Good evening, I'm Dr. Raymond Wise, and welcome to the 52nd annual spring concert, celebration of the
legendary African American Dance Company. We're certainly glad to have you here. And while we're also
celebrating the 52nd concert of the African American Dance Company, we're also celebrating the 50th
anniversary of the African American Choral Ensemble. So what that means is that at this time,
All three of the performing ensembles and the African American Art Institute have a 50-year legacy,
and that's remarkable. I also want to acknowledge at this time our home, which is the Neal Marshall
Black Culture Center, and we thank them for always being supportive. And as well, I'd like to thank
and acknowledge
our home department, our academic partner, the Department of African American and African American Studies,
under which our ensembles are listed and are for credit courses. And they, too, are celebrating a milestone
anniversary this year, and we're excited to be connected with them.
The African-American Arts Institute, the Neil Marshall Black Culture Center, and the African-American
and African-American studies department are all products of the vision of Dr. Herman C. Hudson, who
believed that music and dance should have a place in the academy. And over 50 years ago, he saw a talented
young student by the name of Iris Rosa. And he selected her to launch a legacy that we now know as the
African-American Dance Company.
The African-American Dance Company now under the direction of Professor Stafford C. Berry Jr. has been
a precious jewel in the crown of IU, providing transformative artistic and academic excellence for hundreds
of students and faculty and staff and our community. And tonight, they've prepared a fantastic program
for you. So let us take a moment to thank them for their visionary work and commitment to maintaining
this legacy of dance here at IU since 1974. Let's give them a round of applause.
I also want to thank our new administrative unit, the College of Arts and Sciences, and their staff
who supported us throughout this transition this year. And we're excited to continue the work that we're
doing with them. And of course, the concert series would not be possible without the support of members
from our community who believe in the arts and diversity, and that includes you. So we thank you for
showing up and for coming out tonight. We are grateful that you are here as well. We want to thank,
then, the Buskirk Chumley Theater staff, who's welcomed us and assisted in making this event a success
tonight. And last but not least, we want
I want to thank the African American Arts Institute staff. Special thanks to Jerrica Stocker,
Johnny Campbell, and your teams who work so diligently always to make our concerts a reality and a success.
Special thanks also to our production team, Mike Schwant, and Jeremy Hogan, and Laurie Garrity. We appreciate
you as well. Now as we come together tonight, we do so at a time in our history when there are some
who do not believe.
that black music, dance, and culture are worthy to be celebrated and included. And as we face these
challenges from many directions, we really need your help.
We really need your help and support to maintain the legacy of the African-American Arts Institute and
create sustainability for our future. And if we want black arts to continue here at IU, we've got to
support it with our presence, with our advocacy, with our resources. And that said, we have several
initiatives in the works that will allow you to help us continue our mission as we preserve and promote
African-American and black culture through performance, education, creative activity, scholarship, and
outreach. Now, April 22nd is what we call IU Day.
which offers an opportunity for you to provide tangible support. So you're always encouraged to give
a donation on that day. However, we do have a couple other things. We have an ongoing campaign called
the Just One Campaign. And for those who cannot give a large amount, we invite you to make a small donation
whenever possible. And know that even if we pull our small dollars together, it will really
make a difference. So you can even go to the AAI website to make a donation. If you see on your program
page 12, there's a place where you even can donate tonight.
to do that as well. Before I leave, I'd like to announce also that we've got two more events this month.
The IU Soul Review is going to present its annual spring concert on next Saturday here on April 25th
at the Buskirk Chumlee Theater. And then the African American Choral Ensemble is going to present their
spring concert the following Saturday on May the 2nd at the Ruth Ann Halls Theater on campus. And we
invite you to come and join in those musical celebrations as well. Now, this is the moment where I have
to kind of ask you, if you will, to
If you have anything on you that emits light or sound, we ask that you kind of turn those things off.
And that will be helpful for us. And we thank you for your cooperation in that regard. And finally,
now dance has been a vital part of the experience of African-American people, the people of African-American
descent. And it's helped them to tell their stories. And we're about to see and experience those stories tonight.
So, ladies and gentlemen, we, without further ado, we're gonna give you the legendary African American
Dance Company under the direction of Barbara Stafford C. Berry Jr. And we thank you for being here tonight,
and we hope that you enjoy tonight's concert, which is entitled, Going Far Together. Enjoy.
are going far going far going far we
Far going. Far we. Far going. Far we are going through, through. Far we are beautiful people with colorful
African imagination.
with masks and dances and swelling chants and although we sometimes sprawl in grayed ghettos full of
depressing winter what we desperately want
What we desperately want to do, do, do. What we desperately want to do, do. What we desperately want
is sun. We are beautiful people full of colorful African life, culture, folk, fabric, water, imagination, dirt. We
are going far, and what we desperately want is sun. I am going to rise, unmasked from inner city, sick
of New York ghettos, Chicago's tenements, LA's,
I'm weary of exhausted lands and sagging privies saying yes sir, yes sir, yes sir, yes sir, yes sir,
yes sir. In an assortment of geographical dialects, I have seen my last broken down plantation even
from a distance. I packed up the old man and unpacked up the old lady and wiped the children's noses.
I'm tired of having me down.
Chuck me ups, pin me ins, keep me outs, messin' me ovas, baby, I have had it from you. I'm gonna spread
out over America and intrude my proud blackness all over the place. I've wrested wheat fields from forests,
turned rivers from their courses, festooned the land with bridges gem-like on filaments of steel, moved
glistening towers of babel in place, sweated a whole civilization, and now I am going to breathe fire
through flaming nostrils, burn a place for me and you,
In the skyscrapers, in the school rooms, on the green lawns, and on the white beaches, I'm going to
wear the robes and sit on the benches, make the rules, and make the arrests. Say, who can? And who can't,
baby? You don't stand a chance. I'm going to put black angels in all the books and a black Christ child
in Mary's arms. I'm going to make black bunnies, black fairies, black Santas,
nursery rhymes and black ice cream. I'm going to make it a crime to be anything but.
In 1974, we began. And in 1974, Professor Emerita Iris Rosa began. And from what we know, once you get started,
When this comes out, you're going to listen to everything and every single word. And everybody's going
to know when you get to the first show, after this drop, they're going to be singing right along and
feeling every word. I'm excited for it. I'm excited for it, for you. This is going to be a good CD.
This ain't a happenstance, oh, will. Our love is continual.
you
by sweat, when two or more are gathered. Nothing can be against us. Many in body, one mind, and body.
We are here. Feet fixed to the rhythm of the dawn, our four foreign language, our hearts, one rhythm,
In tune. We are in sync. This Marley has kissed blisters and torn flesh. We share pounding shin splits,
weak knees, sore muscles, rolled ankles, backs pleading for mercy. Droplets pitter patter, identical bleeding
If these walls could talk. They would imitate our laughs. They'd tear me in the room. But. What? If
you squeeze those curtains tight enough. They'd cry our tears. Tell them girl, they cried our tears.
Press playback on the mirror. They've recorded
of energy across the earth. We are home. Our hearts beat the beat of the motherland. Our chants of huffs
and puffs and unified breaths. With the touch of a heart, we still breathe. Many hands make work like
hand of a different texture, color, beautiful, transformative rainbow, like extinctions of a tree, with
each branch blooms interdependence, unconditional love, respect. Love first? Yes. You know what?
Tell me, girl. Because we are earth.
Right. Your first utilization is your initiation. Welcome to the family. You see him over there? Yes.
That's my brother. Oh, you see her over there? Yes. They're my sisters. We are raised by the ancestors,
moving parts of one village. Because we make unity
Wherever we are. With whoever comes out of that audition. We are a quilt. And once each piece is intricately
placed and sewn. Warmness and protection exude from its being. We exist. Together.
Yeah.
foreign
Freon.
When this comes out, you're going to listen to everything and every single word and everybody's going
to know. When you get to the first show, after this drop, they're going to be singing right along and
feeling every word. I'm excited for it. I'm excited for it for you. It's going to be good to see you
again. This ain't a heaven stands or wind. Our love is continual. Continual.
anyway
How was that? Absolutely awesome. I see y'all, I hear y'all, I feel y'all, so give yourselves a round
of applause. Yeah. We've been working hard all year, y'all, and, you know, we've all been working hard,
have we not?
All right, for those folks who don't know me, I'm Baba Stafford. I'm the director of the legendary African
American Dance Company. And though I didn't say it in the beginning, I did a different kind of welcome,
I'll say it officially right now, from me to you, welcome. So for those of you who are not familiar
with what we do, here is a little taste, all right?
We don't only and simply entertain. We like to share with you. We like to teach you some things. We'd
like you to lead so that you can be with us as we go forward. Make sure you read the program. If not
at the intermission, then when you're in the comfort of your own home or at, you know, Lenny's after
the show, right? They have really good stromboli, by the way.
Lenny, they didn't pay me to do this, but I love their veggie stromboli. If you're ever at Lenny's and
you like stromboli, get their stromboli. You won't regret it, okay? You're welcome. So, you know, some
of you don't know what we do, but I'm gonna do a really, really quick thing before we move forward.
I'm getting the signal, but I wanna do one really quick thing. I want you all to stand up.
Yup, uh-huh, you didn't expect this. I know, it's okay, we mean you no harm. And here's your simple
but meaningful assignment to us, right? First of all, we wanna thank you for letting us know that you're
here, right? Letting us know that we can feel you. Dr. Jacoby, what's going on? We see you, exactly.
All my colleagues in AAADS, y'all here.
Okay, Dr. Nana, I heard that. And Contemporary Dance is here, where y'all at? Are my new Jacobs colleagues
here? Did y'all hear the T? We're moving to Jacobs in the fall, you know. We'll talk about that later.
All right, but I would like you to introduce yourself to three people you never met. I'll give you time,
ready, go.
Don't be shy, come on folks, don't be shy.
How do you do?
So hopefully, there are no strangers in the room. Because we want you to continue with us as we go forward.
Because the more you have with you, then the further you will go. So the further we will go if we have
you with us. Are you with us?
We thank you so much. We thank you so very much. Where are the AADC alumni? You're all out there. Okay,
all right, y'all are in the house. Okay, there's Alexis, there's Brooklyn, there's Candace with a Y.
Okay, I see y'all. There's Amelia, there's Hannah. We got a lot of alumni, y'all. But these folk, we
couldn't do this without our alumni. They have been vigilant about coming back, about returning,
about giving, about lending their hands.
They even were helping us press our attire backstage, right? Young people don't use irons these days.
So, you know, I had to call some alumni to teach them how to press their clothes. Our alumni are important,
yes? Dr. Nana, you feel me, don't you? Okay, exactly. Oh, Mama Kim gave me some turmeric and lemonade,
right, Mama Kim? For my voice. Oh, CMOS, I stand corrected. CMOS and turmeric, okay.
We're gonna continue on, is that okay? All right, and as you read the programs and learn more about
what we're up to, learn more about the African American and African Diaspora Studies program department,
be sure you find us on our social media as well, the African American Dance Company. You can find us
on all the platforms. For those of you who are my age, we're on Facebook as well.
All right? So, you know, know that. We're gonna keep it moving. Are y'all ready? Here we go.
It's your fault, Brooklyn. How was that? So I just want to remind you, for those folks who are new,
for returning folks, you are aware of this, but I just want to remind us that this,
Is this that you are experiencing, that you will read, that you will then go home to your families or
to your loved ones or to your neighbor or to your pet and talk about? When you go on your social medias,
because you will, right? You will, yes. Right? And you will comment and share it with somebody who needs
to come see us, whether they're happy about it or not.
This is a course at IU in African American and African Diaspora Studies. I've traveled lots of places
across the country, and I haven't ever experienced a course like this. And so we're grateful.
We're blessed here in Southern Indiana. We're blessed here in Bloomington, Indiana to have a resource
like this in our home. We're blessed. You know, we may take these things for granted, right?
the iconic IU Soul Review, the award-winning African American Choral Ensemble, and the legendary African
American Dance Company, we are a course and a resource to this area of southern Indiana. That doesn't
happen. Let's start with the Midwest. It don't happen, right? I'm from Philly. There's nothing like
this in Philly. You're from Philly, who was that?
Oh, is that Robert Burden? Oh, okay, all right. Okay, there we go. This is a resource here and you have
access to this resource. You have access to this cultural resource. You have access to this community
resource. You have access to this academic resource right here in Bloomington. That deserves celebration.
And it also deserves your support.
We cannot be unless you are here in your seats. We cannot be unless you are sending your students here
to come and take these courses. We cannot be unless you are supporting us, right? Dr. Wise mentioned
that dollar. Now, here's the thing. I want more than a dollar, right? A few more would be helpful, right?
are here because you are here. That's Ubuntu. I am because you are. And because you are, I am, we are,
we do. So keep being, yes? Keep doing, yes? Keep coming, yes? Keep donating, yes?
Okay, I have a few people that I want to thank. I want to first thank you all because as I say, the
first thing that you do in your support and your advocacy of any group that you want to really be there
for is show up. Show up. Yeah, so thank you all very much for showing up. I want to thank a few other
people. I want to thank our amazing tech crew.
bring out some folks to thank. My brother, who was in Columbus, Ohio, every time I call on him, he comes.
He's a triple threat. He's an actor. He's a singer. He's a wonderful performer. This is Kenny Eady.
Thank you, Kenny. The way that we do the course, I couldn't do all of this by myself.
But we have established roles of leadership in the courses. And so I want our student organization to
come forward, all of our folks who are in the student org. Y'all come on out here. Quickly, quickly,
move quickly, move quickly. Come on, Cam, move quickly. These are the leaders in our course.
Thank you. Y'all might as well back up and stay on for now. Did y'all see Katherine? Katherine is new.
Katherine came the first day and said, Papa, I don't know if I can. I was like, yes, you can. Yes,
you can. Incidentally, most of the folks in this course and in this dance company are not dance majors.
They're not.
They're just people who are interested in learning about what we teach in these courses. I want to certainly
invite out my seniors. Who are all of my seniors? Y'all come forward. I'm going to miss them when they
graduate. Really quickly, where are you all studying?
Contemporary dance. Contemporary dance. Psychology and contemporary dance. Psychology and contemporary
dance. Did you see our seniors up here? Our seniors are wonderful. Thank you, seniors. I could not do
this without my rocks. They are two women who are queens,
They are two women who, whenever there's something to be done, they just do it. They don't wait to be
asked. They know how to read my thoughts before I'm even thinking of the thing, and they're on it. They
keep me supported, and I love them to pieces. They are Sister Ashley Hayes. Sister Ashley, is she indisposed
right now?
She's indisposed right now. She's probably working somewhere. But OK, then I'll get to them in a moment.
But we also could not do what we do without all kinds of students. That includes grad students. So all
my grad students come on out.
Yes, we could not do it without our community members. We have folks who are staff. We have folks who
are in the community. We have folks who just want to come and be with us. Y'all come on out here. Where's
Frances? Though Frances is no slouch, Frances is an engineer. So she keeps my math together. OK,
thank you, Frances.
But now, my right hand, I could not do this without her. Let me check and see if they are ready. All right.
My one strong staunch supporter, who's a grad student in AAADS, Ashley Hayes. I'll just say her name.
It's important to say her name, Ashley Hayes. But then my other right hand, I should say, is my assistant
instructor. This is Samantha Maccoby. And then,
Where is Tolani? She's where? Tell Tolani to come from downstairs. Tell her to get up here.
Where is Sydney? Oh, when I mentioned the community and the staff, okay, this is Mama Sydney. Mama Sydney,
she's been named, is on faculty in fashion.
Yeah, in fashion. She didn't expect this because I've been trying to get her to dance the entire time
she's held this job as my road manager. This is Oluwatulani Adekoyo. Thank you, Tulani. Did I forget
anybody? Samantha.
Okay, we'll keep going. Once again, y'all can clear. Thank you, everybody. Once again, the legendary
African American Dance Company.