Amina Olushola Heckstall, the Director and Owner of The International Africans Arts Institute 
(formerly TDH Cultural Arts Center) in Queens, New York, describes her studio as one that teaches all types of dance techniques, as well as theater arts, and everyone at every level is treated equally, as an addition to our artistic family.
According to Amina, they do not have any kind of favoritism. All students are treated fairly and all get the same opportunities when it comes to special pieces or solos. Though there are levels to some of the classes, pro level and regular level students do not feel a division. We are also the only studio that can instruct in classical techniques, innovative performing arts techniques, as well as culturally based techniques at beginner and professional levels. We also have dance companies affiliated with the studio that offer dancers inspiration, master classes, and opportunities to audition to join them.
Amina’s proudest moment coaching was during their first concert at The Jamaica Performing Arts Theater in Queens, NY, in June of 2011. Many of her mentors attended and gave such rave reviews of the performance. They also admitted to feeling threatened by the success of her first concert. These are people who have been running their own dance studios for over 20 years! Her students’ passion and the beautiful costumes (some originally made for specific pieces) lit up the stage. Even when her students became pressed for time and numbers had to be cut, they handled it like professionals, running to switch costumes, rolling with the changes in the program, to the point where the audience had no idea what was happening behind the scenes. She was a very proud studio owner that night. Parents who had taken their children from other established studios and put them into her upstart said that her concert was one of the best they had ever attended. To Amina, that means a lot!
Amina believes that the biggest mistakes she sees dancers make is that many get caught up in flexibility, acrobatics and technique. However, she is more moved by a dancer that can make a sudden movement and embody the emotions of the music or song to the point where she is brought to tears or moved in a different way, rather than the dancer who can lift his or her leg to their head, do ten pirouettes, and leap six feet into the air. To fix this problem, she always suggests that a dancer first understand what they are dancing about, what is the purpose behind this piece? Listen to the music; what is it saying or the lyrics (if any)? Then focus on the movements. Are they meant to be done with controlled technique or free movement? How do they make you feel to do those movements – angry, aggressive, sad, happy, spiritual, etc.? A dancer that is not in touch with their feelings, who cannot channel their experiences into their movements, who cannot hear the music, will not move their audience with high kicks and fierce turns. Theater arts also assists dancers who are emotionally detached from their work to pull out a character for the stage that will work in the dance piece they are performing.
The Institute’s goals for this year are to produce a wonderful concert, start their Summer program in the arts and include classes for pregnant women and those who have just had babies, and to relocate from the small building they use in Queens, New York to a larger studio, as well as to open another studio in North Carolina.
Amina has had the dream to have her own dance studio ever since she began dancing at the age of three. She was teaching at The Dance Hut for over five years when her friend, and the Director of the studio, passed away after losing a fight with Cancer. Her friend’s family wanted the students to continue dancing and for them to put on the concert. So, Amina took it upon herself to step up and make sure the children did make it to the recital and it was success. After the concert, her friend’s family came to Amina and asked her to take over the business. They said within her friend’s planning notebook, beside most of her ideas were written, “Amina will do this” or “Amina runs this project.” Those notes gave them the feeling that her friend saw Amina as her right hand and trusted her to implement most of her ideas to fruition. Her friend passed in April and Amina made sure the concert in June still happened. Amina handled run-throughs for the concert and everything from lighting to music cues backstage. Her friend’s mother and father asked Amina to take over the studio as if 
it were her own and after talking to her own family, Amina agreed to do so and promised to keep her friend’s legacy alive, thus the studio was renamed TDH in honor of what her friend had begun. Now, on her own feet, Amina changed the name to fit what she can offer her students. After watching and
The International Africans Arts Institute receives grants for their work in the arts within the community. Also, since Amina are moving studios as she speaks, they are not running regular classes this year. However, they are offering workshops from various locations until they have settled into their new space. having worked at and been a student at the top dance studios in Queens, New York, Amina wanted to have her own studio to offer students a truly professional, unbiased, passionate foundation from which to learn and, most importantly, to develop a deep love for the performing and cultural arts.
Please post a comment if you have had any experience with Amina Olushola Heckstall of The International Africans Arts Institute.
To stay up to date with what they do, go to www.aminaheckstall.weebly.com. If you would like more information about The International Africans Arts Institute, visit their website at http://www.theinternationalafricans.com. You can also like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter or connect with them on Instagram.
