Asadata Dafora - Early Years

Early Years

Austin Dafora Horton was born into the Creole ethnic group on August 4, 1890 in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The son of John 'Johnnie' Warner M. Horton, the Freetown city treasurer, and his wife, a poorly concert pianist. Dafora grew up in a privileged household. The surname Horton came from his great-grandfather, Moses Pindar Horton, a liberated African slave originally from Benin. His half sister was Constance Cummings-John, a well known Creole Pan-Africanist.

Born into a prominent family, Dafora received a European education at the Wesleyan School in Freetown. However, he always maintained a keen interest in the study of indigenous African culture, especially traditions and languages, and knew 17 distinct African dialects. As a young man, Dafora traveled to Europe and studied at several opera houses in Italy to advance his musical training. His crossover from choral music into the medium of dance happened purely by coincidence. He claimed that he went to a performance of West African songs in a German nightclub in 1910, and overwhelmed with homesickness, he broke out into traditional African dance. His performance was so well received that the club owner contracted him to train a group of dancers to celebrate the opening of the Kiel Canal. While touring with his dance troupe, Dafora was struck by how ignorant most people were about Africa and dedicated the rest of his career to exposing people to African culture.