Center for World Arts
Center for World Arts

About the Center

Aboubacar Soumah, AGBEDIDI's musical director, guides Head Starter Da'Kinyah Smith in CWA outreach event, Wiles Elementary (The Gainesville Sun).
Five-time Artist-in-Residence, Abou Sylla of Guinea, teaching balafon to music students.
Veteran CWA Artist-in-Residence, Eric Bli Bli Gore of Cote d'Ivoire, leading accompaniment of dance class.
Jorge Domingos & Panaibra Gabriel Canda, both of Mozambique, applauded after "Marabenta Solos" on the Look Back/Dance Forward USA tour.
Students dancers of AGBEDIDI AFRICA in performance with guest artist company Basikolo.
Performance of Brazilian guest artist Juliana Azoubel's choreography for Jacaré Dançante.

University of Florida's Center for World Arts

The CWA links local and global communities to expand the international reach and artistic breadth of UF's academic programs. Recognizing the diverse and interconnected nature of the contemporary world, the Center tests new paradigms of research, curriculum, cultural programming, and public outreach. The CWA seeks to integrate a socio-artistic aesthetic into practice and study of the arts, exploring issues of identity, migration, race, gender and privilege through the lens of the arts. By valuing both unconventional and mainstream cultural practices, and using artistic processes as critical ways of understanding and interpreting the world, the CWA helps to stimulate diverse modes of learning in the arts. The Center creates and supports programs which offer diverse arts practice and performance opportunities, available to all UF students by audition and for majors in the School of Music and the School of Theatre + Dance. The Center hosts international artists and researchers in cultural exchange programs; and initiates, sustains, and supports networks of international artists, scholars, and presenters. In August 2018, we are proud to welcome new CWA affiliate faculty member, Augusto Soledade, Associate Professor of Dance, School of Theatre and Dance.

Center Highlights

  • 25+ international residencies
  • 200 artists from Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the U.S. 
  • Creation of classes in Guinean dance, Ghanaian dance, African contemporary dance, capoeira, Brazilian Samba, Argentine Tango, Bharata Natyam, Odissi, Hip-Hop, Flamenco, Chinese traditional dance, T'ai Chi, and others.
  • Convened or contributed to 12 major symposia/conferences, notably "Movement (R)Evolution Dialogues," and "Staging Identity: Latin American Music and Dance."
  • Co-presented over 50 concerts of its affiliated student ensembles, Jacaré Brazil and Agbedidi Africa.
  • Produced two prize winning films: NORA and Movement (R)Evolution Africa: a story of an art form in four acts, which have been officially selected for over 500 festivals around the world and broadcast on PBS, ARTE, NRK and ZDF, among others.