Rosina Didyk starts her dance workshops with the following question: “Why do people dance?” People dance to celebrate, to socialize, as part of a tradition, to exercise, to worship, because they enjoy the music, to relieve stress, to cheer themselves up, to tell stories, and to express feelings and ideas. This is the jumping off point for workshops that will engage students and teachers in an experience that can take them around the world or to a certain time in history and also facilitate exploration of their own creativity. Rosina shares traditional folk dances and weaves in creative movement experiences. The emphasis is on teamwork, collaboration, and community building.
Rosina started her professional career as a performer of many types of traditional dance, as a Principal Dancer and later Artistic Director of the acclaimed AMAN Folk Ensemble. She has toured internationally and led workshops for students, teachers, seniors, and community members in almost every state in the U.S. Rosina has been leading residencies in Southern California Schools since 1991.
As a founding member of the AMAN Dance Educators, Rosina helps students and teachers learn dances from Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, as well as creating new dance content generated by individual students or partners/groups. With each workshop, participants also expand their knowledge of geography, history and culture, and improve their coordination, creativity, and rhythm skills. Cooperation and teamwork drive these engaging workshops. All lessons are carefully crafted to be grade-appropriate and to correspond to the California Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Standards, as well as the National Core Arts Standards.