Kenna
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Kids Drum and Dance
Educator
Dancer
Choreographer
Black American Griot
Voice of Culture
enjoy these images from my choreographic life ... scroll down for a complete artistic history
A rtistic History
2014
J-Term at the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists
Honoree of the Minnesota African American History and Culture Calendar
Voice of Culture collaboration with Young Dance - Minneapolis
2013
MANCC Choreographic Inquiry Residency with April Sellers - Florida State University, Tallahassee
“Pretend” by Angharad Davies at Isolated Acts - Red Eye Theater, Minneapolis
“River See” by Sharon Bridgforth at Pillsbury House Theater
Momentum: New Dance Works by Pramila Vasudevan - Minneapolis
Community Celebration honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr - Powderhorn Park, Minneapolis
“Crayon Crowd Control” choreographed for the University Dance Theater at the U of MN
Kwanzaa at the MN History Center - Saint Paul
Takk at Momentum in the Garden - Walker Art Center, Mpls.
Takk -- the installation - Moja Gallery at Juxtaposition Arts, North Minneapolis
The Rabbit Show - Bryant Lake Bowl, Minneapolis
Kwanzaa at Midtown Global Market - hosted by Rituals, Minneapolis
“THROB” by Angharad Davies at the Outlet Festival - Los Amigos, Minneapolis
Open Streets University Avenue - Saint Paul
Weathering a Storm - Saint Paul
Renovate Choreographers’ Evening - Ritz Theater, Minneapolis
2012
Kwanzaa @ Midtown Global Market - Minneapolis
“Two Rugs by Maxie Rockymore” The Love Project by Obsidian Arts - Pillsbury House Theater, Minneapolis, MN
“Surface Tensions” by the Ways Ensemble - Old Arizona Theater, Minneapolis, MN
“@Kemet Nation” by Leah Nelson - Ordway Dance to Learn, Saint Paul, MN
“Sankofa” by Voice of Culture - Choreographers’ Evening @ Walker Art Center
Galsen 2012: Core and Clarity - Jerome Foundation Travel Study Grant to Senegal, West Africa
“Instructions to a Fancy Pack” by April Sellers - Links Hall, Chicago, IL
“mbokka lakka kenna backa” @ 9x22 Dance Lab - Bryant Lake Bowl, Minneapolis
Drum and Dance classes for youth - St. Anthony Park Elementary, Maxfield Elementary, Southside Family Charter School, North High School, City of Lakes Mother Group, Mora, MN and more!
Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation @ Augsburg College hosted by T. Mychael Rambo - Minneapolis
Black History Month Observance @ Normandale Community College - Bloomington, MN
Heartland Swing Festival - Des Moines, IA
Rhythm Festival by Ann Williams - Ballare Teatro Dance , Minneapolis
“Dance, Jump and Jive” by We Care Productions - Minneapolis
2011
Kwanzaa @ the MN History Center - St. Paul , MN
“The Rhythm of Time” by Karla Nweje and “Mama” by Leah Nelson at Ordway Dance to Learn - St. Paul, MN
Choreographers’ Evening @ Walker Art Center in Minneapolis - “Meaning that...” by Deja Stowers and “Cats and Thügs” by Basileus Nutbush E-Lane
Summer Performance Series - Caponi Art Park - Eagan, MN
Sabar Project - Minneapolis, MN
Teaching staff at TU Dance Center - St. Paul, MN
Tushaanal: Ananya Dance Theater - Southern Theater, Minneapolis
Art of Dance Annual Performance - Bloomington, MN
Eclectic Edge Summer Jazz Intensive - various locations in MN
Buckham Library Summer Performance - Faribault, MN
FLOW Northside Arts Crawl - Minneapolis
Ordway Summer Dance workshop - St. Paul, MN
African Nights @ Patrick’s Cabaret - Minneapolis
YoungDance choreography project – Minneapolis, MN
The Whiz by Nicholas Leichter Dance - Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis
May Day Ceremony - Minneapolis
Umoja Conference @ St. Olaf College - St. Olaf, MN
Walnut Grove Drum and Dance Residency - Walnut Grove, MN
Ballet Works choreography project with James Sewell Ballet – Minneapolis, MN
Reflections by Deja Stowers - Creating Change Conference - Minneapolis
Art Courses for Educators (ACE-Dance) - Perpich Center for Arts Education - Golden Valley, MN
Drum and Dance classes for youth - FAIR Downtown School, Lake Country School, White Bear Lake High School, North High School, Eisenhower Elementary, WE WIN Rites of Passage, Mary of Lourdes Elementary, St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, Maxfield Elementary, Active Solutions, Urban Arts Academy, St. Anthony Park Elementary, and more!
Burkina Electric-Collaboration - Southern Theater - Minneapolis
Student Creativity Festival - University of Minnesota Twin Cities
MN Percussion Association Day of Percussion -
Momentum: New Dance Works “Shared Language” – Southern Theater/Walker Art Center- Minneapolis
2010
Great Streets Concert with SUNPlug’d – Capri Theater in North Minneapolis
Topics in Dance 3500: West African Concert Dance Lab – University of Minnesota
Principles of Pulse – Bedlam Theater in Minneapolis
Les Enfants du Soleil at the Ndaje Fest 2010 – Kresge Auditorium, Cambridge, Massachusetts
World Dance Alliance Showcase with Ananya Dance Theater – Dance Theater Workshop, NYC
ROOTED:Hip Hop Choreographers’ Evening – Patrick’s Cabaret
National Women’s Studies Association Conference with Ananya Dance Theater – Denver, CO
Instructions to a Fancy Pack with April Sellers Performance Group – Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis
Kshoy! with Ananya Dance Theater – Southern Theater, Minneapolis, MN
Community Fairs and Festivals: Juneteenth 2010, Uptown Art Fair, Rondo Days, Urban League Family Day, PEACE Games, FLOW Northside Art Crawl, MN State Fair
Rhythm Festival by BallareTeatro – Minneapolis
Kinetic Kitchen – Patrick’s Cabaret in South Minneapolis
Memphis to Mail by Cultural Wellness Center – Midtown Global Market, Minneapolis
3rd Annual West African Dance Residency at St. Anthony Park Elementary School, St. Paul
Journey through Black Dance Residency – Garden City Elementary, Brooklyn Center
the missing pieces – Southern Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota
missing pieces Residency organized by Ms. Christina Morris – Rosemount High School, MN
West African Drum+Dance School Performances – L.C. Webster, Blake, Southside Family, Burroughs and other metro area schools.
The Baobab Tree – Normandale Community College, Bloomington, MN
Sunset on the Savannah – MN Zoo in Apple Valley, MN
WEWin Rites of Passage Drum & Dance – Minneapolis
Topics in Dance: Intro to Hip Hop – University of MN Dance Dept
Meta 50 with Ananya Chatterjee – University of Wisconsin, Madison
2009
Southern Exposure – Southern Theater benefit
First Covenant Church – White Bear Lake, MN
Late Nite Series at Pillsbury House Theater with Voice of Culture and Thierno Diabate, also with Pramila Vasudevan – Minneapolis, MN
The Real Thing by Kenna Sarge and Voice of Culture at Choreographers’ Evening – Walker Art Center
WADOMA (West African Dance of Madison) in Madison, WI
Olde Tyme Gospel with Robert Robinson at O’Shaughnessy Auditorium in St. Paul
9X22 Dance Lab – Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis
J-term Dance Project at the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists
Ms. Kenna’s Perscription for SPCPA Dance Company – performed at the Ritz Theater in NE Mpls.
Elements in Translation by Arturo Miles – Patrick’s Cabaret
The Rabbit Show “Dances of Love, Loss & Romance” – Bryant Lake Bowl
School performances at Olson Middle School, Anwatin, Broadway, and other metro area schools.
Ways of Knowing – University of Minnesota
Fakoly Minneapolis by Duniya Drum and Dance – Sabathani Community Center
ROOTED Hip Hop Choreographers’ Evening by Maia Maiden – Patrick’s Cabaret
2008
Film and Dance – Collide-a-Scope at the Capri Theater in North Minneapolis
Baato Askan Wii Drum and Dance in The Gambia, West Africa
Camp Camaraya Drum and Dance – Atlanta, Georgia
Fakoly Minneapolis by Duniya Drum and Dance – Avalon Theater
From In Here by Kenna Sarge on the St Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists’ Dance Company
Family and Supportive Housing Network Dance Artist in Residence – Metro Suburbs, Twin Cities area
2007
A DisEASE called Freedom by The Ways Ensemble/Pangea - Avalon Theater (HOTB)
Dousing the Mirage by Anicca Arts - Center for Independent Artists
Late Nite at Pillsbury House with Untapped Entertainment – Minneapolis
Choreographers’ Evening – Walker Art Center
Revolutionary Soul Sistas by Roxane Wallace – Red Eye New Works-Minneapolis, MN
Dance Educator – Jeremiah Program in Downtown Minneapolis
West African Dance Residency – Saint Paul Conservatory for the Performing Arts
Hip Hop in Review – Center for Independent Artists
2006
Requiem for a Homegirl by Leah Nelson/Abstraktions – Momentum: New Dance Works 2006
Evolution of a Soul Sista by Roxane Wallace – Patrick’s Cabaret
African Roads, American Streets by Universal Dance Destiny in the MN Fringe
Hip Hop Dance Coach – White Bear Lake High School (North and South Campus)
B-Girl Be Summit: Assistant Dance Curator – Intermedia Arts
West African and Hip Hop Dance Residency – Morris Area Elementary and High Schools
West African Dance Residency – Fair Oaks Elementary School (Brooklyn Park, MN)
Ways of Knowing – Hopkins Art Center
Sans Visage (William Atcheouellou) – Sabathani Community Theater
MN Artists Live with Ways of Knowing: African(American) Queen (for a day) – Walker Art Center
Olde Tyme Gospel with Morris Johnson and the Twin Cities Community Gospel Choir – O’Shaughnessy Auditorium
2005
Fragile Lines by Pramila Vasudevan – Minnesota Fringe Festival
Sans Visage by William Atcheouellou – Center for Independent Artists,
Kotou Danse at the Caponi Art Park – Eagan, MN
Bandh with Ananya Dance Theater – Southern Theater
West African Dance Residencies at Garden City and Birch Grove Elementary Schools-Brooklyn Center, MN
Dance in the Dark by Colleen McClellan- Ueland/Sossy Mechanics – Southern Theater & Minnesota Fringe
Black Choreographers’ Evening: Awa-Klash by Roxane Wallace; KouKou+Mandiani by Kenna Cottman and Whitney McClusky; Asphalt Yards by Leah Nelson – Varsity Theater, Dinkytown, Minneapolis
B-Girl Be Summit with Black Pearl – Intermedia Arts
AfroFuturism with Ways of Knowing – Soap Factory
2004
Black Choreographers’ Evening: Tribute to Reggae by Angel Adams and Brandi Phillips; Time Travellin’ by Roxane Wallace; Traditions by William Atchouellou – Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis
Grandma Project – Arts Quarter Collective at the University of Minnesota
Cultural Study in the Gambia, West Africa
2003
All In Together by Aneka McMullen and HipNot by Kenna Cottman - Black Choreographers’ Evening
Time Travellin’ by Roxane Wallace – Choreographers’ Evening at the Walker Art Center
Cultural Study in Senegal and the Gambia, West Africa
2002
We Are the Drum/Fear by Aneka McMullen – Walker Art Center Choreographers’ Evening
I earned my Master’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Minnesota in 2002. Through 2004, I was a full time teacher in the Minneapolis Public School system, teaching elementary school in classrooms on the Northside. My first teaching job was at Franklin Middle School in 1998. During these years I taught kickboxing at my local YMCA, gave dance lessons to small children at local dance studios such as The Art of Dance, Hollywood School of Dance, and area churches. I created and taught an arts curriculum at Harvest Preparatory School, an AfroCentric charter school in my community. I attended college at Hampton University and the University of Minnesota from 1992-1996. With my BA in Education, I worked for Upward Bound at the U of MN for 2 years. During these years I studied West African dance at national conferences and locally with artists like my mother; Beverly Cottman, Patricia Brown and Morris Johnson. I participated in the dance program at North Community High School under the guidance of Colleen Callahan from 1988-1992. With Ms. Callahan, I performed all over the state and at dance festivals in Utah and California. During my middle and elementary school years, I acted in productions at the Children’s Theater, such as Madeline and the Gypsies in 1984. I also attended Fuller Young People’s Theater and the CTC Arts program, taking dance from local teachers like Patrick Scully. My earliest arts memory is that of playing a role in a production of Medea, as one of her murdered children.