A Rememory

Kizz-a-minky-rinky-dinky-dink linked to my blog in the MEMORY Challenge post, so I guess I better write something new for you to read.

Speaking of memory...

I worked at the Dance Africa show at BAM on Monday afternoon, which, by the by, was pretty cool. Lots of different groups performed in different type costumes with drummers and dancing and it was all very bright and joyful. The 2,100 seat house was sold to capacity and, although I often didn't have a clue what was going on...unfamiliar were the customs, the language, the rhythms...I really enjoyed the performance, for one thing that needs no translation is celebration.

The Master-of-Ceremonies and, I gather, one of the nation's premier leaders of the African dance community calls "Ago!" (Pay attention!) The crowd responds, "Amay!" (I am listening.) He welcomes the audience. He speaks of how glad he is that we are there. He tells us that if our feet are hurting, we should take off our shoes. The first portion of the program is devoted to welcoming the elders. They are introduced and escorted to their seats.

Then the doors of the theatre shut, for there were to be no interruptions for the next segment.
The lights dim. The dancers come to the stage all in white. Some hold candles. The drumming is less energetic. I believe I hear a flute of some sort. Stars begin to twinkle on the backdrop as Mr. Taylor reads the names of those from the community who have passed on. "We remember you for your contributions to the world." Many of the names were unknown to me, but then I'd recognize one here and there. Richard Pryor. Coretta Scott King. "We remember you for your contributions to the world." Ossie Davis. Lena Horne. After about fifteen minutes of listing names of people, the audience was invited, no, encouraged, to shout the names of their loved ones who've gone to join the ancestors. "Shout the names of those you want remembered." So, standing in the back of the balcony in a room of over 2,000 people, I whispered, "Chris Maddera." I only whispered it because I was working, but I whispered it twice, the second time a little more emphatically.

And then I got tickled, because of all the places, of all the events for Chris to be remembered for his contributions to our world, Dance Africa should probably be the least likely. "Chris hated dance," Cindy told me when I relayed the story to her. "But it was African dance...and the drumming was cool," I stressed, knowing full well that it didn't make any sense. But that's ok, because celebration needs no translation.

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