“Hannah’s Dance”

Zimbabwe and South Africa
2023

American facilitators, Mark Haney and Gail Prensky, join participants at the Masibambane College and Community Centre in South Africa for a group photo after completing their Hannah’s Dance workshop.

Hannah’s Dance Digital Storytelling Workshop is an enriching opportunity for participants to learn about the story of Hannah’s Dance in an interactive and creative process. The workshop focuses on Berlin’s Jüdischer Kulturbund’s choreographer and dancer, Hannah Kroner, and her heroic efforts to save dancers from the Nazis labor camps. 

Following a presentation and discussion, workshop participants are challenged to produce digital storytelling projects that reflect how Hannah’s Dance inspires their ideas about the power of music, art, and resiliency. Below are a selection of final projects from our inaugural program.

The Jüdische Kulturbund Project and Mandela Washington Fellowship Reciprocal Exchange awardees led a 3-day workshop for 20 university students attending the Mitambo International Theatre Festival in Harare, Zimbabwe.

SOUTH AFRICA
October 9-15, 2023

The Jüdische Kulturbund Project in partnership with the Johanessburg Holocaust and Genocide Center visited four groups of high-school and university students to lead workshops in digital storytelling: John Wesley Community Centre in Benoni (project presentation, above); Masibambane College and Community Centre in Orange Farm; St. George’s Anglican Church in Johannesburg; and Windybrow Arts Centre in Johannesburg. Zimbabwean theatre artist, Tafadzwa Bob Mutumbi, mentored the group while developing this ensemble project (below).

The Windy Crew performers at Windybrow Arts Centre wrote a letter to Hannah to explain their story, performed above.

Below are samples of letters to Hannah, written by participants at the Masibambane College and Community Centre in Orange Farm.