As theater and dance influence culture at large, the work of many local, Black theater and movement artists — with legacies beyond the nation’s capital — highlight African Americans’ contributions not only to art but to the progress of this nation and world.
The Intersection of Theater and Dance as Experiences, Black Art Shaping Narratives Often using physical action as a means of tapping into the work, Russian theater practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski (1863-1938) described acting as “experiencing.” Similarly, African American dancer, choreographer, and visionary Alvin Ailey (1931-1989) described dance, saying, “each movement is the sum total of moments and experiences.”
True to their art forms, historically, Black theater and dance artists have emphasized the importance of experiencing truths through art.
Through theater, African Americans are “seen as all kinds of people as opposed to just one kind of person’s representation,” explained D.C. native and multi-hyphenate artist Roz White, who plays Zelma Bullock, Tina Turner’s mother, in the Broadway national tour “Tina-The Tina Turner Musical .”
While many white artists tried to make a mockery of African Americans for white audiences through minstrel shows — using blackface and shucking and jiving — Black theatermakers and dancers worked to reveal truths about the world through their work.
A Timeline of D.C. Black Theater and Dance: From the Howard Players, Black Arts Institutions, Stepping, to Today By the early 1900s, local Black artists were intentional about theater-and-movement-making. In 1907, The Howard Players were formed, and by 1919 the university began offering dramatic art courses.
During the “New Negro Movement,” of the 1920s and 30s, D.C. also proved as an important location for Black artists to work, network, and thrive. The U-Street corridor was coined Black Broadway for all of its African American performance venues, including the historic Howard Theatre and Lincoln Theatre which still stand today.
Training institutes such as Bernice Hammond’s Northeast Academy of Dance, founded in 1934, and Jones-Haywood Dance School , celebrating more than 80 years in business, created safe spaces for Black youth to learn more about dance, themselves and the world.
“We were perfecting a technique that wasn’t created with African bodies in mind. To learn the technique from Black ballet dancers — dancers who loved and advanced the art form — taught me how to see and feel beauty even in spaces not intended for me,” multi-hyphenate artist Harrison told The Informer, recalling her time at Jones-Haywood.
As African American sororities and fraternities, founded in the early 1900s, evolved at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), so did traditions. “Greek Sings,” when sororities and fraternities showcased sacred songs, began incorporating movements. By 1976, Howard presented the first “Greek Show,” which included the art of stepping.
Step Afrika! founder C. Brian Williams , a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and Howard graduate, noted stepping as a distinctly Black art with African origins.
“Step was really a product of the African American experience in this country,” Williams told The Informer. “Frat brothers and sorority sisters, chose to use their bodies as an instrument to express love and pride in the organization and their organizations. That’s the result of African American experience since the drums were taken away [in 1739] in the Stono Rebellion.”
By the Black Arts Movement of the 1970s, D.C. further contributed to local and nationwide cultural and artistic shifts. Dancer, director and innovator Mike Malone nurtured the careers of thousands of local artists through his work as a musical theater professor at Howard and co-founder of Duke Ellington School of the Arts , celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
“I believe that D.C.’s Black theater is the foundation for some of these amazing artists,” said White, who studied under Malone as a Duke Ellington and Howard alumna.
For Williams, founder of the D.C.-based step organization, part of celebrating Black movement and theater is ensuring that all people are exposed to the art forms year-round.
“We celebrate Black art every day, every, every minute. For me, art is life. And so we want to create as many opportunities for others — art gives us a chance to reflect,” Williams explained.
Howard associate professor Dr. Khalid Y. Long, who also serves as vice president conference planner of the August Wilson Society, emphasized Black art’s, and particularly theater’s, ability to effect change
“I deeply believe that theater offers the possibility to lead marginalized people, oppressed people, and particularly Black people to freedom and liberation,” said Long. “It offers a road map — a blueprint, if you will — to a world that we can imagine.”
Source: Published without changes from Washington Informer Newspaper
