DanceAfrica Performance

Abdel R. Salaam is the Artistic Director of DanceAfrica, the Executive Artistic Director and co-founder of Forces of Nature Dance Theatre, and a critically acclaimed choreographer. Born in Harlem, he has served as a dancer, teacher, and performing artist on five continents throughout his 56-year career. He has received numerous awards and fellowships for excellence in dance and dance theater, and continues to dedicate his life's work to the healing and empowerment of us all.

Founded in 1984 by Dr. Rwangyezi Stephen, the Ndere Troupe is a Ugandan cultural organization dedicated to universal unity through music, dance, and drama, and is one of over 1,600 Uganda Development Theatre Association groups in pursuit of this mission. The name Ndere comes from the Ugandan word for "flute," an instrument chosen as a symbol of beauty for the irresistible and wide-ranging music it produces, capable of expressing the full range of human emotion from sorrow to joy, and from love to loneliness. The flute also symbolizes universal unity—all peoples of the world have a flute in their cultures, like the blood that flows in our bodies regardless of our external differences. Through dance, music, and storytelling, the troupe showcases the depth and diversity of Uganda's many ethnic groups, preserving their traditions as both a cultural archive and a living expression of contemporary Ugandan identity. The Ndere Troupe prides itself on emphasizing what connects us while celebrating the richness of our differences.

The Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn in 2001. They are celebrating their milestone 25th anniversary (2026—27) with the theme “We Strive to Thrive.” Under the Foundation’s umbrella, they oversee the Bessie Award-winning Asase Yaa African American Dance Theater, a thriving School of the Arts (2—18 years old), Youth Ensemble, Children’s Summer Arts Camp (4—13 years old), Arts Outreach Program that provides live entertainment for schools throughout the greater New York metropolitan area, and the Asase Yaa Theater Company. A highlight of their anniversary is the electrifying production, The Revival: DJEMBE in the New Millennium, which is being presented at DanceAfrica. It features the African American Dance Theater, who are amid their first national concert tour since 2017. The show fuses traditional West African music and dance styles with modern urban music genres in New York, from the 90s to the present.

This DanceAfrica favorite returns to the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House for the 30th year. The ensemble, under Program Manager Dr. Karen Thornton, serves as a symbol of youth involvement in the preservation of African heritage, celebrating both ancestral roots and the modern-day community.

The DanceAfrica Spirit Walkers were founded by Baba Abdel R. Salaam in 2016 to theatrically honor the ancestors of Africa and its diaspora through the annual DanceAfrica Memorial Tribute, originally developed by the late Baba Chuck Davis. The group comprises professional dance artists and musicians from the RestorationART alumni and Forces of Nature Dance Theatre, melding African vernacular forms, modern, hip-hop, and contemporary dance. The DanceAfrica Spirit Walkers is a division of Forces of Nature Dance Theatre.