BAM 2003 Spring Brooklyn Academy of Music Alan H. Fishman William I. Campbell Chairman of the Board Vice Chairman of the Board Karen Brooks Hopkins Joseph V. Melillo President Executive Producer presents DanceAfrica 2003 Approximate Rhythmic Rites and Rituals: running time: Connecting Cultural Borders 2 hours 30 BAM Howard Gilman Opera House minutes with May 23 & 24 at 7:30pm; May 24 at 2pm; May 25 at 3pm one intermission Artistic director Chuck Davis Lighting design William H. Grant III Kulu Mele African American Dance Ensemble (Philadelphia) Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago Resurrection Dance Theater of Haiti and BAM/Restoration DanceAfrica Ensemble Stage manager N'Goma Woolbright Assistant stage manager Normadien Woolbright Production stage manager Janet D. Clancy BAM 2003 Spring Season is sponsored by Altria Group, Inc. Major support for DanceAfrica 2003 is provided by AT&T and Morgan Stanley. Additional support is provided by Con Edison and KeySpan Foundation. BAM Dance is supported by The Harkness Foundation for Dance. BAM thanks Theatre Development Fund for its support of this season. ~l PrOQram Rhythmic Rites and Rituals: Connecting Cultural Borders (Note: A Libation Ceremony in front of BAM precedes the May 23 opening night performance.) Processional The audience members are asked to remain seated to acknowledge the presence of the elders whose collective knowledge guides us into the future. The dressing of the first two seats honors the Elders who have made the transition to the Ancestral Grounds: Baba Walter P Brown, Papa Scuddie McGee, Mama Sarah McGee, and Baba M.B. Olatunji. Jalibah Baba Chuck Davis extends the traditional greetings and welcomes all to the Bantaba (dancing ground). Memorial Homage is paid to those who have made the transition to the Ancestral Grounds. Their lives and contributions will never be forgotten . As the cand lebearers exit through the house, please feel free to call out the name(s) of an ancestor you wish to remember. Opening ceremony: Council of Elders (opening night only) Before any important event takes place, it must be sanctioned by the Elders. The Resurrection Dance Theater of Haiti Artistic Director Jacky Asse Company Manager Michael Geilenfeld Director of Advancement Renee Dietrich Dancers Jacky Asse , Gregory Adrien, Waines Cangas, Patrick Caporal , Sony Derazin, Benoit Florestal, Jean Bernard Gustabe, Wi Iter Jean Louis, Fignole Lexis, Rony Romulus Drummers Daniel Jean Mary, Angelo Micho, Bill Nathan Asoto The dancers pay respect to the power and rhythms of the drum and its influence on their lives and the lives of their ancestors. Drum Spirit danced by Fignole Lexis Kulu Mele African American Dance Ensemble Director Robert Crowder Artistic director Dorothy Wilkie Music director John Wilkie Dancers Dorothy Wilkie, Arisa Ingram, Angela Wastson , Najuma Lagbra , Ama Schley, Mecca Madyun Drummers Robert Crowder (Baba), John Wilkie, Kenneth Fauntleroy, Okikilu Hardy, Ishmale Jackson , Osubi Craig Muntu Dance Theatre. Photo, Kwabena Shabu Obatala Yoruba dance from Nigeria by way of Cuba. The Yoruba religion known as Lucumi (the Spanish term is Santeria) is a religious system with roots in nature and natural forces called Orisha. Obatala, the king of the white cloth, is seen as the embodiment of creativity, peace, and purity. In one hand he carries a white horse's tail, an emblem of his royal power used to purify the surroundings. Drum Conference Collaborators Baba Crowder, John Wilkie The drum has the power to draw the gods to the dancing ground. Yololi or Fula Fare Choreography by Youssouf Koumbassa A dance of the Peul (Fulani) people of West Africa celebrating the seventh day in the life of a newborn. Gifts from the family are placed in a calabash. -Intermission- DanceAfrica honors three icons: Baba Jean-Leon Destine (Friday evening, May 23) Dr. Henry Frank (Saturday evening, May 24) Mama Katherine Dunham (Sunday matinee, May 25) .1lu PrOQram Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago Artistic director Amaniyea Payne Performers Tosha Alston , Babu Atiba , Aissatou Bey , Vau ne Blalock, Mailk Camara , Beverly Carrington , Paul Cotton , Harry Detry, Yaya Kabo , Aly M'Baye , Uche Omon iyi, Aman iyea Payne , Regina Perry, Clifton Robinson Balante Original choreography by Abdoulaye Camara Enhanced by Idy Ciss & Amaniyea Payne Traditional music arranged by Muntu Musicians Once a year in the Western African countries Guinea Bisseau and Senegal (Cassamance, the southern region) this initiation dance calls for young people of age to rid themselves of mischief, dishonesty, and deceit-to tap into the protective energy that surrounds them , take responsibility for their actions, and acknowledge that discipline is necessary to advance in life, and remember that that which does not kill us makes us strong. Resurrection Dance Theater of Haiti and BAM/Restoration DanceAfrica Ensemble Tribute to Neg Mawon and Haiti Original choreography by Jacky Asse Enhanced by Baba Chuck Davis & Sis. Karen Thornton-Daniels Original music Bill Nathan and Resurrection Musicians joined by BAM/Restoration DanceAfrica Ensemble Musicians Spirit of Neg Mawon Patrick Caporal Spirit of Haiti Jamal Ara Calendar Salute to Haiti's Independence, and to Neg Mawon, inspired by the Le Marron Inconnu statue in Port-au-Prince which depicts the only successful slave revolt in history. It embodies the spirit of freedom of the Haitian people as well as the cost and determination required of such a struggle. Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago Djimbe Drum Talk Musical arrangement by Company Musicians A salute to drummers and musicians who carryon traditions with pride, having earned respect by honing their craft. Three sets of rhythms are linked-Sofa (warriors' rhythms), Djagbe (welcome and ce lebration rhythms), and Mendiani (initiation rhythms) as taught by Mamady Keita and Aly M'Baye. Soli Choreography & musical arrangement by Youssouf Koumbassa Sali- a dance of celebration that is swift, difficult, and demands strength--{)riginated in the Franna and Kissi Dougo villages of the Mandingo people of Guinea, West Africa. Finale-ensemble The story of Sony Derazin , a member of Resurrection Dance Theater, who spent much of his childhood confined to a crib. He was rescued, taught to walk, and then to dance. This section, an excerpt from a longer work titled Dans Nouva Vi (Dance of New Life) was especially staged for DanceAfrica 2003 by Baba Chuck who is a mentor for Resurrection Dance Theater. \Nho's Who Chuck Davis (artistic director and founding designs appear in the repertoires of the Alvin Elder) is one of the foremost teachers and Ailey American Dance Theater and American choreographers of traditional African dance in Ballet Theatre. He has been resident lighting America and has traveled extensively in Africa designer for The Philadelphia Dance Company to study with leading African artists. Davis for more than twenty years, has taught lighting founded the Chuck Davis Dance Company in design at City College of New York, and is the New York City in 1968 and the African author of A Basic Handbook of Stage Ughting. American Dance Ensemble in Durham, North The National Council for Culture and Art Carolina in 1983. He has been a panelist for presented him with the 1993 Monarch several programs of the National Endowment Merit Award. In his spare time, he is an for the Arts and is a recipient of the AA RP accomplished harp ist. Certificate of Excellence, the North Carolina Dance Alliance Award , the 1990 North N'Goma Woolbright (stage manager) is a native Carolina Artist Award , and the North Carolina of Jacksonville, Florida. He began his career as Order of the Long Leaf Pine. Since 1991, at the a stage manager in 1968 with the Chuck Davis request of the governor, he has served on the Dance Company, where he ultimately became board of the North Carolina Arts Council , and in technical director. He has worked with several 1992 he received the North Carol ina Award in dance companies in and around New York Fine Arts, the state's highest honor. In 1996 City. Until recently, he was the technical Chuck Davis and his African American Dance director for the dance company Forces of Nature. Ensemble were awarded a $100,000 grant Woolbright's credits include Lyon and the Jewel, from the National Dance Residency Program, Frankenstein's Rib , The Greatest of all Times, a three-year initiative launched in 1994 by the and Muhammed Wait for Me. He has been NY Foundation for the Arts and funded by stage manager for DanceAfrica since its the Pew Charitable Trusts. Professional inception in 1977. awards include a Monarch , a "Bessie," and a "BAMmie ." In 1998, Davis was awarded a Normadien Woolbright (assistant stage doctorate from Medgar Evers College and specia l manager) is a graduate of the Performing Arts honors from Duke University for his work in High School, holds a BA in dance education promoting dance across the U.S. Chuck from Lehman College, and has studied with DavisiDanceAfrica were recently named to Chuck Davis since her teens. She became artistic Dance Heritage Coalition's list of "America 's director of the Chuck Davis Dance Company Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: The First 100." when Davis relocated to North Carolina, and moved to Durham in 1989. She now serves William H. Grant III (lighting designer) has as road manager and director of educational designed lighting for dance, opera, and theater projects for the African American Dance throughout the world . He has designed the Ensemble. She remains active in the field of lighting for DanceAfrica since 1989 and also dance through teaching, performing and has designed extensively for the Milwaukee participating in school residencies. Repertory Theatre Company, the Philadelphia Drama Guild , The Alabama Shakespeare BAM/Restoration DanceAfrica Ensemble Festival , the New York Shakespeare Festival, For seven years, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration and many other regional and off-Broadway Corporation (Restoration) and BAM Education companies as well as for the Negro Ensemble & Humanities have partnered in a youth Company and the Dallas Theatre Center.