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Meet Our Team

Camille Weanquoi
Founder & Executive Director

Camille Weanquoi, a freelance interdisciplinary artist from the Bronx, NY, is a force to be reckoned with. Holding a B.A. in Dance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies from Winston Salem State University, and an MFA in Choreography from Wilson College, she is committed to driving the growth and preservation of dance, particularly those rooted in the African diaspora. Camille is the visionary director of Camille W. Dance, a culturally immersive dance consulting firm and pick-up performance company.

 

In addition to her role as the founder and Executive Director of the Baltimore Black Dance Collective and co-founder and co-director of the annual Baltimore Black Choreographers Festival, she is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Coppin State University. Currently in training as a candidate for Dunham Technique Teacher Certification, Camille creates, performs, and teaches African Diaspora dances rooted in tradition and culture alongside various other dance styles in the Baltimore/D.C. area and beyond. Beyond her professional accolades, Camille is a devoted wife, mother, sister, friend, and unwavering advocate for the arts.

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African American Women reaching her leg up in the air as her arms stretch out towards the blue sky.

Kutia Jawara
Co-Founder & Programs Manager

Kutia Jawara is a dancer, choreographer and dance educator born in New Orleans, and raised in New Orleans and Baltimore who is trained in West-African, ballet and modern dance technique. She is the co-founder of the Baltimore Black Dance Collective. Kutia is a graduate of the Baltimore School for the Arts, a three time fellowship recipient at the Ailey School and a 2015 Coppin State University Urban Arts graduate. As a dancer Kutia has had the honor of working with Debbie Allen, Mariah Carey, Camille A. Brown, Darell Moultrie and Tony award winner Hinton Battle. Kutia is the founder and artistic director of Shange Dance Productions, a non-profit she created to provide opportunities for professional dancers in Baltimore and increase opportunities for youth to study dance at a pre-professional level regardless of their socio-economic status. Shange has performed at the Kennedy Center- Millennium Stage,Artscape and the Hippodrome. The Washington Post referred to Kutia's choreography as "elegantly fused balletic technique, West African gestures, and gymnastic movements." Kutia taught ballet and modern dance at ConneXions: A Community Arts School for 8 years and is currently teaching at Southwest Baltimore Charter School.

 

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Ronderrick L. Mitchell
Co-Founder

Ronderrick L. Mitchell holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance Performance and Choreography from New World School of the Arts/University of Florida and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance from Florida State University. He began his dance training at Bethel A.M.E. Church (Tallahassee, Fla.) under the mentorship of Beverly Barber, PhD., former Associate Professor of Dance Studies in the Department of Physical Education at Florida A&M University. He furthered his training on scholarship at The Tallahassee Ballet and danced as a Senior Company Member. He was also awarded a scholarship to the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance Summer Intensive. In 2010, he was among 15 student dancers from New World School of the Arts Dance Program chosen to go to the Czech Republic for the International Dance Festival of Prague, where he danced BATTLEFIELD (Robert Battle). The cast of BATTLEFIELD won three awards including the main overall first place award from the festival. He has performed in the companies of The Tallahassee Ballet, Brazz Dance Theater, Bethel Liturgical Dance Company, Masala Soul Project, and The Campbell Dance Experience. Mr. Mitchell has also had the privilege of working with world-renowned choreographers and artists performing both classical and contemporary repertoire. Most notably the works of Ronald K. Brown (Evidence/ A dance Company), Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (Urban Bush Women), Augusto Soledade (Brazz Dance Theater), Peter London (Former Principal Dancer with Martha Graham Dance Company), Darrell Jones, and Iyun Harris. 

 

As a teacher he has mentored and coached many young artists from the Miami-Dade County area (Miami, Fla.), Leon County (Tallahassee, Fla.), St. Louis, MO., and Baltimore. These young dancers have gone on to dance in some of the most prestigious performing arts magnet schools and conservatories, college programs both regional and national. Some of these students have gone on to join prestigious dance companies and other arts organizations. Mr. Mitchell’s approach has been seen as bridging the gap between traditional and twenty-first century pop culture, preparing students to be successful in both the commercial dance and concert dance world. To continue his work as a mentor and coach he created RODANCO | A Community Based Arts Program. As an after school program, RODANCO provides quality dance classes at little to no cost to inner city students.

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A Black and White Photo of an African American Male.

Additional Co-Founders

Alexis Araminta Reneé

Imani Shabazz

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