Amaniyea Payne, dancer/choreographer and Artistic Director of Muntu Dance Theatre, offers her reflections on Muntu’s more than four decades in Chicago, Illinois. There, in mid-west U.S.A., Muntu shines a bright and powerful light on African dance, due in major part to its artistic and educational vision, which has been influenced by Payne’s artistic research and global dance connections. Her research and artistic experiences display the seminal connections among Diaspora dance artists, highlighting their similar concerns regarding education of African, diasporic, and non-African peoples. Payne and Muntu exemplify the characteristic duality of professional African-based dance companies in the U.S.: on the one hand, she and the company develop and present fascinating, contemporary choreographies using traditional African vocabularies and on the other hand, they are enmeshed in educational projects and neighborhood and community development through dance.