In Black America; African Dance

chimes In Black America, reflections of the Black experience in American society. There are many black choreographers, many, and I mean some dog-gone good ones, but unless the media says, you know, this is. When people don't really pay attention, people don't really really get out to do those concerts.

One of the grandest and greatest choreographers in my estimation. In the world right now is our tally-bady, who has choreographed some of the most fantastic works out here, but you don't hear about them because the media has not said, as you know, says that there is just room for two. So they are pushing Alvin Ailey and they push off the Mitchell to grand masters. Don't get me wrong, I'm not speaking against them. Because what they have done has been phenomenal. Chuck Davis is artistic director and choreographer of the New York-based Chuck Davis Dance Company. Mr. Davis is a performer educator and a member of the dance faculty at Lehman College in New York City. The Chuck Davis Dance Company is the architect of Dance Africa, a festival of African and American dance companies. At the present time, the Chuck Davis Dance Company operates two academies of dance in New York City and is the company in residence at the Bronx Community College Center for Continuing Education and Community Service and for the New York State Park and Recreation Commission

for the City of New York. I'm John Hanson and this week I focus on African dance with choreographer Chuck Davis in Black America. But I'm saying there are also others, it's Eleopomari, there is Diana Ramos, there is Miriam Greaves, Ron Pratt, John Parks, Judy Deering, there's all of these fantastic choreographers right now here, Cleopatra Robinson in Denver, right over here in San Antonio you have a buddy young choreographer Kim who I mean there are master choreographers, I mean great choreographers but you don't hear about them because number one they don't always have the money to do their company on an international scale and when they do these fantastic things the media don't necessarily pick it up because they are prone to picking up whatever the civic valley does. I don't care how bad it is, they'll pick that up over a fantastic work by a black choreographer and they're still going on today, granted we wanted to change and there's a myth you

said something early about all black dancing that's not true, all black folks ain't got rhythm, that's a myth you know and but a good little number of us do so thank God for that. International known Chuck Davis is an award winning director and choreographer, he is a movement specialist and master of African dance. His dance company traces the black man's heritage from Africa to America. Mr. Davis says his company performs from an African based but also uses other dance forms such as jazz and modern dance. He hopes that his company is able to dispel some of the myth about African dance always being wild and fast. He was first attracted to dance because it was physical, requiring a great amount of exertion and energy. The work that Mr. Davis has choreographed on the basis of traditional materials are carefully thought out with true dramatic structure. Chuck Davis is spokesperson for the 20 African dance troops in this country.

I became, oh first of all may I extend greetings to your listening audience but I became interested in dance I would say toward the end of the 50s as I was thrown into the company of a group of performing artists there on the theatre circuit in Washington DC and by being with them and listening into conversations and going into rehearsals and so forth began to see the beauty of the art of dance and I began to stand on the sidelines and do the plies and the bounces and roundovers and things that it took you know like necessary part of the exercise series in order to develop the mind and the body and one thing led to another and thus here I am. What were you? Happy? What were you doing before you went to check out the dance routines? I was studying to be a nurse in Washington at Howard University and no the very first

introduction as well I was in the Navy and doing my sojourns into the town you know I was naturally drawn to the black community where in all of the energy you know I was at that time and there you know I met members of Roland Covey's Afro Cuban band and they used to have this red hot mumbo session at the 7-11 club and for one of anything else to do you know like I've always been an avid reader so I would spend my afternoons in the library and my evenings at the 7-11 dancing away and you know and then one thing led you know like led to the other I was still in the services at that time where in I was a medical corpsman and my interest in medicine was developed at that time and I wanted to carry this over you know and make that my life's career I wanted to teach nursing but then grease paint

got in the blood and it is being the performing arts ever since. They call you a modern dance specialist a movement specialist what is a movement specialist? A movement specialist though that term came into being in the mid 60s and it carried on you know through the 70s as part of the arts in education program where in people involved in dance who wanted to take it to another level and combine you know the discipline of dance with the you know with education with the curriculum the academic curriculum to use dance as a learning tool you see and some of us developed our presentation program on a much larger scale than just the mere go into a classroom and present some movement but we showed how it could be incorporated with in the curriculum by non-movers teachers who had never studied dance before you know so we went in we worked with the teachers and we worked

with the children and now as a result of it now I'm a member of an international arts and education team that whose job it is to mine is to show traditional African dance as an art and how it can be used to enhance your curriculum no matter what it is. When you say African dance what are you speaking of? I'm speaking of the dance styles that indigenous to the continent of Africa stemming from various societies found within the continent because as as you know they are over 400 million people on the continent they are over 1200 recorded languages which means that each one of those languages would come from an ethnic group and each one of those groups has five six seven dialects and each one of those ethnic groups has its own language, own music, own dance own methods of dress and everything so when we are talking about traditional African dance and music we usually then break it down and get more specific for instance we'll say it's

from Nigeria and in saying Nigeria we'll break it down to ethnic origins such as Yodhaba or Ibo or Halza no matter which country we're in. Do you find the acceptance of African dance here in America? Wherever we have gone has been when people have seen it in its true form or in true style rather than true form let me say true style the the the the concern with which we when I say we I was spokesperson for about 20 of the traditional African dance companies in this country and when we present now traditional African dance and movement styles we're doing so coming stemming from a series of studies there a different villages on the continent so that say 20 years ago someone would just wrap a piece of material around them and what we call the Uga Buga concept you know now it is whatever area we are presenting the dance

we must do it truthfully so then we study and we come from a base and point of truth wherein when you see it right you know that that is basically what an idea of what is happening within a particular society and that acceptance is the excitement is the drums it's the folklore you know being presented yes makes for great acceptance when we think of dancing in America sometime we may conjure visions of opera dancing or ballet but is it more than that we've just been indoctrinated in our western heritage of only thinking ballet and modern dance and not encompassing the elements and what you're doing yeah because your media trained you see the media has when I say media I mean you know like the television pushes modern dance and it pushes classical ballet because of who controls the media traditional African

dance and in for greater degree other other aspects of the art or discipline of dance don't get the necessary play that it deserves because it is supposed to be chic to have the classical ballet it is supposed to be chic to have the traditional American modern dance now all of the other aspects of dance you know the media hasn't reached that point where it can say this too is acceptable Americans are used to being led and told what you know what is fashionable I am a dancer so consequently the world of the classical ballet the world of the modern dance the world of the jazz tap break dancing out here traditional African dance which is number one you know and other folk dances dances a stem from the earth is my forte is my love because it is me it is dance and and

every aspect of of life says the dance is to be exalted I mean it's in the bible it's in every science book you read every anthropological book that you want or subject that you participate in dances number one it has always been and will forever be but all aspects of dance does not receive the play that it should there's always those people that says that this aspect of dance is better than the other that's their problem me I say dance is and that includes all dance and one day dance will be pushed into the homes and into the minds of people I'm going to see to that is modern well not modern but African dance that is being integrated in our dance programs and universities colleges and high schools are you thinking of that I'm seeing to it as best I can because I am showing that there is a need for it because it opens the doors to all cultures it

opens the doors to a respect not only for that particular culture but for other cultures because you see not only the the differences but you see the oneness but that has to be shown you know in order for it to be seen how did you go about researching the different dances in Africa did you go to Africa is there a book on no there are there is some literature but oh my goodness it is so tiny I mean so tiny tiny tiny and the best thing to do yes is to go to Africa to study and I have been going into Africa twice a year since 1977 and I go in yes to study and we go out into the what is known as and called the American terms the Bush and there in the rural areas is where you go out and you work and you learn from the grills the elders yes I sit at the feet of the elders and my interpreter is there to you know to explain away and you know like the

knowledge that just gushes forth from them as they sit and talk because they are very concerned about the preservation of their particular culture and we are concerned about it so they are willing to pour into my challenge the to the chalice of my mind you know as much knowledge as I can absorb and I spend four to six weeks at a time there you know learning from the elders and the information that I learn you know like I return here and I share it with as many people as I can what did you form the Chuck Davis dance troupe okay the Chuck Davis dance company was formed out of workshop Bronx New York in 1967 and we were incorporated in 1969 and we have been going strong ever since we have represented the United States you know as goodwill ambassadors to Europe and communist countries we have represented the United States in Festac and Africa we have represented the United States in cultural functions in South America and the Caribbean and we have

played two audiences around this country in the major theaters and houses across the country and my newest group which is an offspring of the of my New York based Chuck Davis dance company is my Durham based African American dance ensemble which is the artist and residence for the American dance festival there and which you know is take place at Duke University where did you take lessons so did you take any formal dancing lessons oh my god will this program last oh yes a dancer is forever a dancer I'm in class every day I must in order to keep these bones stretched these muscles stretched and these bones strong but I you know sort of backing up a little bit I began with this little tiny woman in a little tiny studio in Washington DC Clara Harrington you know what's her name and from there to make a very long story short sort of skim through my first

male teacher was Jeffrey Holder you know you see these are cool or mine you know and and then of course the at the unit at Howard I had Carolyn Tate and Mrs. Robinson and then on out into the field and then subsequently into study with Ola Tungi and Catherine Dunham Seville Fort and Thelma Hill with the Horton Technique the Modern Technique Eleopomari with Modern Technique and countless others you know and Bernie Johnson for jazz and Fred Benjamin for jazz and then I used to with Emil Falson I studied my classical ballet Chiqueti Technique with Emil Falson and Betty Black they're at Carnegie Hall and then I studied Graham at the jewelry art school of music yes I want to be known as a dancer so you know like I studied with them I studied with the masters of the day and that's not all of my teachers you see because as a dancer you I would go to class here in the morning there in the afternoon at another place in the evening you know like I

do in my formative years I lived to dance you know and like every waking moment there were many of times when I had a choice between eating and going to class and I chose going to class is there a distinct difference between white dance troop and black dance troop person in my opinion in my opinion yes a subject matter execution of that subject matter administration everything and then there's another one is to completely integrate a company see all of those things have to be looked at granted for the sake of the art we should be able to look at it and just say oh there is a dance company but in we are living in the United States of America where labels are placed so yes we say there is a white dance company there is an integrated dance company there is a black dance company dealing with theme subject and variation what is the process and which you go through someone calls you up and wants you to choreograph

a musical for them well they are you know or whatever um that would be the process would be you know like as they're doing this if my name came up in conversation or something right then they were getting in touch with me passed on the idea first okay the subject matter is such and such and such and such and such is such is this something you can handle it would be maybe five or six uh you know routines or ballets or what have you what have you and then if I like the theme then I'll make the time to do it for instance right here with Alan Qashafi you know um I made the time to do this because after hearing about it I knew it was something I wanted to do and I'm at the point now in my life where I choose to do things that I want to do you know and um so they were they were come and then if I decide to do it then all business negotiations are turned over to my manager you see because we have a best pruit is her name and she's um she has been in this business for a long time so I negotiate the artistic side she negotiates the business side that

takes that worry off my head you know how long do you like to have for preparation the thought process once you decide on what routines and forms you're going to use and going through the rehearsal process before opening night at least five weeks at least five weeks you see um that makes for four weeks to get it rather the fifth week to make it the changes that are necessary you know that's desirable for me occasionally you have to do it in three days you see or a week it depends on the situation it depends on how much has to be done um and who you're working with there are some dancers now with my own dancers as I said you know we could get together and we could have done this production in a week you know that's because they know my technique you know and all of them are trained in classical ballet modern jazz and all of them started in the African tradition

number one and then all of these other forms came you know like came later and were enhanced each by the other so they know so I could have really done this in one week and use the three weeks to rehearse it and gotten it cleaned cleaned up it's taken me three weeks to get the choreography done because the dancers had to be introduced you know to my technique and they have picked up pretty well for that amount of time they really have I'm very proud of them I really am you mentioned being adapting the African tradition of dance someone listen to this program in a small town somewhere they have the local ballet troupe is there any place they could possibly get some information or get some books on African dance and study among themselves or by themselves unfortunately yeah all right there I mean there isn't there aren't any books it isn't a type of thing that you can learn from the books the only thing I could say is as an introduction if anyone would you know get in touch with you here at the radio station you know I'll leave with you my address and everything

because I am the facilitator for a group of students and I take them into Africa every year to study music and dance or we'll be leaving I think it's April 4th this year the price the cost of it hasn't been released yet they usually do that or toward the end of April but it's I don't think it's going to be too much and that you know of course stems the cost factor that would be projected would be from New York to Africa but once you get over you know you learn the traditional dances you're there you stay in small hotels European I mean yeah European style but very comfortable you learn how to cook the food you learn how to make the clothes you learn the dances you learn the history you learn the music you learn songs and all these things of course you can bring you know return and bring back to your you know to the community or you can go into like I've heard though that they won really good school out in California in Los Angeles where they had

classes going is no more so now the only thing I can say is you must go to Chicago I know they're running excellent classes in Chicago Detroit and of course New York in New York you have your choice you know of about 12 different very excellent schools that deal with traditional African dance and music what's on your rise of a check Davis Chuck Davis is planned you know like I have really into developing my second unit I'm submitting a proposal here to University of Texas at Austin to bring to combine both my units and come here for residency and go into each school to present a lecture on traditional African dance and music and to do workshops or you know in the whole in the Austin area and it covers much of Texas as I possibly can and of course I plan to return to Africa twice this year and eventually I'm going to start my book I don't know when it's going to be maybe another four or five years plus that I'm you know I'm

really into I'm also into directing and I want to direct two plays I want to do one dots and encounter Collins version of the Mandea the Euripides is Mandea which they call the African Mandea and then one of the selected work I have just completed the direct to directorship of first steps which is a children's dance company in Raleigh and we did a Babu's Juju which is an African Folk Tale you know music dance and so forth oh I would love to do that here oh it would be so nice why don't you spearhead that I'll try to do it don't try just go ahead and do it you know I don't like try some Capricorn I don't really like try I like you just say to me yes okay let's go ahead and do that okay very good ten years of session thank you so much and to your listening audience may I say peace love respect for all of you and with you just pass that message on to every person that you meet for the next three years check Davis internationally

known director and choreographer if you have a comment or would like to purchase a cassette copy of this program write us the address is in black America longhorn radio network UT Austin Austin Texas 78712 for in black America's technical producers Scott Compton and Cliff Hargrove I'm John Hanson join us next week you've been listening to in black America reflections of the black experience in American society in black America is produced and distributed by the center for telecommunication services at UT Austin and does not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Texas at Austin or the station this is the longhorn radio network