B. Elizabeth Green
BAM’s DanceAfrica 2024: The nation’s largest salute to African and African Diasporic dance, music, arts traditions and their global impact, returns to the Brooklyn Academy of Music for its 47th year, in month-long events, culminating on May Memorial Day Weekend (Saturday, May 25, Sunday, May 26 and Monday, May 27).

DanceAfrica is a tumultuous celebration of life, through its fusion of movement, music, cultural memory, spirit-magic and The Drum sound track.

This year, the artistry of the acclaimed Cie La Calebasse dance troupe of Cameroon, founded by choreographer/dancer Merlin Nyakam, fuses on stage with the Dance Africa Spirit Walkers, The Billie’s Youth Arts Academy Dance Ensemble and The Women of the Calabash ensemble.

BAM’s tribute from early May leading to the ticketed on-stage event features workshops, exhibits and talks for all ages in venues familiar to borough residents and fans: From Weeksville to The Billie theater at Bed-Stuy Restoration.

Also featured are visual art displays, the FilmAfrica cinematic series, the iconic outdoor village bazaar — part of the “choreography” staged more than four and one-half decades ago by the great Grandmaster Baba Chuck Davis who passed seven years ago.

The mantle is now carried by Baba Davis’s heir-designee, Baba Abdel Salaam, who, like his Grand-Baba visited the Motherland, and danced with the Cameroonians in their home villages. This quest for authenticity of the aesthetic is a motivator for all DanceAfrica choreographers and production creative crews as they merge the body-narratives of two continents into one story on BAM’s Gilmore Opera House stage.

The intentions of the ancestors, whose kingdom now includes Baba Davis, are not betrayed. The expressions of the dancers in the poster above reflect the intensity of the message: Do not Forget us. Teach the steps. Keep it Moving.