Kariamu Welsh (1949-2021)

 

 

Kariamu Welsh was a Professor of dance in the Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Welsh was the artistic director of Kariamu & Co.: Traditions.  Kariamu was the recipient of numerous fellowships, grants and awards including a National Endowment for the Arts Choreography Fellowship, the Creative Public Service Award of NY, a 1997 Pew Fellowship, a 1997 Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, a 1998 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts grant and three Senior Fulbright Scholar Awards.  She was the founding artistic director of the National Dance Company of Zimbabwe in southern Africa. Dr. Welsh was the creator of the Umfundalai dance technique, a contemporary technique that has been in existence for forty years. Kariamu wrote several books on African dance.

 

*Kariamu Welsh passed away on October 12th, 2021. Her tD memorial tribute can be witnessed here. We are grateful that Dr. Welsh chose thINKingDANCE as one of her many communities. While she is gone, her legacy lives on: please follow the National Association of American African Dance Teachers and their work via Dancing Our Africa as they continue to teach Dr. Welsh's work within the Umfundalai Technique.