Podcast
OhioDance Podcast “A State Of Dance”
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Welcome to Season Three
Season Three, Episode Four:
S2 E3 · A State of Dance
Episode 4 – Deep Roots, Strong Branches: Raising Community with Suzan Bradford Kounta
Seas
on Three, Episode Four:
This month’s guest is Suzan Bradford Kounta is Co-founder and Artistic Director of Thiossane West African Dance Institute.
She is a dancer, instructor and choreographer of traditional West African Dance.
She co-founded and led Thiossane since its inception in 2000 with her beloved husband, Abdou Kounta. The company thrives on being Columbus’ premier traditional West African Dance Company that provides authentic performances and detailed instruction to all ages and all people.
Suzan Bradford Kounta has been living and working in the King Lincoln neighborhood her whole life. She grew up there and attended East HS under the famous principal, Edward Willis. She was instrumental in the restoration of the historic Lincoln Theater and became its first managing director. In 2019, after ten years, she was promoted to Executive Director. This theater has brought audiences from across central Ohio, with programming centered in the African American artistic voices and aesthetics. She has curated international dance and business partnerships with several companies in the US and abroad.
The Lincoln serves as the headquarters of the Thiossane West African Dance Institute, which is over 20 years old. Suzan serves as the co-founder and Artistic Director of its dance company, which provides training and performances for its members. It also hosts community classes for recreational dancers of all ages. Suzan’s work with the Lincoln and Thiossane has created a rich focus of dance engagement with West African dance in central Ohio. She has been a major dance leader in our community.
Host: Rodney Veal
Executive Producer: Jane D’Angelo
Editor and Audio Technician: Jessica Cavender
Music Composition: Matthew Peyton Dixon
“A State of Dance” is a six-part series coming out the fourth Friday of each month through November 2025. This podcast is driven by the OhioDance mission to secure the foothold of dance in Ohio through increasing visibility, firming viability, and elevating the position of dance in Ohio.
In 2016, a five-person team set out on a mission to capture the achievements of persons and institutions who have shaped the intricate diversity of dance history and practice within the state of Ohio and weave them together in an easily accessible digital format. This we call the OhioDance Virtual Dance Collection. As of 2024 we have highlighted 42 individuals and institutions. The team has traveled over 5000 miles and interviewed over 100 individuals in all five regions of Ohio.
If you like what you are listening to and are not a member of OhioDance, you can go to https://ohiodance.org/ and click the membership button to join and receive the many benefits that come with your membership. You can also donate through our purple donate button.
OhioDance would like to thank our funders: Ohio Arts Council, Kettering Family Philanthropies, The Ohio State University Dance Preservation Fund, America 250 Ohio, The Greater Columbus Arts Council, Columbus Foundation and Akron Community Fund.
If you missed it: Watch Season One
Season 1, Episode 1
“A Moving History with Dr. Candace Feck”
Season 1 Episode 2
“Leveling Up with Gregory Robinson”
Season 1, Episode 3
Taking Note with Dr. Valarie Williams
Season 1, Episode 4
Arts Infrastructure, Ira Weiss
Season 1, Episode 5
The Awe-Inspiring Journeys of Zelma Badu-Younge Photo Zelma Badu-Younge by Nii-Tete Yartey Studios – Ghana
Season 1 Episode 6
The Unstoppable Force that is Damien Highfield
Watch Season Two
Season 2 Episode 1 · A State of Dance
Padma Chebrolu: The Wisdom of Indian Dance and Living a Life Fueled by Joy
Season Two, Episode Two:
S2 E2 · A State of Dance
Lighting Dance with Dennis Dugan
Season 2 Episode 3
Dancing Solidarity with Al Evangelista: Filipino/a/x American diaspora, queer identities and bringing history into the room with technology
Season 2 Episode 4
Empire State to Glass City: Eric Otto brings a slice of the Big Apple to Toledo
Season 2 Episode 5
Samuel A. McIntosh on street dance: roots and future
Season 2 Episode 6
Flamenco’s Past, Present, and Future through a Latinx Lens with
Griset Damas-Roche and Amy Schofield
Watch Season Three
Season 3 Episode 1 · A State of Dance
“Writing and Dancing with Ann Cooper Albright”
Season Three, Episode Two:
S2 E5 · A State of Dance
Dance Revolutionary Mary Verdi Fletcher – Boss Lady of CLE
Season Three, Episode Three:
S2 E3 · A State of Dance
From Havana to the Heights: Dancing in Community with Cervilio Miguel Amador