Category: Walter Rutledge

By Walter Rutledge

Memorial Day weekend, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and an African market have all become synonymous with DanceAfrica; America’s largest celebration of African’s diasporic achievements in dance, music, art, theatre, fashion, craft, culture, and cuisine. The 2026 “Afrofest” faced challenges from Oya the Yoruba Orisha of storms, wind, and rain whose presence was felt the entire extended holiday weekend.

Even Oya’s inclemency could not dampen the enthusiasm and excitement for the annual dance concert, the centerpiece of the festival. This year’s theme was DanceAfrica 2026 Uganda: Umoja/Mirembe/Obulungi (Unity/Peace/Beauty)! The production was a stunning music and movement history lesson that continues to debunk the monolith myth.

When we refer to the monolith myth, we are referencing the misconception that the “country” of Africa exists in lockstep. To the contrary the African continent constitutes fifty-four sovereign nations with a multiplicity of languages, cultures, and customs. Over the festival’s forty-nine-year history DanceAfrica has strived to present the artistry from the entire African Diaspora including the Caribbean, South America and Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Long before the University of Bologna was established in 1088 AD Africa already had revered centers of learning. These included Morocco’s University of Al-Qarawiyyin (859 AD) and Egypt’s Al-Azhar University (970 AD). In the 14th-century Mali Empire ruler Mansa Musa established the fabled Sankoré Madrasa in Timbuktu, which rivaled Oxford and Cambridge. In many ways this four-day inner city immersive pedagogical experience embodies that spirit. Dance, music and visual arts workshops, seminars, community friendly events; and an abundance of outdoor food and craft vendors, and street performances (some spontaneous) all help create an entertaining, informative, and aspirational old world campus environment – a Brooklyn Sankoré Madrasa.   

The crown jewel is the dance celebration under the direction of DanceAfrica Artistic Director Abdel Salaam, respectfully referred to as Baba Abdel. We are calling this event a celebration instead of performance because many of the elements were/are ceremonial steeped in ritual, which predates western presentational entertainment. Nana Kofi Osei Williams offered the Libation; the Ghanaian tradition of pouring libation is a profound spiritual ritual used to ask for blessings and protection. An act of reverence, humility and gratitude it honors God, our ancestral spirits, and natural forces around us.   

The Prologue/Procession section began with a single drummer, Rasaan-Elijah “Talu” Green. The solo soon became a percussive quartet when joined by Nyemba Seales, Fara Camara and Jason McCaleb. Dr. Hanan Hameen-Diagne and four other members of the Memorial Candle Bearers move down the aisle to the space in front of the stage. Each dancer carried two candles and the joyous energy was an appropriate introduction for the procession of the Council of Elders.

This group of twenty-eight elders hold the distinction of having been participants in the first DanceAfrica forty-nine years ago. Suddenly all three aisles in the orchestra are filled with the young dancers from The Billie’s Youth Arts Academy Dance Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Karen Thorton. Their participation brought this opening section to an energetic yet reverent conclusion.

The DanceAfrica Spirit Walkers, a division of Forces of Nature Dance Theatre, takes us on a new diasporic odyssey each year. In past years we had walked with AI generated elephants in grasslands of Mozambique or traveled down river to the Dja Faunal Reserve, a southeast Cameroon rainforest in Yaoundé and we partied at an Afrobeats club in Ghana. Each encounter reinforces the holistic connection between the earth, its inhabitants, the culture and the Gods.

The high level of production elements including lighting, costumes, sets, music, choreography and staging remain bar none. His 2026 offering was no exception. This year we ventured to Uganda to experience Mami Wata… Nalubaale: In honor of She.  

We could paraphrase but, Baba Abdel best describes the production and deity as,  “Mami Wata… Nalubaale: In Honor Of She (Mother Water… Mother Of The Ancestral Guardian Spirits) honors and pays profound respect to the Great Mother and her divine elemental manifestation of water in the oceans, lakes rivers, and seas that help protect and guard the spirit of life and our Ancestors. Mami Wata is ever present in numerous myths and legends of Africa and its Diaspora, the Caribbean Islands, South, and Central America. Nalubaale, in the Lugandan language of Uganda, is the ancient traditional name of the largest freshwater lake in Africa and the second largest lake in the world.”

A single yellowish white orb upstage right appears as the sun above a billowing wave blue/green light. The illusion of being under water spilled over onto the orchestra, engulfing the audience in an atmospheric wave of magic. The dancers slow sustained upper body deportment produced an ethereal almost floating quality while a large corps of dancers consisting of member of Forces of Nature and the Billie Youth Arts Academy completed the expansive cast. The aquatic deity was eventually moved to center stage on a dais, which elevated her above the action. This gave the dramatically costumed and coiffed goddess an imposing omnipresent command.

In our O&A NYC Magazine 2025 DanceAfrica review (which we are sure you can all quote verbatim) we mentioned dispelling the monolith myth. This has become especially important in the present climate, when history is being rewritten to support a more sanitized narrative. 

This year exemplified the majestic diversity of the African continent. The celebration presented Ugandan’s Ndere Troupe and Brooklyn’s own The Asase Yaa African American Dance Theater. Under the direction of Artistic Director Kofi Osei Williams (a first-generation Brooklynite of Ghanaian decent) his ensemble will soon celebrate their twenty-fifth anniversary of enriching the Brooklyn community with West African dance. This strong ensemble offered a program that included his company, youth from school and an impressive percussion ensemble lead by Williams. The section concluded with a rousing crescendo that incorporated the entire ensemble, musicians and students.

The Kampala based dance company, Ndere Troupe, prides itself on having over 40 authentic dances and countless songs in their repertoire. During DanceAfrica 49 they presented several works from different regions of the country. Throughout the presentation we marveled at the versatility of the men who danced, sang and played a myriad of instruments.

The instrumentation was one of the most notable differences between the West African Asase Yaa African American Dance Theater and East Africa’s Ndere Troupe. We were accustomed to the drum/percussion of West African dance; in contrast the sound of East Africa’s also incorporated the Embaire, A large wooden xylophone and string instruments including the Adungu. And the movement also had distinct differences.

Two standout moments were the bakisimba and the kizino dance. The kizino, from the Southwestern region of Uganda, was an athletic dance performed by the men that consisting of sustained jumping – the original “hang time”. The bakisimba, which was performed by the women, originated from the Buganda Kingdom in Central Uganda. The deliberately calm use of the head, arms and torso in juxtaposition to the continuously circular moving hips is one of the truest examples of the use of polyrhythms. Members of the The Billie’s Youth Arts Academy Dance Ensemble were given the opportunity to learn and perform the bakisimba with the Uganda ensemble creating another Brooklyn Sankore moment.   

Through DanceAfrica, Kwanza at the Apollo and Forces of Nature Dance Company Abdel Salaam has enriched the community for over four decades. The focus has always gone beyond merely dancing, its dance as communication, dance as education, and dance as affirmation. Salaam’s gifts have been applauded and acknowledged, but in our opinion, he remains an under recognized artist.

His production elements, strong choreography, imaginative concepts and uncluttered direction rival the best concert dance and theatrical productions. We must ask ourselves why isn’t his work being presented by more companies and outside organizations? Clearly their loss. Fortunate for us we can capture his magic in these productions, but we would all benefit from more Abdel Salaam.

DanceAfrica reminds us of the Lerner and Loewe musical Brigadoon. In the musical a magical village appears one day every hundred years creating an idyllic community. At DanceAfrica a magical African village appears for four days every May transforming BAM and the surrounding streets into Brooklyn’s Sankoré Madrasa.

In Photo: 1. Postcard of Sankoré Madrasa with the mosque in Timbuktu (1905–06), 2. Council of Elders, 3. Dyane Harvey Salaam and cast, 4.Asase Yaa African American Dance Theater, 5. the Adungu -string instrument, 6. kizino dance, 7.bakisimba dance, 8. Abdel Salaam

Photographer: 1. published by Edmond Fortier 2,3,4,6,7, 8 Julieta Cervantes