Back to NYC from BOTSWANA...

So, today is my first day back to Juilliard's Admissions Office from my 3 weeks in Botswana.

Everyone I run into has been asking me what my experience was like in Africa. All I can tell them is: "Life-Changing!".

As most of you may remember, I was selected as part of a team of students representing the Black Student Union here at Juilliard to teach a series of masterclasses in Gaborone, Botswana. Not only did we teach, we built a community garden for a primary school in a remote village, and we built a student production for the Maru-a-Pula School in the heart of Gaborone! It was like nothing I'd ever experienced before.

Now that I'm back, I'm overwhelmd with the thought of: "What's next?" After embarking in a trip like that, you feel the need to continue making changes in whatever community you're a part of. While directing the show that we produced for the students: "Tapestry" , I had the opportunity to work with a dance troupe that performs traditional Setswanan dance. The Mogwana Dancers was a group that I'd researched online before I came on the trip when I wanted to get a good idea of what type of cultural dance is prevalent in the country. I remember while watching their video on YouTube thinking: "Boy, I would love the opportunity to see these dancers perform LIVE! That would be the ultimate Botswanan experience!"

Ironically, the first couple days we were there, the head of the drama program at the school gave us a tour of the campus and brought us to a special rehearsal room. In a whisper, she mentioned that a very important dance troupe was using this space for the next week to prepare for an upcoming performance. Then she asked me, doubtfully, if I'd ever heard of The Mogwana Dancers...I beamed and said "yes!" I know all about them! I've been dying to see them during my visit here!"

Not only did I get the opportunity to meet them, but they also agreed to be a part of the show. In our first rehearsals, we were trying to think if the best way to utilize them in the production, and then in the portion I was directing, I chose to have them dance as part of the "Ancestor Forest" that the students created. It was magical! These dancers came our onstage and brought a fire, an energy that was utterly captivating! At then end of the run, I thanked them immensely and they offered to teach my co-teacher and I a few moves. It was like they gave us our own masterclass the very next day! I was so grateful by the end of our class that I fell into tears! The whole trip, the dancers, the culture the food, made me realize that I was on the path to my true calling: To continue finding ways to merge cultural dance with theatre performance. It's the ideal tool for storytelling! And I'm so honored to have had my dream come true by having met The Mogwana Dancers...they really helped change my life!

I can only thank God for such and amazing experience and also my ProjectMap Team for all their hard work and dedication. We had fun times and rough times together...everything needed to change one's life!...Mine...:)