Chuck Davis 1937–

Dancer, choreographer, director

Trained in New York

Inaugurated DanceAfrica

Created the African American Dance Ensemble

Sources

At the end of a Dance Africa Festival, all of the dance troupes and musicians who have participated come together to perform on stage in an energetic finale. Chuck Davis, founder of the festival and a dancer himself, can be seen at the center of the swirling figures, a tall, joyous man. Founder of the Dance Africa Festivals and the principal of the African-American Dance Ensemble, Davis has played a major role in introducing Americans to African and African-influenced dance.

Davis was born on New Year’s Day in 1937 to Tony and Ethel Davis in Raleigh, North Carolina. He attended Ligon High School before enrolling in a special high school program with the U.S. Navy which combined his last two years of high school with four years of active and reserve service. In the Navy he was trained as a medical assistant. When he completed the program in 1957, he went to work in the Washington D. C. area for a local hospital. His career goal was to get a nursing degree and eventually teach nursing.

In the evenings, after his shift had ended, he would go to the clubs in D.C. and dance to the music of performers like Roland Kave and the Latin-American All-Stars, a Afro-Cuban group. Dancing became a passion. He began taking dance classes at a local dance studio, a small basement studio that barely contained his six-foot six-inch height. When Davis raised his hands in fifth position, they would touch the ceiling of the studio. Davis struggled to compensate for his height until he met Jeffrey Holder, a professional dancer who taught a master dance at a local studio. At 6’8”, Holder was taller than Davis by 2 inches. Holder encouraged Davis not to shrink into himself when he danced, but to use his long arms and legs to his advantage.

Another encounter that had an impact on Davis was when, at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York, he saw a performance of the Sierre Leone National Dance Company. He became interested in African dance and, he resolved that he would visit Africa one day. Also, around this time, Davis met Owen Dodson, director of the Theater Department at Howard University. Dodson encouraged him to enroll in the Theater and Dance Program at Howard. Davis’s career goals began to shift: he started to consider a career in dance as an alternate to a career in medicine. In his view, dancing was an affirmation of life, if not life itself. He told Contemporary Black Biography that he began to see the study of medicine as the study of healing and to see the study of dance as the study of health.

Trained in New York

While studying dance in Washington D.C., Davis formed a dance trio with two other dancers, and they performed at local clubs. On the day of the March on Washington, his trio was performing at the Crow’s Toe, and Babatunde Olatunji, an African drummer who garnered an international reputation in the 1960s, saw Davis’s trio perform and invited Davis to join his African dance troupe. Davis moved to New York to work with Olatunji. He delivered sandwiches during the day in the garment district to earn money to live on, and spent the rest of his time performing and taking

At a Glance …

Born January 1, 1937 in Raleigh, North Carolina; son of Tony and Ethel Davis; sponsor of 17 children in Africa. Education: Attended Howard University 1966-68, majoring in Theater and Dance.

Career: Danced with Babatunde Olatunji’s Dance Company, Eleo Pomare’s Dance Troupe, and the Bernice Johnson Dance Company. Formed his own company, the Chuck Davis Dance Company in 1967. Started DanceAfrica, a festival of dance, in 1977. Joined the faculty of the American Dance Festival in 1974. Started a second dance company, the African American Dance Ensemble, in 1983. Organized Cultural Arts Safari, an annual pilgrimage to Africa.

Awards: North Carolina Artist Award, 1990; North Carolina Award in Fine Arts, 1992; NY Bessie Award for dance and performance; BAM Award for distinguished service to the arts; Kathryn H. Wallace Award for Artists in Community Service and a Dance for the Planet award; honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Medgar Evers College, New York; named one of the first 100 irreplaceable Dance Treasures in the United States, 2000.

Addresses: Office —African American Dance Ensemble, 120 Morris St., Durham, NC, 27701.

dance classes. Some of his friends were students at Julliard, and he would slip in to take dance classes with them.

Soon Davis began performing with Eleo Pomare’s dance company. Pomare was a Panamanian known for his highly political choreography. By 1968 Davis was teaching dance classes at Bernice Johnson’s dance studio and the South Bronx Community Center. One of the directors at the South Bronx Community Center urged him to start his own dance company, and he gathered 25 dancers and musicians to form the Chuck Davis Dance Company in 1968. The troupe’s focus was “dance from the Diaspora,” including modern, jazz, tap, African, and African-American dance.

The troupe started slowly. At their first concerts, performers were paid $1.25 apiece. But in the next 10 years, their repertoire expanded and their popularity grew, until in 1977 they were selected to represent the Eastern United States at an international dance festival in Africa called FESTAC. The dates of the tour conflicted with a workshop engagement the troupe had, so Davis ended up leading a workshop in Texas while his dance troupe traveled to Africa without him. The troupe was well received at FESTAC; in fact, many of the African dancers at the festival couldn’t believe that the troupe was American and not African.

Inaugurated DanceAfrica

The same year that the troupe traveled to FESTAC, the company was invited to perform at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Davis suggested that instead of just featuring his troupe, the musical directors consider hosting several troupes in a celebration of Africanrelated dance. The festival, called DanceAfrica, included a concert featuring several dance troupes, dance classes, and an African Marketplace. It became a tradition, and expanded. In the next two decades, in addition to an annual Brooklyn appearance, DanceAfrica festivals were held in major cities around the country, including Chicago, Washington, D.C., Hartford, Connecticut, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Miami. Troupes performing at DanceAfrica festivals have included traditional troupes from Africa, newly formed hip-hop troupes, and African-Brazilian troupes.

Each year, all the dance performances are woven together with a storyline. Davis, dressed in traditional African robes, often takes the role of griot, the storyteller who presents the story that weaves all the dances together. The finale is always a celebration of dance and culture, with all the troupes performing on stage together and involving the audience as well. DanceAfrica festivals have been a major vehicle for educating Americans about African and African-American dance, and the culture and traditions they embody. In 2002, the festival celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary, having brought African and African-American dance to hundreds of thousands.

In the early 1980s Davis become involved with the American Dance Festival, then associated with Connecticut College. When the American Dance Festival relocated to North Carolina, Davis began a series of summer residencies with them in North Carolina. He developed what he called “community in-reach” programs, in which he would take dance into the community. He discovered some talented young dancers, and, the American Dance Festival gave him support in working with them. In order to develop them further, he formed a new dance troupe in 1983 called the African-American Dance Ensemble. Several of the principals he had worked with soon followed Davis to North Carolina, including the principal musician of the Chuck Davis Dance Troupe, Khalid Saleem.

Created the African American Dance Ensemble

Within a few years, the African American Dance Ensemble had performed several complete concerts, and was becoming a showcase for Davis’s choreography, including “Saturday Night, Sunday Morning” and “Drought,” both of which premiered at the 1985 concert. Meanwhile, his first troupe, the Chuck Davis Dance Company, based in New York, was continuing as a separate entity under different leadership. It eventually disbanded, although company members continued to gather for reunions.

The mission of the African American Dance Ensemble from its inception was to preserve and share the traditions of African and African-American dance. The dances in its repertoire include traditional African dance, contemporary African-American dance and modern dance numbers. When it presents concerts and workshops, the troupe also educates the audience through commentaries on the history and culture that gave birth to the dances they are performing. Inspired by the troupe’s motto, “peace, love, and respect for everybody,” Davis has long viewed his ensemble as an agent for social change as well as a showcase for African and African-influenced dance. It is his belief that dance allows one to understand the human condition, and encourages us to counteract the negatives and reinforce the positive aspects of it.

Starting in the 1980s, Davis began leading annual trips to Africa, bringing musicians, dancers, and others to study the traditional dance and music forms of the different countries of Africa. Davis’s choreographic work has been heavily influenced by these cultural explorations. A prolific choreographer, Davis has created over 30 works. Many of them are traditional African dances. One piece, “N’Tore,” which premiered in 1986, is a dance of Watutsi warriors which pays homage to the Tutsi tribe of Burundi. The idea for the piece began in 1963 when he met some Watutsi dancers at the World’s Fair in New York. The dance is written for tall male dancers and has become a signature piece for Davis. Another piece of his, inspired by Nina Simone’s song, “Four Women” is an example of his work in the jazz and blues mode.

When Davis creates a dance, he selects a style that he feels is best suited to the story he wants to tell or the message he wishes to convey. In his interview with CBB he stated, “I choreograph for the non-dancer. I want that person to look at it, understand it, and be motivated by it.” Through his choreography and his leadership in Dance Africa and the African-American Dance Ensemble, Davis has had a significant impact on the arts landscape in the United States.

Sources

Periodicals

Dance Magazine, September, 1995, p. 87.

New York Times, May 20, 2001, Sec. 2, p. 31; May 29, 2001, Sec. E, p. 5.

On-line

Biography Resource Center, http://galenet.galegroup.com

African American Dance Ensemble Website, http://users.vnet.net/aade

Other

Additional information for this profile was obtained from a promotional packet from African American Dance Ensemble, Inc., and a personal interview with Contemporary Black Biography, on January 13, 2002.

—Rory Donnelly