Serving the Community Through Dance

Communication major Christina Alemayehu ’22 is blending service, dance and entrepreneurship.

By Jessica Weiss ’05

For graduating senior Christina Alemayehu ’22, there are numerous parallels between her passion and love for dance and her major in communication on a public relations (PR) track. Both require her to “get clear” on what she “wants to say” and allow her to serve her community and practice leadership. 

“To me, it’s all about messages,” said Alemayehu, who is also a minor in nonprofit leadership and social innovation. “I can translate what I’m learning in a PR technique class into my dance technique and vice versa. I can find creative language and learn more ways to communicate in dance as much as I can in my communication theory courses. There’s a real link.” 

After she graduates this week, Alemayehu will combine her interests and skills by teaching dance in a community church in Ethiopia. Eventually she hopes to open her own dance school in Maryland or Washington, D.C. 

“I want to do impactful work that teaches people to experience freedom in their bodies,” she said. “UMD has helped prepare me to think outside the box, develop my fearless ideas and be creative." 

The daughter of immigrants from Ethiopia, Alemayehu grew up in a family deeply rooted in faith and service. Part of her childhood was spent in College Park, in a house where her father often invited recently arrived Ethiopian immigrants to live while they got on their feet. She is the first in her family to attend college.

She always loved to dance, but didn't grow up with formal or technical training. Her freshman year at UMD, while adjusting to life away from her family for the first time, she found solace in reading and watching videos about dance at McKeldin Library. One day, while at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center for a music class, she stumbled upon the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies and inquired about taking classes. There she found a welcoming environment for people of varying abilities and interests—and for both majors and non-majors in the school—and launched her journey in dance.

“I’ve been part of the community ever since,” she said. “Technique, improvisation, hip-hop, jazz, different dances from around the world, tap, ballet, modern—I have been exposed to so many aspects and genres of dance and I’ve found my dance language.” 

By sophomore year, Alemayehu declared her major in communication with the goal to work with nonprofits and causes she cares about. Her minor, in nonprofit leadership and social innovation in the School of Public Policy, has helped improve her understanding of the sector, as well as to think creatively about solutions to problems and to listen effectively as a leader, she said. 

Outside of class, she has been involved in a range of activities and groups on campus, including the University Student Judiciary, Senior Council and Student Government Association. She also volunteers with Terps for Change, a community- and service-based learning group, where she works at Terp Farm, the university’s own sustainable vegetable farm. She takes any opportunity she can to dance. 

Last January, she traveled to Ethiopia on a mission trip and took part in a number of community events with a local church. During a tour of the office of Ethiopia’s president Sahle-Work Zewde, she was invited to dance. She said it was one of her favorite moments of the trip “and an honor.” 

At the end of the trip, the church pastor talked to her about coming back after graduation to teach dance. She knew he was presenting a unique opportunity that would allow her to begin to live her dream of bringing dance to the wider community. That’s especially important now in Ethiopia, she said, given the country’s ongoing civil war. 

In all of her interests and activities, Alemayehu said she is guided by the power she has to “get people to gather, forget the things that make us different and change things for the better.” 

“Things you’re called to be part of will be scary and sometimes not have a blueprint, but your ‘yes’ gets you closer to answers and discoveries and paves the way for those who come after you,” she said. “Everything we do must be connected to uplifting the community.” 

ARHU students can benefit from “Be Worldwise. Get Worldready.,” a career initiative that blends new and reimagined course offerings, integrated academic and career advising and access to internships, alumni networking and other opportunities across the region. Learn more.

Top photo by JHsu Media.