NEW YORK, NY March 19, 2008 —Last night, the music and dance spectacle "Spirit of Uganda" began performances at the Joyce Theater. The show’s dancers and musicians are all children from Uganda, many of them orphans, between the ages of 8 and 22.

Betty Nakato has been performing with the group since 1997, when both her parents died.

NAKATO: And through dance I’ve been able to let it go and move on with my life. And the most amazing thing is that it doesn’t only change me, or the people I’m performing with, but even the audiences you’re performing for.

REPORTER: Peter Kasule is a former member of the group, and now the show’s artistic director.

KASULE: And what we try to do is represent each culture, each ethno group, each region of Uganda. And we do that with the songs, the dance, the costumes. And we try to reflect the region where the dance comes from as much as we can.

REPORTER: In the song Konikonecho, the lyrics proclaim, "We have gone to school, studies, graduated and are now fully empowered to make our way."

The Spirit of Uganda will be at the Joyce Theater through this weekend.

Spirit of Uganda at the Joyce