Ms.Churn- Diallo is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Imani Dance and Drum Company, Kentucky’s premier African-American Dance Ensemble. She is a recipient of the Kentucky Arts Council, Al Smith Fellowship Award for choreography. She also received a grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women which enabled her to visit five countries in West Africa and bring her experiences back to Louisville where she shares with students ranging from age 2 to 90.
For the past ten years, Ms. Churn-Diallo has been a Dance Educator for The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts Institutes and Arts Academies for teachers throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky. She is also a Dance Educator fo the Chestnut Street Family YMCA and the Presbyterian Community Center, as part of The Kentucky Center’s ArtsReach Dance Studio Program. She has also provided instruction for the Muhammad Ali Center and the University of Louisville and is featured in 3 Kentucky Educational Television videos on Dance Education.
She has her BS degrees in Pan-African Studies and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Louisville and a Certificate from the Institute for Study of African Culture from Senegal-Gambia Cultural Centerin West Africa. She has performed in venues ranging from the Governor’s Mansion to West Africa and specializes in African, modern, tap, ballet, salsa and liturgical dance.
From left: Tammy Gibson, music instructor; Harlina Churn-Diallo, dance instructor; and Penelope Quesada, music instructor
