Jill Sonke and Trent Williams remember Rwanda fondly: the culture, the people, the dancing.
In December, the UF faculty members visited an indigenous group in the African country and danced.
Specifically, they taught members of the Batwa community how to profit from their dancing in a country where they have historically been viewed as lower class.
“Art was a way for the Batwa people to become more visible and have more economic opportunity and ultimately raise their health and quality of life,” said Sonke, the director of UF’s Center for Arts in Medicine.
Longing to return, Sonke and Williams, a UF dance and choreography professor, plan to head back in the Fall — and this time they’re going to bring along students.
Prior to 1994, the Batwa, also known as the invisible people, lived in forests and hadn’t assimilated into the country’s main culture, Sonke said.
In 2010, she was in Rwanda volunteering with a different Rwandan community through the UF Center for Arts in Medicine when Batwa members approached her, asking for similar help.
Sonke returned in December with Williams and four other professional dancers to develop the Batwa’s art and dance skills and create ways for them to profit from
their art, according to a press release.
Of the 10 trips Sonke has taken to Rwanda, December was the first time stu- dents weren’t able to go. Sonke said she plans for students to travel with her in the Fall to continue practicing with the Batwa dancers.
Williams said he enjoyed learning the Batwa community’s traditional dances while teaching them new techniques.
“I got to see people really living out of their (tradition) and living in their voice through movement,” Williams said.
