The first thing you notice about Dubai-based Karina Palmira, an enthusiastic dancer, instructor, and choreographer from Tatarstan, is her smile and her palpable energy.
I first ask her how old she was when she began dancing. She laughs and says she cannot remember a time when she was not dancing. Her mother was a choreographer, and Karina herself grew up in a dancing school, beginning at a young age with traditional dance, ballet, and classical dance disciplines. Her interest in ‘Afrodance’ began at a dancehall workshop in Moscow, which she attended while completing her degree in psychology at Kazan State University.
In her short career, Karina has worked on many impressive shows alongside some of the big names in the African music industry. For example, her ‘Motodancers‘ (Karina Palmira, Majid Mjay and Thibaut, pronounced Tibo) have had an opportunity to work with Awilo Longomba, the legendary Congolese artist and one of the pioneers of Ndombolo, a Congolese music genre and dance style. Karina also notably choreographed a show in Egypt for Fuse ODG, a British-Ghanaian recording artist, and she formed part of the choreography team for the African Football Cup in Egypt in 2019.
On the mention of the now famous ‘Masaka Kids‘, from Masaka in Uganda, her face really lights up. Aisha, a close friend, invited her to Uganda after she saw the Masaka Kids’ thrilling dance moves online. Not only does Karina now work alongside this talented group of young dancers, but she also promotes them, through her platform and elsewhere, and helps them in their daily lives. Karina tells me that the Masaka Kids affectionately call her Mzungu, Swahili for ‘white person’. She is humbled by their spirit of ubuntu, positive life view, and enthusiasm. And she proudly talks about their trip to Turkey in December 2019, where the children appeared on several TV programs and performed in Istanbul.
When asked about her future goals, Karina’s first thought is of the Masaka kids. ‘I’d like to provide them with the independence to pursue their own dreams for the future’, she smiles. Karina is clear that everything she does with the Masaka Kids is for them. She is passionately committed to promoting these children by helping them to change their situation – doing what she can to make their dreams come true.
I leave the conversation feeling uplifted by the power of women around the world. A community of women, African and non-African, in the diaspora, determined to make a difference. The fearlessness they show to do and change without waiting for permission. To dance and to share each other’s culture and history.
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How do you share your culture and the culture of other women?
