A few days ago, our class visited a unique organization called Dance Place. This nonprofit community dance studio was founded in 1980 to provide a convenient location for dance classes and community events for the Brookland and Edgewood neighborhoods of D.C. Since their beginning, the studio has also provided a variety of free or highly affordable dance programs for youth in the community, providing fun and growth-filled after school activities and opportunities. The Dance Place does a lot of work to provide the community with a center for artistic expression, growth, and partnership in a welcoming and accessible environment.
Building site on 8th St. Photo credit: Dance Place
The most memorable part of visiting Dance Place however was their African dance program. We got to attend KanKouran, the mass dance recital for these classes, which showcased all the immense dancing talents of the students, both young and old, who participated in the African dance courses. The overall theme of the performance was to honor one of the women who was a great mentor to the founders of the West African dance program. The dancers were also accompanied by traditional West African drum ensembles, consisting of (if I remember correctly from my African musicology studies) dun dun, tam tam, and djembe drums. Their instructor, a now elderly man from Senegal, has been a part of the studio for decades, watching people grow-up, get masters and PhDs, while providing his wisdom, guidance, and dance skills along the way. The performance had some dances with just women, some with just men, a few major soloists, and a myriad of dazzling costumes from various West African communities. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire performance as the complex polyrhythms of the drums and the graceful and rapid movement of the dancers held me in rapt attention.
A KanKouran performance on the Dance Place main stage. Photo credit: Dance Place
Through programs like KanKouran, Dance Place promotes democracy through art as it provides greater representation and identity for the majority African America community that it serves. When the organization first opened in the 80’s, the community was struggling after experiencing a long period of disinvestment. Dance Place itself was created in the shell of an old abandoned warehouse. Today however, the community is vibrant and more arts organizations have moved in. Dance Place has also helped prepare young people for brighter futures in academics as the children attending after school programs have enriching experiences and role models that make them better equipped for the school environment. As a testimony to this, a large portion of the dancers in KanKouran hold Masters and Doctorate degrees.
The performance not only brought great joy and excitement to the audience but also exhibited the roots of black culture on an equal level with traditional white or western dances. Their dance especially resonated for me along with the sermon that I was blessed to witness in the National Cathedral given by Martin Luther King III that morning. He first quoted that famous plaque on the Statue of Liberty, which promised welcome for the broken immigrant, for the downtrodden of society. He then went on to point out how we have forgotten this promise for the immigrants today. Yet in KanKouran, democracy rang through as a long-oppressed minority group, some immigrants, others unwilling captives, got to show off one of the crown jewels of any ethnic community: their dance and music. Their dance too was performed at the same location where one could see ballet, jazz, tap, and other esteemed dance forms, thus showing its equal value as an art form in the eyes of the studio. A population with a long history of oppression, a group of people who came here in bondage after being torn from their own communities on another continent, have the opportunity to revisit the traditions of their ancestors (depending on what part of Africa they are from) as well as share this tradition with their fellow Americans. Through this revisiting of African dance, they have an opportunity to build their identities as African diaspora, as well as pride and unity through performing in ensemble. It is performances and programs like this which give me hope that the arts really can empower disenfranchised communities.