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Finding the
Sacred Forest
By
Michael Wade Simpson
African dance as a rite of passage
Where does
hip-hop come from? Pose that question to a roomful of
fourth-graders and you might get a big laugh. “Does hip-hop
come from somewhere else?” “Hip-hop comes from MTV, the
street, a dance club.” “How about Africa?” “No way.
That’s goofy. Hip-hop from Africa? No.” Now get out the
drums, bring out the dancers, and teach the kids a couple of
movements from Guinea, West Africa. “Hey, that’s the
Chicken Soup!”
African dance for kids is a powerful way to make
connections. As community-based dance programs across America
have shown over the last 40 years (sometimes blending African
classes with ballet, tap, jazz, and modern) teaching
youngsters a traditional ethnic dance form like West African
opens up worlds.
In the case of three leading African dance artists and
educators—Deborah Vaughan of Dimensions Dance Theater in
Oakland, CA; Karen L. Love of Umoja Dance Company in
Montclair, NJ; and Chuck Davis, founder of the Durham,
NC–based African American Dance Ensemble—getting kids involved
in dance becomes a powerful social structure and a rite of
passage, as songs, dances, rhythms and stories from West
African traditions become life-shaping lessons.
“The role of the arts is to prepare the young ones for the
future,” says Davis. “In the old African traditional
initiation rites, young people from 9 to 14 are taken from
their villages and placed in the care of elders.” The place of
elders, according to Davis, was called “the Sacred Forest,”
where “you [would] learn what your role is, what is expected
once you pass into adulthood.” And, he goes on to explain, “in
the old days all the proverbs and teaching was done through
dance.”
Davis, a commanding presence at 6' 5", turned 71 on January 1
of this year. He has spent a lifetime traveling to West
Africa, popularizing these dance forms and music across the
United States, and always, teaching. (“Did you know there are
300 ethnic groups in Nigeria?”) “All children should seek
their heritage,” Davis says. “Who am I? Where did I come
from?” When asked if that includes kids from other ethnic
groups, he replies, “Learning about the traditions in African
dance can teach non-Africans what they should seek.”
Here in the United States, can a dance studio serve as the
initiation zone for young people? Undoubtedly yes, according
to these three dance visionaries. To be more specific, it is a
dance company that serves as the initiation vehicle. In
the African dance model developed by all three groups, younger
dancers are always included, performing side by side, or in
place of, adult dancers in a professional dance company. It is
within this junior company, where younger dancers apprentice,
interact with their elders, and get their first opportunity to
travel and perform, that they find their “sacred forest.”
Vaughan, who founded Dimensions Dance Theater with two other
women with whom she began taking dance classes as a
6-year-old, has been involved with the company for 35 years,
and she still believes in the power of dance as a social
force. “We started in the Oakland Park and Rec creative
movement program; then as teens we found Dunham technique and
African-Haitian classes, which were being taught by Ruth
Beckford, one of Katherine [Dunham]’s original dancers. I am
connected to that legacy,” she says. Learning the history,
traditions, and customs from Beckford put her on a “path of
enlightenment.” That segued into learning about the entire
African diaspora. (The historical rise of the African slave
trade spread not only the African population but also its
culture, music, religions, and dance throughout North and
South America.) She studied the dances of Cuba and Brazil as
well as those of West Africa and Congo.
Vaughan’s own Rites of Passage Arts
Academy program for young dancers was born “as a way to
give back to the community,” she says. “I realized from the
beginning this was something powerful.” She started
with an apprentice program for 17- to 18-year-olds to expose
them to the art, train with the adult dance company, take a
lot of classes, and receive coaching by company members. Soon
she asked herself, “Why not formalize this?” She explains,
“Through the pursuit of a culture, you cause young dancers to
develop their own interests out in the world, and to begin
their own path.”
With help from the city of Oakland, which decided to create an
arts center that would house different local organizations,
Dimensions finally moved out of the church basements and
borrowed studio it had been using and into a home of its own.
That was in 1993. “What we offer young people is a place to
learn and express themselves, to work with others collectively
toward a final product. We build self-esteem, and the kids
have a blast,” Vaughan says.
In addition to dance, the Rites of Passage program brings in
volunteers to teach life skills workshops on subjects
such as nutrition, hygiene, conflict resolution, finances, and
body image. And the kids, early on, learn the value of
community outreach; they not only dance but also help out at
churches, shelters, and charity benefits.
What about African dance itself—the movement, the precursor of
hip-hop? What do kids like about that, and what is the value
of learning such a technique in addition to traditional forms
such as ballet, tap, and jazz? Karen L. Love, whose New
Jersey–based company, Umoja (which means “unity” in Ki-Swahili),
travels to schools with drummers and brightly costumed
dancers, and always gives the kids a chance to get up and try
it. “They can’t stay in their seats—the kids are in awe of
everything; they’re ecstatic,” Love says. In her
lecture-demonstrations she gathers the children into a circle,
space permitting, teaches them four movements. Then, for those
who want to come into the center, she offers a chance to
improvise and perform. “African requires a different level of
coordination,” she says—isolations, undulations, syncopated
rhythms. “The feet do one thing, the arms another, and the
rhythms have a lot going on—it’s never a steady 8-count. You
have to relax and be free.”
“The dance is organic,” says Vaughan, practically
purring as she pronounces the word. “You’re so rooted;
it’s what bodies are created to do. You can go above and
beyond in a theatrical setting, but it’s all basic human
movement. Learning isolations helps kids get in touch and
understand that their bodies have parts. It’s thrilling to me
when I see the kids take on body awareness and see what’s
possible.” Vaughan talks about the kind of energy the dance
form offers participants: “A feeling of wellness and being, a
higher level of awareness, a different state of
consciousness.”
Which brings us back to hip-hop, the dominating (and most
feared) musical force today, with its often scandalous
movements and obscene lyrics, with its intent to shock and
disturb. “It’s just another social dance,” says Vaughan.
How
to Add Cultural Dance Into the Studio Mix
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Find ethnic
and social groups in your community and ask who knows the
dances. Invite them to offer a master class at your school.
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Work with
local ethnic dance companies. Dancers often make the best
teachers.
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Using live
drummers for African dance and other forms adds excitement
and draws new students—using CDs is not the same thing.
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Look for
martial-arts tie-ins. Forms like Brazilian capoeira are
dancelike but attract boys because of the element of
ritualized combat.
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