Peace, Love, Dance for Everybody.

DanceAfrica Howard Gilman Opera House Brooklyn Academy of Music Brooklyn New York May 24-26, 2002

To say that DanceAfrica is merely another dance festival is to miss the importance of this event. And yet, it is because of this annual festival's vital artistic, cultural, and historic roles that even minor problems can prove so vexing. The unique role of DanceAfrica in both the dance world and the African American community places this event's every move under demanding scrutiny.

Four performances presented over Memorial Day weekend marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the festival. Hosted and produced by Chuck Davis, DanceAfrica is a colorful and festive occasion brimming with life, spirit, and good intentions. And it has spread to other cities as well, most notably Chicago and Washington, D.C.

It's difficult to think of any other event, dance or otherwise, quite like it. Where else are audience members commanded to chant "Peace, love, respect for everybody!" before they are bidden to greet strangers around them? But that's just another part of the tradition, a rich blend of dance and community celebration.

DanceAfrica always has several companies sharing the bill, including, for the last few years, a company Davis met during his international travels. This edition featured a rotating group of companies: those who had performed in the first DanceAfrica--The Chuck Davis Dance Company, which disbanded in 1983 and reunited especially for this edition, the Charles Moore Dance Theatre, and the LaRocque Bey School of Dance; some of the most popular companies to perform during the festival's history; and new additions--the Creative Outlet Dance Theatre of Brooklyn and the Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble of Camden, New Jersey. Every performance included the dynamic students of the BAM/Restoration DanceAfrica Ensemble, a collaboration between BAM and children from a Brooklyn community organization, and special guests Ballet Folklorico Cutumba, a fifty-one-member ensemble from Santiago de Cuba that performs traditional AfroCuban dance and music.

Davis has devoted much of his life to traveling to African countries and African-influenced cultures (Brazil, Cuba). DanceAfrica reflects not only the fruits of his travels in the international companies he invites to perform at the festival, but his efforts to bridge the gap of knowledge about African culture within the African American community. Davis's efforts parallel a universal move in American society to celebrate and embrace the traditions of the native cultures.

To be certain, over the years the festival has had its critics raising questions of authenticity in presentations and consistency in accompanying program notes. The anniversary performances had some of those problems in two of the four festival performances reviewed, though they did not detract from the overall magic or significance of the festival.

The issue of authenticity and appropriateness, always a concern in theatrical presentations of traditional dance, is an inevitable concern for DanceAfrica, even though the companies appearing are independent entities. Somehow, in the role of presenter, it must find a way to fill the information gap. Some presentations provided clear links between past and present. One of the reasons why the Rennie Harris tour de force Students of the Asphalt Jungle, performed by his group PureMovement, remains so masterful is that the linkage between African traditions and present African American culture is drawn so clearly and dynamically. It's as if the Masai warriors of the past have leapt into the present, exchanging their weaponry for spins and the stalking combat steps from Brazilian capoeira. At the other end of the spectrum was the appearance by the LaRocque Bey School of Dance performing what appeared to be a medley of dances. While the vitality and zest of the performers earned roars of approval from the audience, there was a decided lack of information here that ultimately reduced the performances to little more than colorful entertainment.

The most regrettable victim of the information gap may have been the Cubans, whose program notes gave audiences no hint as to what they were watching. Each of the four programs for the festival simply listed the company as performing gaga, tajona, and rumba, but did not explain what these were (gaga and tajona are types of folk dances from the Afro-Cuban tradition, while the more familiar rumba is a popular Cuban dance). Those attending more than one performance during the festival would have been confused to see a totally different set of dances each time. Which was which?

These details may prove to be the biggest test for Davis and DanceAfrica. The answer may be as simple as employing a dance historian to work with organizers to educate the joyous throngs who have come to rely on the festival for an infusion of culture. Davis has laid a strong and vibrant framework in creating and sustaining DanceAfrica for twenty-five years. But the march toward its future will require more substance as the students whose interests were awakened in its early years increasingly seek more and better information.