomed guest choreographers Mariama “Ama” Law and Chris Law of Project ChArma to campus through Oct. 13 for a series of master classes with UK dance students, as well as an African Dance Class open to all university students 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 13, in Room 117 of the Fine Arts Building 

Project ChArma is a collective of teaching artists and hip-hop lovers based in the Washington, D.C., area who promote social change through movement. Mariama “Ama” Law was born into African dance culture through Kankouran West African Dance Company, as both parents are founding members. Project ChArma will be presented at the Kennedy Center in April 2024 as the newest recipients of the Local Dance Commissioning Fund.  

Work by Ama and Chris Law of Project ChArma will be presented in the Department of Theatre and Dance’s annual dance concert, "Home," scheduled Feb. 2-4, 2024, in the Guignol Theatre. For the production, they will create a dance piece for six UK dance majors and minors.

While at UK, they will teach a total of seven master classes for students in a variety of dance styles including Urban Dance, Street Dance, Voguing and Modern Dance.

In addition to the African Dance Class on Friday morning, there will be an afternoon showing of their work at 5 p.m. followed by a Q&A. Both the class and performance are free and open to the public. The class and showing will be presented in the Fine Arts Dance Studio, FA Room 117.

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.