Del-York Creative Academy (DCA), a leading institution in capacity building in the creative sector and an advocate for creative enterprise in Africa, has announced its partnership with Joy Womack Ballet Academy, owned by the internationally acclaimed ballerina Joy Womack.
The event was held in Lagos.
This collaboration is a deliberate effort by the Academy to identify, educate, and empower Nigeria’s creative talents for global opportunities.
Joy Womack, a distinguished ballet dancer, is renowned for her expertise, resilience, and passion which has resulted in her numerous historic feats. She has held the highly coveted position of the Principal Dancer at the Kremlin Ballet, a Soloist at the Bolshoi Ballet Theatre, and is currently engaged with the Paris Opera Ballet. Her commitment to excellence which she has displayed throughout her career aligns seamlessly with Del-York Creative Academy’s mission to provide strategically curated and holistic hands-on learning opportunities for the Nigerian creative community.
Dr. Linus Idahosa, the Founder and CEO of Del-York Creative Academy, re-emphasized the Academy’s commitment to developing the Creative Sector. He remarked, “We as an Academy are very deliberate to ensure that we continue to expand the scope of our offerings to ensure that we reflect the different avenues of creativity. Del-York Creative Academy is renowned for excellence, and this partnership opens doors to new opportunities for self-discovery, creativity, and growth. Our goal is to foster a generation of individuals equipped with a lasting impact on the world through academic and artistic brilliance.
We will continue to make such partnerships to ensure that we expand our knowledge base to a global level ”.
Womack’s impressive career in ballet, marked by performance on prestigious stages worldwide, exemplifies the heights one can reach through any format of creative arts with passion, dedication, and discipline. As a genre of creativity, dance has always been prominent in our culture as Nigerians from traditional dances to more contemporary genres. Leveraging on this role dance has played, Del-York Creative Academy has taken critical steps with this partnership to ensure that our pool of talent in Nigeria has access to structured tutelage.
Speaking at the event, Joy Womack expressed her excitement about the partnership and the opportunity it provides her to learn the traditional Nigerian dance and the possible expressions these can have in ballet. She mentioned, “Dance is not just an art; it’s also a powerful vehicle for personal growth, creativity, and expression that transcends boundaries. We will work closely with the teachers and dance instructors as well as the students to empower them, bring them to time, and help them grow. Ballet education aims to instill discipline in the talents and prepare them to bring the vision of choreographers to life, regardless of the genre.
The event featured a captivating ballet performance that embodied the African and modern ballet fusion by a corps de ballet comprising the Leap of Dance Academy and the Above Ballet Company which featured a warm-up class coordinated by Joy Womack.
Larisa Miller, CEO of Phoenix Global and a key partner in midwifing the partnership commented that “Globally, certain art forms are only accessible to certain socio-economic levels, and demography. The tragedy is that art is universal, it belongs to everyone. We should all have access to it.”
At the event, was also Ugo Obiayo, Esq., Guild of Nigerian Dance Practitioners, Lagos State chapter, and Mr. Muyiwa Oshinaike, a dance and choreography veteran who praised the new partnership as a much-needed expression of our folklore in modern-day concepts.
