THE COMPANY

Iibada Dance Company is a Children's African and Modern Dance performance company. Founded in 1989, Iibada focuses on providing access to dance education to all youth throughout Indianapolis and surrounding areas. We are a predominantly African American organization; where our focus is to provide quality arts programming to low-income families who currently reside in underserved communities. Although this is our aim, we welcome all aspiring dancers regardless of background, ability, religion, gender, orientation, or race. Iibada Dance Company has served 3 generations of students who have now grown into both thriving young performers and professionals throughout the nation. Our students have danced for company greats such as Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre, Philadanco, Dayton Contemporary Dance Theatre, and many more. Our dancers have also been fortunate to be cast in great productions such as The Lion King, The Color Purple, Dream Girls, and Chicago just to name a few. For 33 years Iibada has served and produced great artists within our communities and we are just getting started.

 

Our Mission and Vision

Our Mission 

Our mission is to provide cultural enrichment, discipline, arts education, and opportunities to build and empower youth, young adults, and communities through the art of dance.

Our Vision

Our vision is to ignite the Indy performing arts industry by investing in our young performers of the future, cultivating a culture of support, and providing opportunities that foster sustainable careers in the arts within Indianapolis and beyond. 

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Our Founder

The Iibada Dance Company was founded in 1989 under the direction of Sabra Logan, a.k.a. “Mama Sabra”. Through many years of teaching and performing various dance styles, she developed a desire to inspire the young to be positive young men and women. Thus, Iibada was born. Iibabada means “Worship” in Swahili. Iibada Dance Company is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization and has been in existence for 31 years promoting education, discipline, self-esteem, and a safe place for children to come and express themselves through dance. Iibada has provided affordable dance lessons and has touched many lives of children and young adults throughout Indianapolis!

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"Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion.” – Martha Graham



Our President & CEO

Roland A Smith is an Indianapolis Indiana native who earned his bachelor's degree at Tennessee State University in Commercial Music and Performance. IDC was his first arts administration opportunity right out of college as the Assistant Director, Instructor, and Choreographer. He relocated to Chicago Illinois to pursue performance opportunities within professional dance companies and regional musical theatre. His musical theatre roots stem from opportunities in regional productions of Guys and Dolls, Anything Goes, DreamGirls, Porgy and Bess, and The Wiz just to name a few.  While in Chicago, he shifted his focus to arts administration as he was offered a role as Visual and Performing Arts Director within Noble Network of Charter Schools. Since his return to Indianapolis in 2018, he assumed the role of the Director of Community Engagement for Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and Chief Program Officer for IDC. Smith has always gone by the motto, “Where Ever God Leads Me.” His journey has brought him full circle as he now the new President & CEO for IDC. He is ecstatic to usher IDC into the chapter. Smiths main focus is equitable access to quality arts programming across Indianapolis and surrounding areas. He wants to ensure organizational sustainability through community engagement and strategic partnerships that drive our mission. Lastly, providing opportunities for youth to explore dance as resource for both higher education and career advancement.