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Nanigo 2026
The Dancing Our Africa Concert Program
7:30 pm, Saturday, June 6th
Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theater
Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center
6200 E Atherton Street
Long Beach, California 90815
Your Limbs (2022)
Choreography: C. Kemal Nance
Score: Kariamu Welsh
Music: Kingsley Ibeneche
Video Editing: Cristina Barreto-Avila
Videography: Cristian Barreto-Avila, Angel Anderson, Danzel Thompson-Stout
Dancers: Cristian Barreto-Avila, Stafford C. Berry, Jr., Jordan Brookins, Julian Darden, Jessica Featherson, C. Kemal Nance, Ibrahim Sabbi, Bevara Selkridge, Jeremy Taylor, Danzel Thompson-Stout, Monique Walker, Zoe Walker, Kariamu Welsh
Your Limbs premiered at the National Association of American African Dance Teachers’ 8th Umfundalai Teaching Ceremony, the second virtual offering of its kind. The video was inspired by a poem that Umfundalai’s progenitor, the late Kariamu Welsh, wrote as a manifesto to the Umfundalai community.
Soba
Staging: Danzel Thompson-Stout
Dancers: Elyse Turner, Maya Sabbah, Sydney Robinson, Kiera Salley, Amanda Campos, Jade Madrigal, Kenya Smith
Soba is a Senegalese, female rites of passage dance. The late Baba Charles “Chuck” Davis taught the dance Umfundalai’s progenitor, Kariamu Welsh and her professional dance to company, the Black Dance Workshop in the 1970s. Since that time, Welsh has styled the dance with Umfundalai’s vocabulary, developed advanced versions of the dance, and incorporated it into Umfundalai’s repertory.
Ibeji (1996)
Choreography: C. Kemal Nance
Music: Mickey Hart
Costumes: Kingston Kouture
Dancers: Bevara Selkridge and Danzel Thompson-Stout
Originally performed 30 years ago by master teachers, C. Kemal Nance and Monique Walker, the dance explores the symbiotic relationship between "chosen" siblings.In the Yoruba belief system, Ibeji are fraternal twins that represent sacred duality, balance, and good fortune. Ibeji, the choreography, imagines the path the twin deities navigate to ensure balance between the spiritual and natural realms.
Black Magick: Roots Work
(A work in Progress)
Choreography: Tasha Gavin Moorehead
Music: Theo Crocker featuring Eric Harland & Kassa Overall
Title: Alkebulan Christian Scott
Title: Her Arrival
Dancers: Amber Cunnigan, Aina Eden, Malani Harris, Tashara Gavin-Moorehead, Brittany Johnson, Rain Winchester
Black Magick is a new African American folktale; it narrates the journey of root working women who hear the cries of their ancestors being taken off of the shores of the Gold Coast. They are charged with opening a time portal and potentially saving their ancestors and risk changing the course of history forever.
Something Drawing Me On...
(Circa 1987)
Choreography: Kariamu Welsh
Staging: C. Kemal Nance
Music: Sweet Honey in the Rock
Videography and Editing: Cristian Barreto-Avila
Dancers: Julian Darden, Craig “Spider” Moore, Danzel Thompson-Stout
The video features a resuscitation of choreography that Kariamu Welsh mounted on the late Craig “Spider” Moore in the mid 1980s. The choreography was featured in Glendola Xllyhema Mills’ master thesis in the Department of Dance at Temple University. This video features original footage of Moore’s performance along with Julian Darden’s and Danzel Thompson-Stout’s rendition of Welsh’s choreography. This version of Something Drawin’ Me On premiered in the Virtual Umfundalai Teaching Ceremony in 2022.
The 10th Umfundalai Teachers' Ceremony
On Saturday, March 2, 1996, Kariamu Welsh in conjunction with the Institute of African Dance Research and Performance presented professional teaching certification to the first set of Umfundalai dancers. This presentation which took place during the intermission of a Kariamu & Company: Traditions’ concert in Conwell Dance Theater in Philadelphia marked the first ceremony of its kind.
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30 years later, the National Association of American African Dance Teachers (NAAADT) continues this Umfundalai tradition and proudly celebrates the professional certification of five teachers in Umfundalai’s 10th ceremony. Professional Certification in Umfundalai not only requires intensive study of Umfundalai but also completion of a rigorous teachers’ that requires demonstrated competency in the Body, History, Pedagogy, Philosophy, and Presence.
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Newly Certified Professional Umfundalai Teachers
Stephanie Charles
Makani Harrell
Nia Khan
Elisandra Rosario
Erica Rae Smith
Thank you!
Nanigo 2026 extends a special dobale to the following people for their support in hosting a successful event.
Stafford C. Berry, Jr.
Colleen Dunagan
Rahel Hernandez
Tashara Gavin-Moorehead
Stephanie Losloben
C. Kemal Nance
Sylvia Rodriguez
Steven Rosa
Nicoléa Pettis
Danzel Thompson-Stout
Monique Walker
California State University Long Beach’s Department of Dance
National Association of American African Dance Teachers