Grace Johnson has been dancing since she was younger, coaching and competing all over her school years, resulting in her opening Neema Dance Collective studio in Temple Hills, Maryland seven years in the past.

Since then, it’s turn into greater than only a area to show faucet, jazz and fashionable dance, it’s a spot for dance remedy, the place college students can be taught to construct confidence and perceive their feelings.

“[Dance therapy] just releases anxiety from your mental space and it also helps with movement,” Johnson mentioned. She added that her studio has “a community of other dancers going through the same things.”

Outside of the studio, she works to encourage college students to enter areas the place illustration is required.

“We are about advocating for our young artists. We push them to spaces where our culture is accepted. We also push them to spaces where they don’t see a lot of African Americans,” Johnson mentioned.

Many of her college students go on to famend dance packages, together with Duke Ellington School of the Arts and the Debbie Allen Dance Academy summer time intensive.

On Sunday, June 11, Johnson’s college students will share their skills with the neighborhood during the debut performance of “Soul” at their spring showcase at Howard University.

“We’re tipping our hats off to soul music. It’s going to be so fun and so colorful. The success of the children is the studio’s success,” Johnson mentioned.

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