Lora Lue Chiorah-Dye
"The Shona people of Zimbabwe believe that if you can walk, you can dance and if you can talk, you can sing. They believe that dance and song come from within; they are a way of life. My work as a teaching artist is based on these beliefs. I teach students through music, song, games and movements that naturally lead to dance. My classes include developing an awareness of the way we stand and of the relationship of our posture to the earth. Students become more comfortable with their bodies and because of that, more comfortable with others. I want them to have fun using their bodies without being self conscious. Through dance and music, students also learn about another culture and hopefully become more curious about their own backgrounds."
Lora Lue Chiorah-Dye, a native of Zimbabwe, is a local treasure of Shona traditional music and dance. She has resided in the Pacific Northwest since the seventies, and frequently performed at Seattle Pacific University, sharing her energy for music and dance. She has been captivating American audiences with her cultural presentations in song, story telling, music and dance from her native culture, the Shona People, and has been instrumental in the development of the Pacific Northwest African cultural scene. Her depth of experience is shared through stories about Zimbabwe and integration of music, dance and storytelling. Students get a rich mix of cross cultural lessons every time she visits.
Ms. Chiorah-Dye has been an artist-in-residence with the Washington State Arts in Education Program for grades K-12 since the early 1980s. She is also Artistic Director for Sukutai Cultural Performing Ensemble. Ms. Chiorah-Dye and her group have toured all over USA & Canada. They entertained the US military abroad in Iceland, Denmark, England, Scotland, Norway, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Hungary and Bosnia. As a choreographer she worked on Follow the Drinking Gourd with the Children’s Theater, TAKUNDA by the Seattle Repertory Theater in 1991 and 1992, and The WIZ by Langston Hughes Summer Teens.
Previously, Ms. Chiorah-Dye was the Recreation Specialist at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center and retired after 25 years.
Ms. Chiorah-Dye teaches African Dance & Culture in Spectrum Dance Theater’s Outreach Department as well as in the Summer Intensive Programs.
