EDUCATION PROGRAMS
From our Mission Statement:
The African American Dance Ensemble seeks to preserve and share the finest traditions of African and African-American dance and music through research, education and entertainment. With out motto, peace, love, and respect for everybody, we celebrate traditional African culture, aesthetics and values as resources for all people and utilize these resources to encourage interracial cooperation, cross-cultural understanding and societal analysis.
Every year, I journey to Africa in order to bask in the culture and absorb as much as I can through practical experience. I sit at the feet of the elders and allow their words of wisdom to be as rays of the sun. I feel the vibrations as I stamp on the dusty earth during sacred religious ceremonies introduced thousands of years ago. I wander through the crowded marketplace full of aromas escaping from hundreds of sources.
In the village, we humble ourselves as we dance and sing for the elders' approval which is never readily given. Our knees touch out shoulders as we jump, spin and create new moves from ancient sources trapped in the belly of the drum emitting rhythm after rhythm. And we dance. What I learn I return to the States and share.
Chuck Davis, Artistic Director, African-American Dance Ensemble
The following is excerpted from a publication prepared for use by K-12 educators in developing learning experiences for students prior to an African-American Dance Ensemble (AADE) residency, lecture demonstration and/or performance. It is intended to facilitate the design of curriculum that can be correlated within a school's existing program. For information on obtainined a complete package, please contact AADE.
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- Origins: the African-American Dance Ensemble
- Overview: the AADE School Residency Program
- Common Language: Vocabulary used by AADE during Lecture Demonstrations
- Relevant Contexts: Historical Overview of Africa
- Significant Dates: African-American History
- Art and Movement: Explorations in Dance and Music
- Curricular Expressions: Applying AADE Activities for Classroom Use including curricular approaches, classroom resources, and curriculuar examples
- Bibliography
Excerpt from Common Language Chapter:
| Agoo |
Attention! From the Twi language of the Akan people, Ghana, West Africa. |
| Amee |
I'm listening. From the Twi language of the Akan people, Ghana, West Africa. |
| Djembe |
A drum popular in West Africa which is carved from a single piece of wood. This powerful instrument has the ability to send messages and is considered the lead drum of the djembe orchestra. |
| Griot |
An oral historian in the SeneGambia area, West Africa. |
| Umoja |
A Swahili word meaning "UNITY!" |
Excerpt from Significant Dates Chapter:
| 1920 |
Emperor Jones play by Eugene O'Neill. |
| 1932 |
Voodoo Ceremonial (Horton); Harlem is Heaven film with Bill Robinson; Let Freedom Ring revue at Roxy with hall Johnson Choir and Hemseley Winfield Group; Great Day musical by Zora Neal Hurston with Bahama Dancers. |
| 1966 |
First World Festival of negro Art (Senegal); Judith Jamison and George Faison join Ailey Company; Blues for the Jungle (Pomare); Anthony and Cleopatra choreographed by Alvin Ailey for New York Metropolitan Opera. |
| 1977 |
FESTAC - Festival of Blak Arts (Nigeria) |
| 1996 |
AADE participates in Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Atlanta, GA. |
Dr. Chuck Davis
Artistic Director |
Stafford C. Berry, Jr
Associate Artistic Director |
During January, 2004, The Chowan Arts Council, Edenton, North Carolina, and the Washington County Arts Council presented Chuck Davis and the African-American Dance Ensemble in a series of school and public performances as well as this hands-on workshop at the Roper Middle School.
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Musicans Amadou Kouyate, Cheick Adama Sissoko, Bashir Shakut and (dancer) Stephanie Hope
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Dancers John Saucer, Nadirah Rahman
Tamara Thomas, Stafford |
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