Friday, March 11 at 4 pm and 7 pm; Saturday, March 12 at 7 pm
$5 for students and $10 for adults
by Jeffrey Stanley
Many in the school community still haven't gotten the news that the annual talent showcase that is the BFS Dance Concert is the largest student-led production at the school, this year's concert involving over 90 student crew members and performers to bring it to life. "It's a powerful example of young people using dance and art to express ideas that are important to them," said dance teacher and the show's director
Jesse Phillips-Fein '97.
Whereas last year's concert showcased student-choreographed works inspired by Bill T. Jones and Michael Jackson, this year's show honors the life and music of Nigerian powerhouse Fela Kuti, and again Mr. Bill T. Jones by default, who created the hit Broadway biographical musical Fela! along with Afrobeat band Antibalas which performed at BFS several years ago.
"Although not every dance reflects the theme," explained Jesse, "there are several pieces that explore it in different ways." Featured guest artists Wunmi Olaiya and Mfonma Ejpo have created a traditional-style dance honoring the Yoruba warrior god Shango revered in Nigeria; guest artist Michael Manswell has choreographed a dance inspired by Yoruba godesses and gods revered in the Caribbean. "These divergent pieces demonstrate the far-reaching influence of Yoruba culture in the African diaspora," she said.
Some Middle School dances in the show used Fela's music to create dances around the themes of the Quaker ideal of speaking truth to power, of adhering to originality over artificiality, and of the current US wars. Upper School dances include inventive solos and intricate duets created students in Jesse's IB Dance course.
Having sneaked in and watched a mind-blowing rehearsal earlier this week we can give you a sampling of what to expect: angst-filled dances about conformity, and the pathos and alienation of feeling like an outsider, choreographed appropriately to Radiohead; poetic dances of spiritual praise; energetic, airbound duets accompanied by live drumming; whimsical acrobatics; and what must be the cutest dance ever choreographed to the classic hit My Boyfriend's Back by a trio of over-caffienated 7th grade girls. The evening is decidedly modern, decidedly post-modern, and decidedly traditional all at once. How so? The show must be seen to be believed and understood.
You're still sitting here reading this? Why haven't you gone to the desk in the BFS lobby right now to get your ticket before they're all gone? "It's entertaining, thought-provoking and moving," promised Jesse. "You'll be sorry if you miss it!"
We couldn't agree more.
Artistic Director's Statement
Fela Kuti (1938-1997), Nigerian pioneer of Afro-Beat music, said “music is the weapon.” Bill T. Jones (born 1952), American post-modern choreographer of the recent Broadway musical Fela!, elaborated that “music is the weapon to speak truth to power.”
In this Concert, our students honor what it means and what it takes to be honest, to be themselves, to speak truth, and to express controversial points of view.
Several pieces in the Concert specifically explore themes related to Fela Kuti & Bill T. Jones, in ways that overlap and weave together. Guest Artists Wunmi Olaiya and Mfonma Ekpo set a traditional Nigerian dance from the Yoruba culture that celebrates the deity of thunder, Shango. Guest Artist Michael Masnwell explores the far reach of Yoruba culture in the Africa Diaspora, choreographing a piece for the orishas Ochun (goddess of sweet water), Oya (goddess of wind) and Shango (warrior god) from the Caribbean Yoruba tradition. Serendipitously, the same spirit of Shango emerged from both guest artists.
The themes of water and warriorship carry through other pieces as well, in one exploring the movement of water to Fela's “Water Get No Enemy" and another taking on the difficulties of war. Honoring the choreographic style of Bill T. Jones, a committed group of 7th-12th graders learned a challenging piece “Spillover...over?” -- a response to the Gulf Oil Spill that takes on the politics of oil companies and how they affect people, from Nigeria to the United States.
Whether or not their piece directly engages with the work of Fela Kuti & Bill T. Jones, all the pieces in the concert demonstrate the empowering effect of creating dance.
Let's watch and listen to what our young people have to say through their movement, and hope that they are learning to use dance as a weapon to fight peaceably for what they believe in. -- Jesse Phillips-Fein '97