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The Board

  • Herna Cruz-Louie
  • Kiazi Malonga
  • Carmen Roman
  • Blanche Brown
  • Victor Torres​
Picture
Blanche Brown first began dancing as a 10 year old girl in Berkeley, California.  She attended San Francisco State as a business major, and took dance classes there, but her true calling came to her at age 35, when Blanche returned to her first love of dance.  She returned to SF State, studied all styles of dance she could, including ballet, tap, jazz, and folklore, while also dancing with the Wajumbe ethnic dance troupe. Blanche received her Bachelor’s degree in physical education, with a focus in dance, from San Francisco State in 1974.  In 1988, Blanche formed the dance troupe Group Petit La Croix. Blanche created the troupe to fully express and visually explain the Haitian culture by combining western choreography and techniques with traditional Haitian dance and drumming. Blanche has since taught ethnic dance in the California University system from UCLA to Hayward, Sonoma, to Santa Cruz. Blanche has taught classes at Mills College, Santa Clara University, The Modern Dance Center, The Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, and at Third Wave Dance House in San Francisco for many years.

Over the years Blanche has been widely recognized for her contribution to the dance community. In 1977 she was the first dancer to be appointed to the San Francisco Arts Commission, and served from 1977-1981. In 1996 Blanche received the Artist Educator Award from the California Dance Educators Association. In 2003 she was President of the Board of World Arts West. And in 2008 Blanche received the Malonga Casquelourd Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Ethnic Dance and Music. Today, Blanche still teaches and challenges people from all walks of life at ODC in San Francisco, and is beyond pleased to be rejoining the World Arts West board. Blanche now lives in Oakland among her children, grandchildren, and a great grandson.

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  • Home
  • About Us
    • About >
      • Mission & Vision
      • Program Pillars
      • Staff & Board
      • Press & News
  • Live Performances
    • Annual Festival >
      • 2025 WAW Dance Festival >
        • 2025 WAWDF FAQ's
      • 2024 WAW Dance Festival
      • 2023 WAW Dance Festival >
        • The Artists
        • Festival Team and Funders
      • 2022 WAW Dance Series >
        • WAW Dances in the Park >
          • The Artists
        • First Sundays at the Presidio
      • 2021 SFEDF Film
      • Festival Program Books
  • Artist Service Programs
    • Career Pathways Roundtable
    • Professional Development Workshops
    • Special Artist Commissions >
      • Migrations
      • 5th Quarter Bantaba
      • Ipat a Kadsakay
  • Visibility & Advocacy
    • Visibility & Advocacy
  • support
    • Donate
    • Funders and Partners
    • Contact Us