Wunmi Idowu’s Biography
Wunmi Idowu is an award-winning dancer, choreographer, instructor, performer, and producer and the Founder and Director of Woezo Africa Music & Dance Theatre Inc. Since 2006, Woezo Africa has been passionately dedicated to bringing the history of African culture to the masses through traditional and modern modes of performing arts, including dance, music, theatre, and storytelling. Her community outreach work with Woezo Africa has granted her numerous milestones, including her involvement in the inauguration of Alberta’s first Black History Month in 2017 and a Certification of recognition from the House of Commons of Canada (House of Parliament) in 2018. Looking to buttress her arts management skills, Wunmi graduated from the Haskayne School of Business’ Rozsa Arts Management Program (RAMP) in 2019 with the Rozsa Foundation.
As a producer, Wunmi has organized both local and international productions, including Africa Jo, UNITY: Dance Across Africa, Woezo Africa’s annual Black History Month event UNGANISHA: Explore. Connect. Dance, two successful runs of the Woezo Africa Festival in collaboration with the Guild of Nigerian Dancers (G.O.N.D) and Ijodee Dance Center in Lagos, Nigeria, as well as the Woezo Africa Cultural festival in Calgary, Alberta.
Wunmi’s accolades in the art industry span winning the 24th Annual Immigrants of Distinction Award and the Canada Vendors Entrepreneur Award in 2020, both of which were for the category of Arts and Culture. She also won an Afro-Canadian (AC) Community Leader of the Year Award in 2020. Her recent achievements include nominations for the 2021 Doug and Lois Mitchell Outstanding Calgary Artist Award in addition to Avenue Calgary’s 2021 Top 40 Under 40 list. By pushing for increased visibility of ethnically and culturally diverse artists in Alberta, Wunmi hopes that perceptions will shift around who participates in the arts. She is acquiring the skills to support her mission for social justice and equity through her current enrollment in the Rozsa Executive Arts Leadership (REAL) Program with the Rozsa Foundation. Additionally, she has been awarded a mentorship opportunity with Story Money Impact (SMI) to develop a film about racial issues experienced by Black youth, further bringing the voices of racialized people to light. Through dynamic, cutting-edge work that captures the imagination of a range of audiences, her hope is to enhance the creative economy in Calgary, empower communities and perpetuate the movement for instilling social change.
About Woezo Africa
Woezo Africa Music & Dance Theatre Inc. is a performing arts organization based in Calgary, Alberta. Founded in 2006, Woezo Africa, meaning “welcome to the land of perfection,” highlights the organization’s desire to bring the uniqueness of the African cultures to the public. With a multidisciplinary approach that blends African music, dance, theatre, and storytelling, Woezo Africa is passionately dedicated to using the transformative power of the arts to empower the communities within Calgary and abroad.
Since it’s conception, Woezo Africa has been passionately dedicated to bringing the history of African culture to the masses through traditional and modern modes of performing arts, including dance, music, theatre, and storytelling.
Woezo Africa has encouraged artistic creativity and excellence increased awareness of and participation in the arts, driven partnerships between arts organizations and other professional sectors, supported innovative cultural activities, and provided mentorship opportunities for artists. We intend to have our art serve the community by contributing to cultural development and artist spotlighting while shifting misconceptions regarding diversity to inspire people of all backgrounds to engage as artists and supporters of the arts.
