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.

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.

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