Amina Heckstall

www.myspace.com/Balletintlafricans 

www.balletinternational.bravehost.com

Amina Olushola Heckstall, is a dancer with twenty-seven years of dance training and performance/ choreography experience. Local companies, since her beginnings at the age of three, have sought Amina as a dancer and choreographer.

Amina Heckstall has a reputation as a "Young Master" in the African Dance Community. Ms. Heckstall is also known for being an African American dancer who can embody the essence of the ancestors of Africa within her movements and choreography. Due to her many years of training in all forms of dance (with a focus on the cultural arts of the West Africa) she has been able to cross cultural boundaries through her choreography and work within the community as well as with youth in various environments around the world.

Recent Experiences

Amina was a freelance dance instructor and a guest artist with the all-Guinean "Tokounou All-Abilities Dance Company" (a company with able bodied and disabled African dancers and drummers) with whom she did a six-week residency in Florida teaching dance to at-risk/ foster care children and performing June, July, and August 2002. In September of 2002 she went with Sidiki Conde (Director of Tokounou), Nikki Heckstall, and Bintu Camara (Of Les Percussions De Guinee) to Italy to perform in Rome and Grosseto for a  organization of artists with disabilities, festival called, "La Farfala" (The Butterfly).

In October of 2002, Amina performed for the first time with the internationally known, all Guinea, African company Les Mervielle De Guinea African Ballet. She continues to perform with them when available, most recently in Boulder, Colorado August 2006.
In June of 2004, Amina did a 7-day concert production with M'Bemba Bangoura's, "G'Bassikolo Dancers And Drummers" in Toronto, Canada for Dance Dimensions.
In January/ February 2005 Amina traveled to Guinea with her Lead Drummer and friend, Fode Bangoura, to study with The Ballet of Matam, and other African Ballets in Conakry, Guinea West Africa.

During July 14th to 16th, 2005 Amina produced the first Annual African Dance and Drum Conference in Brooklyn, NY called, "Africa Meets African America Cultural Arts Festival". This has now become her dance company's annual event.
July & August 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2006 film screenings for The African Film Festival featured performances by Les Merveilles De Guinee in Harlem and Brooklyn venues (guest artist, Amina Heckstall) and Ballet International Africans (at The Queens Museum of Art) throughout Queens, New York.

In her free time, Amina teaches children Jazz dance, African dance, song, drum, and folklore in various after school programs, dance schools, and community centers  throughout New York City.

Teaching Philosophy

Amina believes that it is necessary to know the foundation of a dance in order to fully be able to understand and execute it properly. She also believes that:
"The Master Teacher is the master student for life, never to stop learning and studying because you can never learn enough. Those are the best instructors, open to learn as well as teach."

African Dance is a healing tool she uses along with the healing power of the drums to uplift her students and inspire them to naturally move/dance from the spirit, their higher spirit.
This "International African" comes straight from the heart of African-America in hopes that all will understand, feel, learn, but most importantly be inspired to create change in their lives and the lives of others towards a better world.

Workshops & Performances Amina Heckstall Offers

* Traditional West African Dances of Guinea, Senegal, and Mali
* Gang-Gang African American Dance
* Feminine Healing West African Dance
* Children's West African Dance
* Ethnic Modern Dance
* Drumming for Females (Dun Dun Dance)
* The Art of African Storytelling
* Afro-Caribbean/ Afro-Cuban Dance Fusion & Aerobics
* Emotional Healing  for Youth Through African Dance & Theater Arts Infused Improvisations and Writings

• Original Folkloric Stage Plays
• Lecture Demonstrations
• Concert Productions
• Choreography Workshops w/ an emphases on African dance
• Full Stage Ballets

To inquire about all of the offerings that Amina Heckstall can bring to your community, school, wedding or special event you can call her at 646-404-1204, email her by clicking here, or visit her organization's web page at www.balletinternational.bravehost.org.