The Black Dance Academy, home of Black culture and arts in the heart of Leimert Park, invites dancers and drummers ages 5 and up into a summer program — no ballet, all Black.
Nationwide — Dr. Jewel Jackson-Jallow, Founder and Executive Director of the ASI Cultural Arts Center in Los Angeles, California, has launched The Black Dance Academy (BDA), which uses dance and drum as a weapon of joy and healing to help build community, create safe spaces for Black expression, and preserve Black culture. To show her commitment to serving the community, she’s currently offering a $5 first-class summer special designed to welcome new families through the door.
The ASI Cultural Arts Center is the city’s only Black woman-owned cultural center dedicated exclusively to Black artistry. No ballet. No borrowed tradition. Just a full, unapologetic curriculum of African Dance, Hip-Hop, African Drum, Afro Brazilian, and the wider diasporic movement languages that built the culture in the first place.
Housed in the heart of the Black Cultural District in Leimert Park, Black Dance Academy is where technique meets identity. Dancers don’t just learn steps — they learn story, rhythm, and roots. During the day, the Youth Summer Camp teaches academics, leadership, dance, drum, and digital literacy as youth train, perform, and connect with culture over the break.
But every evening, and on Saturdays, it’s time for the VILLAGE. They have open classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays for everyone to come together on the dance floor, feel great, learn some moves, lose weight, and meet amazing people. The lead drummer and drum instructor is 4x Grammy Award-winning artist Magatte Fall, featured in Black Panther, Black Panther 2, Coming 2 America 2, and Sinners.
“Dance has always been our people’s first language,” said Dr. Jackson-Jallow, who is known widely as Culture Queen. “We built a space where our children never have to ask permission to move like themselves. No ballet. No code-switching. Hip-Hop, Black College Step, African Dance, Drum, Afro Brazilian — the real thing, taught by the real culture bearers. That’s what makes this different.”
A Legacy Institution, A New Season
Black Dance Academy sits inside ASI’s broader ecosystem of arts education, which serves 200+ schools annually across Los Angeles and holds LAUSD Pre-Approved Vendor and CAP Champions status. ASI’s roster of corporate and institutional partners — including NASA, AMGEN, Intuit, and Reddit — reflects a program that has long outgrown “extracurricular” and become infrastructure for the community it serves.
This fall, BDA continues that legacy with:
• Youth Training Company: foundational technique, rhythm, and performance readiness for younger dancers. Intermediate training with increased performance opportunities and choreographic exposure
• Adult Performing Company: culture and community-focused, audition-based training for dancers ready for the stage and beyond
Curriculum spans African Dance, Hip-Hop, Black College STEP, African Drum, Soul Line Dance, Afrobeats, Afro-Cuban, Afro Brazilian, and more, taught by master artists and practitioners, including 4x Grammy Award-winning musician Magatte Fall, whose live rhythms bring every class to life. Every class is rooted in the diaspora, taught by the culture, for the culture.
Why The Black Dance Academy Matters
At a time when arts programming is disappearing from schools — and Black-owned cultural spaces are disappearing from cities — Black Dance Academy offers something rare: a professional-caliber training pathway rooted entirely in melanated artistry, taught by working artists, inside a Black woman-owned institution with twenty-five years of trust behind it.
“We tell everyone: this is not a class. This is our village,” said Dr. Jackson. “You are not just learning to dance — you are learning who you come from and getting the courage to go as far as you need to go.”
$5 Summer Special – Your First Class
For a limited time this summer, new dancers/drummers can experience Black Dance Academy for just $5 — a first class open to anyone curious about African Dance, Drum, or Afro Brazilian movement, no experience required.
Enrollment Details
• Season: Summer 2026, plus Youth Summer Camp now enrolling (Now through August 9, with a final showcase for all)
• Ages: All
• Location: African Soul International Cultural Arts Center, 4302 Crenshaw Blvd, in the heart of the Black Cultural District, Leimert Park, Los Angeles, CA, 90008
• $5 First Class (Summer Special) and Fall Registration: AfricanSoulInternational.com
• Scholarships: Limited scholarship spots available for qualifying families
Interested families are encouraged to register early, as all placements are limited.
About
African Soul International (ASI) is a 25-year, Black woman-owned Cultural Center dedicated to melanated artistry, headquartered in the heart of the Black Cultural District in Leimert Park, Los Angeles. ASI delivers arts, literacy, and social-emotional learning programming to 200+ schools annually and holds LAUSD Pre-Approved Vendor and CAP Champions status. ASI partners with institutions including NASA, AMGEN, Intuit, and Reddit, and is led by Founder and Executive Director Dr. Jewel Jackson-Jallow, EdD — known publicly as Culture Queen.
For press inquiries, contact info@africansoulinternational.com or 855-451-SOUL (7685)