Our Direct Line to Asadata Dafora and Jacob’s Pillow
by Ramona Candy
One day in the mid-seventies, during a Brooklyn rehearsal, Charles Moore introduced to the company, two men who would be our teachers for the next six months. Mickey Newby and Zebedee Collins, original dancers with Asadata Dafora, would be teachers, guides and no-nonsense drill sergeants in the technique of Mr. Dafora. From then, rehearsals for the Charles Moore Dance Theater (then known as Dances and Drums of Africa) turned into hours of learning technique and repeating, repeating, repeating endless isolations – shoulders, elbows, neck, hips.
”I especially remember the wrists – oh, the wrists! That was long ago and as excited as we were about learning new dances, when we found ourselves repeating all those tiny movements, we might have begun to whine among ourselves. But what did we know? We’d never heard of Asadata Dafora. He was important, but why? What was Kykunkor? Why were we spending so much time on these isolations?”
All was soon to be answered by our fearless leader Charles. Because he was faithful in and dedicated to his love for authentic African dance, Charles brought in, and taught us work that manifested its authenticity in repertoire, technique, costuming and storytelling — and the work of Asadata Dafora was the most authentic and historical work we’d done up to that point.
“Learning about this man from Sierra Leone, his life and his work was a once in a lifetime experience. Eventually Charles’ young company understood and came to appreciate the significance. The joy and vitality of “Bell Dance”, the elegant storytelling of “Bundao” (Maiden’s Stick Dance), the strength and power of “Spear Dance”, the magnificence and rippling arms of “Allunde” and many other dances, including “Awassa Astrige” (The Ostrich Dance) as only Charles could perform it, became part of our signature.”
Thank you to Mickey, Zebedee, and to ancestors Charles and Asadata Dafora. What a legacy! And if I might speak for the dancers whose wrists remember – oh the wrists! — and who performed Asadata Dafora at Jacob’s Pillow in 1978, we are honored to have a place in it.