Iya Ifanike Batts

Iya Ifanike Batts is a Master Instructor in the Department of Theatre Arts at Howard University's College of Fine Arts. She specializes in dance education, cultural preservation, and cross-cultural collaboration. Her work focuses on uplifting African and African-American girls through performance programs like Daughters of the Baobab, and she co-founded the Cultural Arts & Development Bridge (CADB), which promotes indigenous technologies and sustainable solutions through cultural exchange.

• Education: Extensive training in dance forms (ballet, jazz, Afro-Caribbean, West African) under renowned mentors including Marie Minto, Peter London, and Garth Fagan.
• Research Interests: Indigenous Yoruba practices, choreography, and cultural preservation. She spent two years in Nigeria studying Yoruba dance, drumming, and indigenous blacksmithing, leading programs like cultural immersion tours and apprenticeships.

Recognition: Has received multiple awards for artistic contributions but specific names not listed.

Advising & Grants: Spearheaded programs at CADB and Howard University, including a 15-day cultural immersion tour for students and a blacksmithing apprenticeship program in Nigeria. Collaborated with the International School of IITA as an arts consultant.

Labs/Teams: Active in Daughters of the Baobab and CADB, emphasizing mutual teacher exchanges between Nigeria and the U.S. Her mission centers on global cultural bridge-building through the arts.