African American Dance Company performs 35th show

Colors swirled around energetic dancers as the African American Dance Company took the audience on a journey through the African diaspora Saturday night at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.

The spring concert was the company’s 35th performance and fused dance forms and styles from the Caribbean and  Africa, modern dance and other traditions.

The theme “Looking Back, Pressing Forward” was chosen by the African American Arts Institute to “look at what our predecessors in music and dance have done, have been about, have created, how those developments have changed over time and how they fit into contemporary music and dance,” said director Iris Rosa.

“My choreographed pieces deal with the human conditions of the African diaspora,” she said.

Most of the dancers have been in the dance company all year, while some have been dancing in it for several years.

The performance featured four sets of collaborations – dances choreographed by the students themselves.

“The students selected their theme for the collaborations,” Rosa said. “They had a discussion about the Constitution. They started asking questions – ‘for whom it was written back in the day?’ And so their collaborations deal with questioning and how they feel about the Constitution and the African diasporic experience.”

Charles Sykes, executive director of the African American Arts Institute, praised the students for their dedication.

“It’s wonderful,” he said. “What’s really inspiring to me is the way the students have worked and done extra work outside of class.”

The concert opened with “Danzas Animadas,” a piece choreographed by Rosa that looked at the influence of Moorish culture and expression throughout the diaspora.

Modern dance was merged with Caribbean- and African-derived movements along with the sounds of Flamenco and Bomba and a speech by Che Guevara.

“We the People(s),” also choreographed by Rosa, opened with the voice of Christopher Columbus telling his version of the American story. Spoken word artist Derrick Slack followed with a re-interpretation of the story.

“Please listen to me,” he said. “All the black people dead. All. Dead ... Listen to the sound of the street and stand to your feet. Say it loud: I’m black and I’m proud.”

Other pieces included “It Comes from the Root,” “The Remixed Root,” and four student collaborations.

More than 230 people attended the show, the house manager said, and they applauded the dancers enthusiastically.

“This is one of their best concerts,” freshman Shakira Bell said. “I am really, really excited and ecstatic about it, especially as a dancer myself.”