Dance | Music
DanceAfrica 2017
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The Healing Light of Rhythm: Tradition and Beyond
Artistic Director Abdel R. Salaam and Artistic Director Emeritus Chuck Davis
Forty years after its inauguration under the artistic direction of Chuck Davis, the nation’s largest festival of African dance returns for a special anniversary celebration. This year’s performance, under the leadership of Artistic Director Abdel R. Salaam, is a special curated program that pays tribute to the past, present, and future of the landmark festival and the transformative power of movement.
Members of Philadelphia's hip-hop based Illstyle & Peace Productions join with members of New York City's Forces of Nature Dance Theatre and the drummers and dancers of Asase Yaa, performing a joyful collision of traditional and contemporary styles. Then, Wula Drum and Dance Ensemble—a master group of US-based Guinean dancers and musicians—present a spirited showcase of West African culture. Both groups are joined by the BAM/Restoration Dance Youth Ensemble.
Wula Drum and Dance Ensemble
Asase Yaa
Forces of Nature Dance Theatre
llstyle & Peace Productions
BAM/Restoration Dance Youth Ensemble (Brooklyn)
Lighting design by Al Crawford
Sound design by David Margolin Lawson
Costume design by Hopie Lyn Burrows
Abdel R. Salaam is the Artistic Director for DanceAfrica.
This Guinea company is led by Artistic Director M’bemba Bangoura.
This company of musicians, dancers, and vocalists was founded by Artistic Director Yao Ababio.
Forces of Nature performs a blend of contemporary dance and traditional African forms.
This Philadelphia-based dance company was founded in 2000 by Brandon “Peace” Albright.
BAM/Restoration DanceAfrica Ensemble celebrates ancestral roots and the modern-day community.
Chuck Davis (1937—2017) was the founding artistic director of DanceAfrica, BAM’s longest running series, and one of the foremost teachers and choreographers of traditional African dance in America.
BAM Visual Art presents a new work by Guinean painter and illustrator Maeva Kounta.
This cinematic companion to the annual DanceAfrica celebration features the best narrative and documentary films from across Africa and beyond, with a special focus on Guinea.
DanceAfrica's beloved bazaar returns, featuring more than 150 vendors from around the world, offering African, Caribbean, and African-American food, crafts, and fashion.
Participants are introduced to West African rhythmic traditions and learn the fundamentals of Guinean movement styles in this immersive workshop.
Caregivers and children alike deepen their engagement with DanceAfrica in this fun-filled, hands-on workshop focusing on Guinean movement and music.
The avant garde conscience of Brazil’s Tropicália movement comes to BAM.
Sweden’s Cirkus Cirkör offers an acrobatic exploration of an EU in flux.