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Lua Shayenne

@luashayenne

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▪️AD, choreographer, performer @luashayennedancecompany
▪️AD, curator, producer @yensafestival
▪️Dance Instructor
▪️Author @prise_de_parole

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🫴🏾 Something is moving beneath the surface.

In 8 weeks, we invite you to join us in the world of WAVES, a dance film premiere produced by Lua Shayenne Dance Company.✨

WAVES is an evocative journey through dance, music, and text inspired by the Bahá’í Writings and traditional Ghanaian spirituality. It reminds us of our intrinsic connection to the spiritual realm as Ancestor, with Onyame’s blessing, entrusts three Waves: Light, Trust, and Deeds, with the mission to bring unity to mankind.

A spiritual and artistic offering, WAVES invites us to reflect, awaken, and reconnect.

Get your ticket to the premiere:

Friday, August 21st & Saturday, August 22nd, 2026
🚪 Doors open: 7:15 PM
💬 Pre-show chat: 7:30 PM
🎭 Film & Performances: 8:00 PM

ℹ️ For tickets: 🔗 in bio.

📍 Betty Oliphant Theatre
404 Jarvis St, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G6

We can’t wait to share this journey with you.

📸 Adrian Amariucai, Graphic Design by @underlinestudioinc

WAVES was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts. @canada.council

#WAVESFilm #LuaShayenneDanceCompany #YensaFestival #Toronto #Canada taken in Toronto, Ontario by @luashayenne

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3 months ago

The Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and Mausoleum 🇬🇭 in Accra, Ghana.

Kwame Nkrumah, the father of Ghanaian independence and a major Pan-African leader. He led the Gold Coast independence movement, making Ghana the first sub-Saharan African nation to break free.

I admire his vision for an independent and united Africa.

Did you know? 🧐
He coined and popularized the term “neo-colonialism” to describe how former colonial powers continued to control African economies through corporations, debt, and political pressure, even after granting nominal independence.

#travel #luashayenne #Ghana by @luashayenne

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6 days ago

Thank you Lua Shayenne and all the YENSA Festival workshop participants.

We really felt the energy of the drums in our West African workshop!

This year’s festival theme, AS I AM, invited us to honour the fullness of who we are. ⭐️

@luashayenne

#LuaShayenneDanceCompany #YENSA #LetsDance #BlackWomenInDance #Dance #Toronto by @luashayenne

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9 days ago

Ghana so far👉🏽

Enjoying the night life🎶 Accra’s night life never stops!

Dance & drum training 🪘🎶

Ussher Fort: prison cell.

Hubby and I. One with the Atlantic Ocean and the fishing canoes.

Nkyinkyim museum🖤
Created by award-winning Ghanaian sculptor Kwame Akoto-Bamfo featuring original sculptures designed to guide visitors towards healing and restorative justice; healing from the legacies of African enslavement and colonialism @nkyinkyim_museum

Nkyinkyim Museum: Bamboo arch

Nkyinkyim Museum. Paying tribute to the enslaved ancestors

Nkyinkyim Museum: sacred shrine

Here the artists are inspired by funerary terracotta portraits known as nsodie (or mma) and pay tribute to the enslaved Africans lost to the transatlantic slave trade.

In Akan tradition, when a member of royalty, a chief, or an important elder passes away - or if an individual dies far from home and their body cannot be physically returned, their hair and fingernail clippings are collected. Because the Akan believe these elements contain a person’s vital life essence (sunsum), they are sealed inside or buried underneath a small, hollow clay head sculpted by skilled women artists.Once completed, these sacred portraits are placed in a designated memorial shrine or holy grove located outside the village, known as the asensie (literally meaning “the place of the pots”). The asensie functions as an ancestral shrine where living relatives regularly return to pour libations, offer food, and pray to the deceased

Nkyinkyim Museum: The word Nkyinkyim comes from an Adinkra symbol and Twi proverb meaning “life’s journey is twisted”. The installation features thousands of concrete, clay, and terracotta heads emerging directly from the earth.

To capture authentic human emotions, the artist models the sculptures on real people. While some come from his own visions, many are sculpted from the likenesses of volunteers, family members, local villagers, and members of the African diaspora who offer their photos and faces to be cast as a living link to the past.

The Ancestor Project, a massive, open-air installation created by Ghanaian sculptor Kwame Akoto-Bamfo at the Nkyinkyim Museum in Nuhalen taken in Ghana by @luashayenne

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13 days ago

I never want to stop learning and growing.

I’ve been craving the full immersion in dancing and drumming and just BEING, FEELING - without any outcome or expectation. My soul is content. Am so grateful to Kofi Quarshie and Jerome Sewor for their training. 🇬🇭

#travel #luashayenne #luashayennedancecompany #dancer by @luashayenne

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17 days ago

When in Ghana 🇬🇭 … if you can chop you can dance 😋

#luashayenne #travel #training #Ghana by @luashayenne

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21 days ago

Thank you @sesecoolay @balletbadakanafrique @atlantaafricandance @spiritmovesatlanta for this sweet beautiful challenging Mendiani. I just jumped into it and had so much fun 🖤🪘🎶 #mendiannichallenge by @luashayenne

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a month ago

YENSA WEEK IS HERE. 🖤

You don’t need to be a dancer.
You don’t need to know the artists.
You don’t need to have the “right” words to describe what you see.

Come curious. Come open. Come as you are.

YENSA is a space to experience Black women in dance, to encounter new rhythms and perspectives, and to share in the energy of being together in the room.

And our incredible volunteers are ready to welcome you. ✨

YENSA Festival 2026: AS I AM
August 20–23 | Toronto

❤️‍🔥 Awaken to Rhythm.

Ready to experience YENSA?
🎟️ Tickets → link in bio

YENSA offers a community-access rate for those who need it. DM us for the access code.

🎫 Group bookings and community partners are warmly welcomed.

YENSA Festival is made possible through the generous support of @canada.council @td_canada @cdn.heritage @torontoartscouncil @ontarioartscouncil.

#YENSAFestival #ASIam #LuaShayenneDanceCompany #BlackWomenInDance #BlackFlames CanadianDance by @luashayenne

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2 months ago

The journey from creation to premiere begins.

After months of imagining, filming, editing, and collaborating, WAVES is coming home to the theatre.

Today, we bring the film into the space where it will meet its audience for the first time.

A glimpse behind the scenes as we prepare for the premiere of WAVES.

Next week, WAVES meets its audience.

❗️Get your ticket to the premiere at YENSA Festival followed by incredible live dance performances.

Friday, August 21st & Saturday, August 22nd, 2026
🚪 Doors open: 7:15 PM
💬 Pre-show chat: 7:30 PM
🎭 Film & Performances: 8:00 PM

ℹ️ For tickets: 🔗 in bio

📍 Betty Oliphant Theatre
404 Jarvis St, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G6

🙏🏽 To cast and crew: @oliviarokonkwo @pulgamuchochoma @mimistylez @mihamatevzic @kingchinobeats @luashayenne @courtneyinthecity @kiimkirton @sarazvision @thejasondsouza @melissaitwar.mua @robertolambrano shaneazam @artjail @yensafestival & more

WAVES was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

#WAVESFilm #LuaShayenneDanceCompany #YensaFestival #Toronto #Canada taken in Toronto, Canada by @luashayenne

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2 months ago

✨ Special Guest Appearance at YENSA Festival 2026 ✨

Lua Shayenne Dance Company is excited to make a special guest appearance at YENSA Festival with an excerpt inspired by the Balanta dance tradition.

The Balanta dance is a traditional West African folk dance rooted in the culture of the Balanta people of Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and The Gambia. This dance and drum piece is the culmination of three years of training, artistic exchange, and cultural learning with Chicago-based Ayodele Drum & Dance.

We are deeply grateful to our teachers and choreographers, Imania Fatima Detry and T. Ayo Alston for generously sharing their knowledge, artistry, and traditions with us. @ayodeledrumdance @imaniafatima

Performers Liyah Simbulan, Amelie Giusta, Lua Shayenne, and summer apprentice Nicole Powlette are honoured to share this work with YENSA audiences. @liyahsimbulan @luashayenne @amelie.giusta @nicolep.pol

❗️Get your tickets to YENSA Festival:

📅 Friday, August 21 & Saturday, August 22, 2026
🚪 Doors open: 7:15 PM
💬 Pre-show chat: 7:30 PM
🎭 Film & Performances: 8:00 PM

🎟️ Tickets: 🔗 link in bio
📍 Betty Oliphant Theatre
404 Jarvis St, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G6

#LuaShayenneDanceCompany #YENSAFestival #AfricanDance #Dance #Toronto taken in Toronto, Canada by @luashayenne

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2 months ago

🎬 The official trailer for WAVES has arrived.

After months of creation, collaboration, and dreaming, we are honoured to share the first glimpse into our new 15-minute dance film.

WAVES invites viewers to contemplate the choice to rise and “safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race” (Bahá’í Writings).

A dance film created by Lua Shayenne Dance Company.

In 3 weeks, we look forward to sharing this incredible journey with you at YENSA Festival!

❗️Get your ticket to the premiere:

Friday, August 21st & Saturday, August 22nd, 2026
🚪 Doors open: 7:15 PM
💬 Pre-show chat: 7:30 PM
🎭 Film & Performances: 8:00 PM

ℹ️ For tickets: 🔗 in bio

📍 Betty Oliphant Theatre
404 Jarvis St, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G6

📸 Adrian Amariucai

🙏🏽 To cast and crew: @oliviarokonkwo @pulgamuchochoma @mimistylez @mihamatevzic @kingchinobeats @luashayenne @courtneyinthecity @kiimkirton @sarazvision @thejasondsouza @melissaitwar.mua @robertolambrano shaneazam @artjail @yensafestival & more

WAVES was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

#WAVESFilm #LuaShayenneDanceCompany #YensaFestival #Toronto #Canada taken in Toronto, Canada by @luashayenne

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2 months ago

Lua Shayenne Dance Company brought something truly special to Joy in the Park last weekend 💛

Rooted in African and Afro-diasporic traditions, their performance filled David Crombie Park with live percussion, song, dance, storytelling, and rhythm shared with the community. Led by Artistic Director Lua Shayenne @luashayenne, the company brings the vibrant energy of African heritage to contemporary dance, creating work that feels powerful, joyful, and deeply connected.

And then, in the middle of it all, this little one started dancing along!

A beautiful reminder of what free public arts make possible: children experiencing incredible artists up close, right here in the park.

Thank you, @luashayennedancecompany, for sharing your artistry, energy, and joy with our community!

#LuaShayenneDanceCompany #JoyInThePark #JamiiEsplanade #TheJamiiHub #TorontoDance taken in David Crombie Park by @luashayenne

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2 months ago