DanceAfrica 2023 celebrates Ghanian and African Diaspora dance; at BAM, the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Fort Greene, Brooklyn; over Memorial Day Weekend from Friday-Monday, May 26-29, 2023. From $25. bam.org 🇬🇭 🇺🇸
46th DanceAfrica 2023
The 46th DanceAfrican 2023 is a choreographic and musical journey through ancestral and contemporary Ghanian culture. It has a lot of influence on both Caribbean and African American culture.
Artistic Director Abdel R. Salaam leads a great group of performing artists.
- National Theater of Ghana Dance Company
- DanceAfrica Spirit Walkers
- Arkestra Africa with Musical Director K. Osei Williams featuring Afropop vocalist Amma Whatt and BAM Restoration Dance Youth Ensemble
When you dig into the ancestral dances of Mother Africa, you can’t help but notice that this is where many of today’s dance moves come from. You’ll see all kinds of afro, jazz, hip-hop and even perreo. There is nothing new under the sun. Most American music and dances originates in the African Diaspora.
In Indigenous Africa and traditional cultures worldwide, dance was a core expression of family, faith, community, and a way to find love. Everyone danced to show that they belonged.
It is hard to understand how big and diverse Africa and its countries are. Ghana is a relatively small country, but has over 80 different languages. Every ethnic group and even every community has its own unique traditions.
It’s cool to see the old ways, and cool to see how they have become the new ways. Pay attention and you may recognize some of your own culture.