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USF Professor Is Lead Dancer in ‘Coming 2 America’
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Staff Writer
If you have seen the new movie, Coming 2 America, you were definitely wowed by the incredible authentic dance scenes. But what you probably didn’t know is that an USF professor was one of the lead dancers.
Dr. Kyaien Conner, a professor of mental health law and policy at the Univer- sity of South Florida (USF) , was a lead dancer and chore- ographed many of the dances performed in the movie.
The producers and stars, Eddie Murphy and Arse- nio Hall strongly advocated for genuine West African dance so they opened the au- ditions to not only industry and professional dancers, but also to community dancers that could convey the true beauty of West
DR. KYAIEN CONNER Assistant professor in the department of Mental Health Law and Policy was one of the lead dancers in Coming 2 America.
African dance.
Through individual invita-
tions and community net- works, the word went out encouraging real West African dancers to audition. There was a two-day audi- tion and 10 women and 6
Full cast of dancers featuring Dr. Kyaien Conner.
men were selected out of over 600 hopefuls.
The lead choreographer brought in a few of the com- munity dancers, including Dr. Conner, to guide the various dances to ensure they represented actual African dance styles. They were able to help ensure the authenticity of the dance scenes.
When USF opens in the Fall, there will be a showing
of the film for community leaders, members, and stu- dents. It will be followed by a larger discussion on race in the cinema.
As a professor at USF and a professional dancer, Dr. Conner merges her worlds effortlessly by tying tradi- tional West African cultural healing experienced by dance and drumming into mental health for people of color in the Western World.
Dr. Conner manages to find a balance between her family, cultural work, and ac- ademic work by educating others on the need and im- portance of that balance.
She is married and has three sons and dances with the Kuumba Dancers and Drummers in Tampa. She also teaches weekly classes and travels with her students to Africa every year in addi- tion to her academic work. She is also an adjunct profes-
sor of dance at the University of Tampa.
Recently Dr. Conner was awarded funding by the Of- fice of the Provost and USF Research & Innovation through the Rapid Response Research Grant program ti- tled, “Understanding and Addressing Blackness and Anti-Black Racism.”
She also has been named investigator and co-investi- gator in two $2.5 million grants. She recently, worked on a project series called, “This is my Brave, Stories from the Black Community.”
The project shows peo- ple with mental illness in the Black community and their coping strategies with cul- tural arts.
Dr. Conner’s future plans include writing about her experiences not only with the movie, but with her own struggle with racial identity and where she belongs.
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