EZIBU MUNTU
About
Ezibu Muntu has made dreams come to fruition for forty-six years. It has sustained the dream from an initial generous donation by Virginia Commonwealth University in 1973, to the powerful impact it has in the region today. This financial support sponsored the company’s brilliant genesis. That genesis was the dream of bringing into existence a community based entity that would expose thousands of citizens to rich African culture, history and values, while fostering children’s ability to dream. In addition, it provided the opportunity to experience safe, enriching and uplifting community activities, including positive reflections and finding joy in belonging to a heritage of richness and majesty.
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Ezibu Muntu’s seventy-five member company’s success can start to be measured by the following: The children’s performance company, eighteen in total; the number of collaborations the company has partnered with up and down the Eastern Seaboard; the thousands of performances in schools, colleges and civic settings; and the tens of thousands of lives that have been transformed as a result of the company’s impactful artistic excellence.
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After forty five years Ezibu Muntu is, by the force of its far reaching inspiration, naturally transitioning to the next level. Its current location can no longer house their tremendous growth. Ezibu Muntu seeks to become even more invested in the community with the creation or purchase of a 20,000 square foot facility in Richmond Virginia’s culturally rich and diverse community. By becoming property owners, and collaborating with like-minded community organizations as their tenants, Ezibu Muntu will have a more powerful, positive impact.
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These organizations, under the EM Productions banner, will become a part of a more diverse artistic community bringing in additional transformative art forms, for example: multi-media, theater, writing, and music. The Event Center will offer classes and special events to the community and will partner with organizations that require additional space to extend their services to the community.
This facility will offer a state-of-the-art platform conducive for multiple uses, from concerts to conferences, including tele-conferencing, banquets, receptions, seminars and workshops that extend into teaching, internships and mentoring.
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Ezibu Muntu (The Company) has taught African culture to children and adults, and now recognize it is time to incorporate, collaborate and expand horizons further. What better way than by being the owners of a transforming multi-level, multi-use cultural center, The Company will attain financial stability for another forty-six years and beyond while establishing the foundation to teach and show children and adults how to build dreams and establish legacies. Leading by example!
The following entities have expressed interest in collaborating with The Center: The Black Repertory Theater, The Black History Museum, The Jackson Ward Heritage Foundation, and The Virginia Black Music Foundation.
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Please go to our “donate” page to see how you can help.
Ezibu Muntu’s Mission
Ezibu Muntu African Dance Company, a student organization, was established at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in 1973. Ezibu Muntu has been the Richmond region’s premiere African dance company for forty-six years. The founder of Ezibu Muntu, Tanya Dennis, left the Company in 1975, to return to her native California, where she continued serving as an educator and community activist. Two award winning educators, and VCU alumnae, Renee Knight and Faye Walker, maintained the company for the next forty-three years.
Knight noted that, “For years our internal resources had not been fully recognized nor maximized. We’ve lamented for years our inability to share our vast wealth of knowledge with the community because of location and money limitations. Our member’s talents extend beyond dance and drumming. In 2015, I started asking our founder, Tanya Dennis, to return to assist in expanding our service base. After many months and years of discussion and planning Tanya committed to return to Richmond.”
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Recognizing that Richmond has changed over the last decades, the founder and the sustainers knew that it was time for a change. In September 2018, Dennis returned to Richmond to assist Knight and Walker with the evolution of Ezibu Muntu beyond “just dance.”
Upon her return, Dennis became the general manager of Ezibu Muntu. Since that time, Dennis and the organization’s Board of Directors have changed Ezibu Muntu’s mission to include, theater, music and education. Though the organization’s current studio space is currently located in Southside Richmond, plans are in the works for a return to a more centralized location within the “arts corridor” of Richmond. Ezibu Muntu has begun fundraising to purchase its own brick and mortar facility, with a particular interest in locating in the 23220 zip code. The organization has had early fundraising success, and that campaign will continue until sufficient funding is secured.
The organization, reflecting its evolution from a simple dance company, has rebranded itself as “Ezibu Muntu,” and adopted the tagline “Dance, Education and Culture.” The tagline better reflects Ezibu Muntu’s mission, reflecting their organizational focus to expand Ezibu Muntu’s roles in African education and culture, while extending their reach and impact throughout metropolitan Richmond. The Ezibu Muntu center will provide African-centered education and experiences to the community at large with additional programming for seniors and health advocates.
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Sustainer, Faye Walker noted the following: “We encourage everyone to celebrate African culture, but we feel it is particularly important that we reach Black youth and hit them with all of the positive knowledge, support and self-pride we can infuse into them mentally, physically and spiritually.”
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From founder Tanya Dennis: “We are asking the public to support our growth and our mission. We assist youth to become better, more productive citizens, and the public can assist by donating to Company or our building fund simply by accessing the PayPal account found in the “Funding Opportunities” section on this website. We hope the public will support next year’s gala and summer concert, our two major fundraisers, a fundraising music concert at the Carpenter Theater on July 24, 2020 featuring Jeffery Osborne.
“Elevating our youth to excellence is our mission. It starts with teaching children their culture, showing them their power and supporting their potential. That’s what we’ve accomplished through the programs we’ve offered thus far. Once we attain our new space, we will do much more for many more children. The public’s generous donations and participation at our gala will help us achieve this goal.”
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Note from our family: Our Ezibu Muntu family would like to thank Sister Faye for her years of service. We ask that we as a community and organization collectively, take the time to honor her memory by continuing to celebrate African Culture and pour into the generations to come.