Asadata Dafora - Dafora Arrives in New York

Dafora Arrives in New York

In 1929 Asadata Dafora journeyed to New York City to try to pursue his career as a musician. He was then 39 years old.

Despite his talent, at the start of the Great Depression creative performing careers were difficult to maintain, particularly for foreign African performers. However, his interactions with a group of African men at the National African Union soon led him back to his interests in African dance. The company he formed was called Shogolo Oloba (later renamed the Federal Theater African Dance Troupe) and it strove to portray African culture in a complex and sophisticated light, not just an exotic array of mysterious spectacles. Because he strove for authenticity in his work, Dafora preferred to use native African dancers and trained them in African dialects as well as performance techniques. Dafora is credited with the development of the dance-drama, a type of production that fully integrates narrative and song into dance performance. Furthermore, Dafora was the first to successfully stage African ritual in a Western style stage production. His first work, "Kykunkor" (Witch Woman), completed in 1931, was based on African folklore. It opened in 1934 and was such an overwhelming success that it had to move to a larger theater to accommodate the audiences.

His drumming also appeared in a 1936 stage success, Orson Welles's all-black Macbeth performed in Harlem, on Broadway and on tour. in Dafora's other works include "Ostrich Dance," "Zunguru" (1940), and "Batanga" (1941). He also co-authored a radio play with Orson Welles entitled "Trangama-Fanga." Around 1950, Dafora founded the Academy of Jazz. He has also been the subject of a film by Kinsley Mbadiwe called The Greater Tomorrow.