SITE TOOLS
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The Evidence of Things Seen
By Steven G. Fullwood
One of the most devastating effects of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade was the
negation of African healing rituals. Indigenous Africans of various cultures and tribes
used a variety of rituals to purge sickness, negativity, stagnation and other ailments
that threatened the health of the community.
In 1985, a young Ronald K. Brown either witnessed or experienced the post-traumatic
effects of Slavery: miseducation, crime, poverty, disease and disconnectedness. In
response, Brown created Evidence, one of the most culturally relevant dance companies to
date. This man understood early on that no one was going to create dances for or about
him, his family or his community.
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By demonstrating rituals and other Africanisms morphed into other forms,
Evidence plays a rather indispensable role in challenging the notion that Black people
lost their healing rituals. Evidence is a powerful agile group of dancers of varying body
types and colors that fuse dance forms from the Ivory Coast, Senegal, and the United
States. Brown, no less important than Nat Turner, is a thoughtful insurrectionist.
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Evidence is a powerful agile group of dancers of varying body types and
colors that fuse dance forms from the Ivory Coast, Senegal, and the United States. |
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Evidence's recent performance at the Joyce Theatre showcased three dances
that portray the process of healing in the community - Ebony Magazine, Upside Down and
Water. Ebony Magazine questions the notion of Black success, invoking the magazine of the
same name. The piece starts of slow, the dancers strike poses and use their limbs to jerk,
bounce and flaunt their way through "success," while a singular voice intones
"Do You See What I See?" Scored by British composer Wunmi Olaiya, Ebony Magazine
showcases Brown’s precise and sensual choreography.
Upside Down, the most energetic of the three, flips the script and moves the community
toward healing by engaging Black people as the point of reference. Set to the music of the
late Nigerian composer Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Nigerian singer Oumou Sangare, Upside Down
climaxes in a wonderfully orchestrated circle of dance as the house lights go down. Unlike
Ebony Magazine, Upside Down is celebratory. The vitality of a happy Black body becomes
undeniably sweet. The pleasure on Brown’s face, as he and the other dancers set it
off, lit up the stage.
The anchor, and perhaps the most elusive of the three dances, is Water set to the music of
Philip Hamilton, Fahali Igbo and Sweet Honey and the Rock. Where Ebony Magazine and Upside
Down acknowledge the chains and shake loose the shackles, Water is rebirth facilitated by
the presence of the Ancestor (played by Trinidadian performance poet Cheryl Boyce Taylor).
Wearing white clothing splattered with dried blood, the dancers strip on stage to cleanse
themselves while the Ancestor reads poetry aloud. "Death must wait, calling the names
of our sons," she shouts to a whisper, as the village renews itself.
After the performance, I felt renewed and rejuvenated. Black people are capable of
healing, no doubt I've seen the Evidence, and I can confidently engage my own and my
community's healing. M
November 1999
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