RED CLAY DANCE COMPANY LAUNCHES DANCE PAMOJA CHALLENGE TO HELP FIGHT COVID-19

Red Clay Dance Company (RCDC), a nonprofit dance  company that creates and performs a  diverse repertoire of Afro-contemporary dance, is  stepping up in the fight against the threat of  COVID-19 in its community with the Dance  Pamoja Challenge, a 12-month project beginning  June 1 that focuses on controlling blood pressure,  building resilience, and preventing death from  COVID-19 among African-American families living  on Chicago’s South Side.   RCDC shifted to providing its program  participants with virtual dance classes with  the implementation and extension of stay-at-home  orders. With the new Dance Pamoja Challenge,  RCDC is working with Dr. Audrey Tanksley of  ACCESS Community Health Network and Clinical   Pharmacist Jewel Younge of University of Illinois  at Chicago College of Pharmacy to target blood  pressure management, A1C monitoring, and  psychological stress to reduce or eliminate the  burden of COVID-19 and the risk of death.  With healthcare guidelines recommending 150  minutes of exercise a week, RCDC’s dance  classes have the potential to preserve and  improve blood pressure and blood glucose levels.   “Red Clay Dance has performed professionally  and provided dance instruction for thousands of  Chicagoans in our home-base community on the  South Side,” said RCDC Founding Artistic  Director and CEO Vershawn Sanders-Ward.  “Engaging people in exercise can be very  challenging, but high-energy and aerobic styles of  dance are deeply rooted in the African-American  tradition. The motivation to dance is not just  practical; there are spiritual, cultural, and  psychological components that make dancing  central in African-American homes, churches, and  social settings. In short, we love to dance  pamoja, which means together in Swahili. This  project speaks directly to RCDC’s work  during the past 11 years to strengthen the  resiliency of our communities through dancing  pamoja!” Participants in RCDC’s online classes are also  eligible to participate in a 12-month  observational cohort study. Participants  receive a blood pressure monitor to log their  numbers and team up to lower and  maintain their blood pressure. Dr. Tanksley  closes the care continuum loop through  protocol-driven monitoring, escalating, and  referring participants to testing, or a doctor,  when necessary. The program  approaches resilience-building through  strategies such as counting blessings,  creating a resilience inventory to reinforce  the supports people need to navigate  the pandemic. Dance Pamoja Challenge  prizes support the goals of lowering blood  pressure, increasing activity, and building  resilience. The Resilience Portal provides  participants with a group blog to share  their expression and learn more about  COVID-19 resources, mental wellness  exercises, and immune-boosting nutrition.   “Dance is a great form of exercise  to include in anyone’s health management  program,” stated Sanders-Ward. “Now, in  particular, RCDC is offering an alternative  to face-to-face classes, which helps  people keep movement in their lives while  avoiding the risk of infection.”   The Dance Pamoja Challenge will  culminate in 2021 with an in-person  Dance Pamoja Celebration hosted by  RCDC and the project partners. This  event will celebrate the participants and  encourage them to continue their  healthy lifestyle journey, as well as  potentially attract other individuals in  the community seeking to live healthier  and more active lives. Participants will have  access to free dance classes, healthy  snacks, food prep demonstrations, blood  pressure screening, and testing. For more information about RCDC,  visit redclaydance.com.   Red Clay Dance Company Red Clay Dance Company lives to awaken  “glocal” change through creating,  performing, and teaching dances of  the African Diaspora—change that  transforms cultural and socioeconomic  inequities in our local and global  community. Founder Vershawn Sanders- Ward conceived the idea of RCDC while  on her first trip to Senegal, West Africa,  when she became fascinated by the  interconnectedness of dance and everyday  life. The name Red Clay comes from her  childhood memories of playing in red earth  during her summers in Mobile, Alabama.   RCDC is supported by the Alphawood  Foundation, the Chicago Community  Trust, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley  Foundation, the Field Foundation of Illinois,  the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, the MacArthur  Fund for Arts and Culture at the Richard H  Driehaus Foundation, the Polk Bros.  Foundation, the Springboard Foundation,  and the Chicago Department of Cultural  Affairs and Special Events.   ### Photos by Raymond Jerome Photography.