dNaga is an intergenerational dance company founded by Claudine Naganuma in 2001. dNaga’s mission is to create work that reflects the culture in which we live and to explore our shared human experience. Dance themes have included living with Parkinson’s disease, medication trials, brain surgery, loss of loved ones, gun violence, gender bias, oppression, and racism. dNaga is proud to announce that is holding its fourth year of the GIRL Project, as well as continuing success in the PEACE Project. Together, dNagalers explore, through dance, how we perceive ourselves in the world and how we determine our own life path and inevitably influence our community and greater society with our choices.

Girl Project

dNaga offers annual spring break and summer workshops for girls living in the San Antonio district of Oakland at the EastSide Cultural Center. Free hip-hop, modern dance, choreography, self-defense, urban planning, urban gardening, visual art and bike safety classes providing art and empowerment opportunities to young girls in the Oakland community.

PEACE Project

The PEACE Project offers opportunities to dancers with PD to perform with our inter-generational ensemble. Currently we are exploring the role of alphasynucleans, misfolding proteins and their impact on Parkinson’s disease. Through this work, we hope to partner with doctors and scientists to find a cure. We want to encourage the medical profession to listen to their patient’s stories. People with Parkinson’s disease can share important information that can influence how the medical community treats people with PD.

Photo by Matt Haber