Yesterday I posted about Afro-Australian singing and dancing sensation Timomatic who is now in the grand final for Australia’s Got Talent 2011. I mentioned that Timomatic was an Artistic Director of a dance crew by the name of Kulture Break.
Kulture Break was founded Francis Owusu. Son of a Ghanaian diplomat, Owusu’s family moved to Australia during the 1970s. A time when black people were feared. In an interview with the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia in September 2010, he recalls his early days in Canberra, “If you were black, you were feared. When I got in the elevator, ladies would hold their bags. If you were an African male, you were feared….. I wished my skin was white so I could fit in”.
Owusu found acceptance and love through dance.
A practice with the ability to cross cultural barriers, giving people a sense of acceptance and worth, a sense of validation and appreciation. Owusu’s passion for dance and the dream of influencing a culture empowering a generation through the arts, led him to start Kulture Break. A non-profit organization committed to producing creative arts initiatives with a community focus. It offers dance classes ranging from Hip-Hop, Breakdance, Contemporary-Jazz to Swing and provides outlets for students to perform locally, nationally and internationally.Since 2006, Kulture Break has worked with over 80, 000 young people in schools, jails and communities throughout Australia and the world. Francis also runs workshops for young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds through organisations such as Red Cross.
I was so moved by his TED talk. I don’t think I should call it a talk. It was a moving performance! I love hearing and reading about people who has come from a similar background and made their dreams come true!!! It’s a great motivational booster!!! Especially now when I am finding difficulty trying to articulate my dream for my final major project. I have been dreaming about this project for the past two years. I see it all in my mind. I can visualize what it looks like, what it can achieve now and for years to come. But when I explain to people, they don’t all seem to see what I am seeing. I can related to him saying how people won’t always understand your dreams, but there is power in them. So it is only fair that we follow them.
“Dreams are like the paints of a great artist. Your dreams are your paints, the world is your canvas. Believing, is the brush that converts your dreams into a masterpiece of reality.”
– Anonymous
SOURCE: FECCA, KULTURE BREAK & TEDxCANBERRA
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