COBA Collective Of Black Artists

Specialties

COBA, Collective of Black Artists is dedicated to creating and presenting the finest traditions in dance and music that celebrate and reflect an Africanist aesthetic. The collective presents both traditional work from the African Diaspora and cutting edge contemporary work.

History

Established in 1993.

COBA Collective of Black Artists was founded by four Black dancers fired with the raw passion to fill a void on Toronto’s arts scene by constructing a platform for dance creations that reflected their physical and social realities. From the beginning, the quartet championed arts education, working extensively with teachers in Ontario and New York state and launching NIA — Education in Action COBA’s first school touring program with an African History theme.

Led by the remaining artistic co-​founders, Charmaine Headley and BaKari I. Lindsay, COBA has evolved into a charitable organization that serves a wide community. Offering dance and drum classes for children, a professional training programme, open classes for teens, adults and seniors as well as educational workshops for schools, COBA continues to fulfill its mission to preserve and promote the cultural

Meet the Business Owner

BaKari L.

Business Owner

BaKari I. Lindsay was born on the sunny isle of Trinidad, West Indies. Perfecting his crafts for the past 25 years, BaKari is a dancer, choreographer, researcher, singer, musician, costume designer/​maker and father. He studied at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The School of Toronto Dance Theatre on scholarship and with various teachers from the Caribbean and the African Continent, and holds a Masters Degree in Dance Ethnology, and Bachelors of Education degree from York University. Bakari developed a physical language for training in West African and Diasporic African dance culture entitled A-​Feeree — The Physical Language.

BaKari’s personal artistic vision is to develop a harmonious balance between artistic practice and traditional cultural values.