Danceafrica 2018 Photo Courtesy of the Artists Ingoma Kwazulu Natal Dance Company
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BAM 2018 Winter/Spring Season #DanceAfrica Brooklyn Academy of Music Adam E. Max, Chairman of the Board William I. Campbell, Vice Chairman of the Board Katy Clark, President DanceAfrica Joseph V. Melillo, Executive Producer 2 018 Remembrance, Reconciliation, Renewal Artistic Director Abdel R. Salaam BAM Howard Gilman Opera House May 25 at 7:30pm; May 26 at 2pm & 7pm; May 27 & 28 at 3pm Approximate running time: two hours including one intermission Produced by BAM Ingoma KwaZulu-Natal Dance Company Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre BAM/Restoration Dance Youth Ensemble (Brooklyn) DanceAfrica Spirit Walkers Lighting & scenic design by Al Crawford Sound design by David Margolin Lawson Season Sponsor: Production stage manager Kristin Colvin Young Stage manager N’Goma Woolbright Assistant stage manager Chelsea Gillespie Con Edison is the Major Sponsor of Assistant stage manager Normadien Woolbright Community Programs Leadership support for BAM Community Programs provided by The Thompson Family Foundation Leadership support for dance at BAM provided by The Harkness Foundation for Dance Support for the Signature Artist Series provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation Major support for dance at BAM provided by The SHS Foundation DanceAfrica 2018 Photo courtesy of the artists Ingoma Kwazulu Natal Dance Company. Peace and blessings, Family, Remembrance, Reconciliation, and Renewal We at BAM invite you to join us during this year’s 41st annual celebration of DanceAfrica featuring South Africa’s Ingoma KwaZulu-Natal Dance Company and Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre, along with the BAM/Restoration Dance Youth Ensemble (Brooklyn) and the DanceAfrica Spirit Walkers. This year’s program is a dance-theater experience filled with imagery of the cultural, historical, socio-polit- ical, and spiritual visions of some the great icons of the South African and American movements for civil and human rights. We honor the many past and present struggles of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in their lives, thereby inspiring a new generation that continues the work to establish freedom, justice, and equality for all people. This year, through the lens of traditional and contemporary dance and music, we pay special tribute to the lives of Winnie and Nelson Mandela during his centennial anniversary, and invite you to join us once again as we celebrate the legacy of Baba Chuck Davis and the family of DanceAfrica throughout its diaspora! Health, peace, love, and respect, Baba Abdel R. Salaam Artistic Director, DanceAfrica 2018 DanceAfrica 2018—Program REMEMBRANCE, RECONCILIATION, RENEWAL UMBONO 1 (VISION 1)—RISE (Premiere) Choreography and costume design Abdel R. Salaam Addie Mae Collins Paris Jones Hector Pieterson Taj Newman Malcolm X Omare Conteste Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Jude Evans Stephen Bantu Biko Keith Tolbert Fannie Lou Hammer Imani Nzingha Johnson Nelson Mandela Jamaine Victor Maya Angelou Dyane Harvey Dancers: Spirit Walkers Ferrin Coleman, Omari Contaste, Jude Evans, Thea Grier, Dyane Harvey, Nzingha Imani Johnson, Paris Jones, Maya Petty, Jae Ponder, Jazmine Poole, Faith Mondesire, Taj Newman, Keith Tolbert, Jamaine Victor, Memorial Candlebearers (see Who’s Who) Swing Qwadasia Lovett Apprentices Sade Edwards, Colby Thomas South African vocals Sbongiseni Duma Music Ayub Ogada & Mbarak, Daniel Pemberton Lighting and scenic design Al Crawford Sound design David Margolin Lawson Rise is a memorial tribute honoring the legacy and ultimate sacrifice of the leaders and everyday participants of the past and present struggles for civil rights, human rights, and the empowerment the people of the African diaspora in the United States and South Africa—Malcolm, Biko, King, and Fanny Lou, Mandela, Maya, and Black Lives Matter, to name a few. This year, the memorial also celebrates the centennial of Nelson Mandela, various South African ancestors, as well as those of the African diaspora in the Americas. MUSIC “Run Londidium” by Daniel Alexis Pemberton, courtesy of Universal Music Corp. o/b/o Warner Olive Music. “Kothbiro” by Ayub Ogada and Mbarak. Published by Womad Music LTD. Music cleared by BZ/Rights & Permissions Inc. WELCOME Baba Abdel R. Salaam UMBONO 2 (VISION 2) UMSUKA (Premiere) Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre Choreography Neli Rushualang Dancers Sbusiso Gantsa, Ntombikayise Gasa, Siyabonga Mhlongo, Mandisa Ndlovu, Neliswa Rushualang, Noxolo Rushualang Music Baba Maal, Alva Noto, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Kronos Quartet Artistic director Jay Pather Company administrator Ntombi Gasa Umsuka tackles the issues around old family secretiveness—in existence for generations—when questioning by younger generations causes unexpected results within the family. cont. DanceAfrica 2018—Program MUSIC “Lam Lam” by Baaba Maal, from Nomad Soul “Duoon” by Alva Noto, from Vrioon “Broken Line 1” by Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto, from UTP “V. White Man Sleeps” by Kronos Quartet from Pieces of Africa TSWANA Ingoma KwaZulu-Natal Dance Company Five Tswana maidens take the stage to show the beauty of their dances. These dances are the original movement of the Khoi and San people (known as Abathwa or the bushmen), the nomadic people who were the first to inhabit South Africa. Being nomads, they did not claim any piece of the land because they believed that the entire landscape belonged to them. BAM/Restoration Dance Youth Ensemble (Brooklyn) joins Ingoma KwaZulu-Natal Dance Company in the performance of the Tswana dance. See the “Who’s Who” section for Restoration credits. —INTERMISSION— UMBONO 3 (VISION 3): INGOMA KWAZULU-NATAL Ingoma KwaZulu-Natal Dance Company Choreography Siyanda Mxolisi Dancers Senzo Dlamini, Bright Zolani Mphumuzi Duma, Vumani Diolese Gasa, Mphathiseni Gubudela, Summer-Rose Sikhonzile Jele, Sanele Keswa, Sandile Robert Khumalo, Fortunate Sinenhlanhla Majola, Sizwe Automan Mbili, Mhlonishwa Mchunu, Siphumelele Mkhulekelwa Vivian Mchunu, Duduzile Witness Mdlalose, Zanele Promise Mkize, Nqobile Preceviarance Mlaba, Ayanda Mngadi, Zamaswazi Amanda Mokoena, Mfundo Emmanuel Msibi, Simesihle Percival Mzotho, Portia Nokwazi Ncwane, Skhumbuzo Ngcongo, Sindiswa Lungile Nxele, Syalo Shezi, Sanele Thamsanqa Zondi Musicians Mondi Smanga Mngwengwe, Sakhile Wiseman Shezi Production coordinator Nondumiso Yoliswa Cast coordinator Thabile Constance Mzobe ABADALA—A sangoma (spiritual medium) performs a prayer/ritual. She is joined by a poet/praise singer who invokes the spirits of the ancestors with his chant. They are joined on stage by maidens, who then perform a fertility/rain dance, asking for God to make us fertile so that we can multiply, and to bring us rain so that we can plant food and feed our children. INGOMA—A powerful Zulu dance involving the whole company which showcases the strength of the mighty Zulu army. The Ingoma dance also encourages the audience to join this magnificent show of brute strength and energy. PANTSULA—The twisting rhythmic dance performed by the youth in township streets. After Beyoncé saw a group of young people performing the Pantsula dance in Mozambique, she brought them to the US; they can be seen in her video, “Run the World (Girls).” MZANSI FINALE—This energetic finale is a KwaZulu-Natal dance that comes from Drakensburg Mountains. The dance involves the whole company performing frenetic choreography with bodies flying through the air and crashing down. Dancers crawl, resembling animals, and suddenly—like acrobats—go through their energetic routines. It is an exhilarating showcase of the energy of the dancers of KwaZulu-Natal. Who’s Who CHUCK DAVIS (1937—2017) (artistic director emeritus and founding Elder) was one of the foremost, beloved teachers and choreographers of traditional African dance in America. He traveled extensively in Africa and the diaspora to study with leading African artists. Davis founded the Chuck Davis Dance Company in New York City in 1968 and the African American Dance Ensemble in Durham, NC in 1983. He founded DanceAfrica at BAM in 1977, where it has become the longest-running series; it expanded to other cities. He served on many distinguished panels and received numerous awards and accolades, including honorary doctorates.In 2010, the St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation founded the Glaxo-SmithKline-Charles “Chuck” Davis Endowment, and BAM established the Chuck Davis Emerging Choreographer Fellowship in 2015. Photo: Julieta Cervantes Who’s Who ABDEL R. SALAAM (artistic director, choreographer) is artistic director of DanceAfrica, founded by Baba Chuck Davis in 1977. Additionally, Salaam has been the executive artistic director/co-founder of Forces of Nature Dance Theatre (FONDT) since founding it in 1981. Born in Harlem, NY, he has been a dancer, teacher, and performing artist on five continents in his 48-year career. Salaam has performed with the companies of Joan Miller, Abdel R. Salaam. Photo: Jack Vartoogian Abdel R. Ron Platt, Fred Benjamin, Keith Lee, Otis Salid, Nannette Bearden, and Baba Chuck Davis. He has received numerous awards and fellowships including from the National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation on the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York State Council for Arts, National Council for Arts and Culture, and Lehman College. His company received the 2013 Audelco Award for Dance Company of the Year. Credits in theater, film, and television include as choreographer for Measure for Measure, New York Shakespeare Festival; Pecong, Newark Symphony Hall; TUT, New York Musical Theatre Festival (director/choreographer); Free to Dance, PBS (choreographer); Expressions in Black: The Story