Dancing is an artform that helps to tell a story. The way dancers move to the different rhythms using their arms and legs while contorting their bodies to illustrate words and pictures without having to say a word truly shows the power of this artform. Dance plays a supporting role in countless operas, but Omar shows just how important that role can be. For those of you who haven’t seen Omar, it’s based on the autobiography of Omar Ibn Said, a Muslim scholar who was captured in Senegal and enslaved in Charleston, South Carolina. In Act Two, scene two, Omar is taken to a new plantation, where he encounters enslaved workers having an old-fashioned jubilee with dancing and singing. The choreography in this scene seems to blend diasporic African movements with modern day dance that is embedded in Black American culture. According to Kiara Benn, the choreographer of Omar, the movements are inspired by a plethora of Black dance languages that help tell Omar’s story. 

“A lot of this process asks dancers to bring themselves to it,” said Benn, “so yes, I'm choreographing it but I'm also creating and holding the structure for people to tell their own dance languages. A lot of the ways we want to tell the story is bringing yourself to the table so having them [dancers] ask themselves ‘how would you tell your story today and how we would tell Omar’s story?’ By bringing ourselves and our unique experiences and backgrounds, we are highlighting and celebrating the movement that is ingrained in our bodies,” said Benn with a twinkle in her eye.