Rita Addico Cohen shares how rhythm shaped and saved her life.
Born in Accra, Ghana, Rita immigrated to Norfolk, VA as a child. She attended the University of VA on a full academic scholarship as an Achievement and Echols Scholar. Dancing and singing for as long as she can remember, she graduated with a BA in Classical Music and received her Master of Music in Classical Voice Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. After singing professionally from NY through Texas, she paused her career to focus on her two children. She has fused her performing abilities, fluency in many languages, and innate fitness to become an international Zumba® and African Dance instructor, teaching thousands of kids and adults in her local Hampton Roads area and beyond. She is a multiple Presenter of the international Zumba Instructors Convention, where she was awarded Humanitarian of the Year in 2022. Mrs. Addico Cohen has created several highly acclaimed avenues through which she shares her African culture with adults and children alike, using the arts, history, and language. She has created a 3-tier educational program that has placed her and the nonprofit she founded, Tidewater African Cultural Alliance (TACA), on the Teaching Roster of the Virginia Commission for the Arts. She is also a teaching artist with Young Audiences Virginia/Arts 4 Learning, and a highly sought after (African) Dance Instructor and Choreographer. After having spent part of this summer immersed in the cultural arts of her native Ghana, Rita is excited to share what she learned with the community, mostly through TACA, and to broaden the high school dancers’ vocabulary through teaching West African Dance for the Governor’s School of the Arts in the 2023-24 academic school year.
About the speaker
About the speaker:
About the speaker:
Born in Accra, Ghana, Rita immigrated to Norfolk, VA as a child. She attended the University of VA on a full academic scholarship as an Achievement and Echols Scholar. Dancing and singing for as long as she can remember, she graduated with a BA in Classical Music and received her Master of Music in Classical Voice Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. After singing professionally from NY through Texas, she paused her career to focus on her two children.
She has fused her performing abilities, fluency in many languages, and innate fitness to become an international Zumba® and African Dance instructor, teaching thousands of kids and adults in her local Hampton Roads area and beyond. She is a multiple Presenter of the
international Zumba Instructors Convention, where she was awarded Humanitarian of the Year in 2022.
Mrs. Addico Cohen has created several highly acclaimed avenues through which she shares her African culture with adults and children alike, using the arts, history, and language. She has created a 3-tier educational program that has placed her and the nonprofit she founded, Tidewater African Cultural Alliance (TACA), on the Teaching Roster of the Virginia Commission for the Arts. She is also a teaching artist with Young Audiences Virginia/Arts 4 Learning, and a highly sought after (African) Dance Instructor and Choreographer.
After having spent part of this summer immersed in the cultural arts of her native Ghana, Rita is excited to share what she learned with the community, mostly through TACA, and to broaden the high school dancers’ vocabulary through teaching West African Dance for the Governor’s School of the Arts in the 2023-24 academic school year.
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