Too Happy or something wrong with their knees
(Ile Ife Films / Arthur Hall Collection, 2012, 10:55)
In 1993, Arthur Hall returned to Philadelphia for the first time in several years
since the dissolution of the Afro American Dance Ensemble, the Ile Ife Center,
and the Ile Ife Museum at the end of 1988. His return was arranged by Dance Ensemble
alumnus Van Williams and by Curtis Brown, the director of the Minority Arts Resource
Council, both of whom can be glimpsed in this video. The Arthur Hall Collection
includes 14 hours of recordings documenting the five days that culminated in the
"few words from Arthur Hall himself" and the community dance presented here.
Ione Nash, whose solo culminates the culmination, is a venerated dance teacher and was
Arthur Hall's dance partner dating from ca. 1960, most notably in the duet of
Adam and Eve, "Temptation," which was broadcast ca. 1961 by CBS in their first
national network broadcast in color. In 2012, Ms. Nash said that Arthur chose her
as her partner because she was the only woman who was small enough for him to lift.
The others were "too happy or had something wrong with their knees."
Noteable musicians seen in this clip include the venerable Bobby Crowder on Dundun,
James Corry, music director Daryl Kwasi Burgee, Steve Jackson, Bob Franklin,
Omomola Iyabunmi, Jomo Amen Ra, Jerome Williams, and Adam Smith.
Email to add names.
Dancers include Evangeline Brown, Rita Cottman-Johnson, Khalilah Allen,
and Stephanie Amen Ra, among many others. Email to add names.
Arthur Hall Collection videotapes AHC.1993.Phila.1 through AHC.1993.Phila.7 document
the five days surrounding MARCFest '93 and Arthur Hall Day by proclamation of the
City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania which culminated in the
reunion performance at Movement Theatre International near the University of Pennsylvania.
See Videotapes in the Collection for details.
More Arthur Hall films available online