African Harvest for the World
A Community Festival to feed the Hungry
Camden Opera House
December 28, 1996
Arthur Hall presents
African Harvest
for the World
A Holiday Concert to Feed the Hungry
Collecting Food for
Area Interfaith Outreach
of Rockland, Maine
Providing Dance and Music for the Soul
Camden Opera House
Camden, Maine
December 28, 1996
Patrice Janssen - concert manager
Van Williams - associate director
Pat Renn - food collection coordinator
Gail Gulick - ad sales
Dagney Ernest - publicity
Bruce Williams - graphic design
Alice Hunt - Box Office
Foner Curtis - house manager
Jim Williams - stage manager
Rehearsal space in the beautiful
Watts Hall
Thomaston, Maine
A production of
Arthur Hall International Dance Center
a non-profit, tax exempt organization
dedicated to the arts
and education
in African and American culture
754 Mount Ephraim Road
Searsport, Maine 04974
(207) 548-2445
The Arthur Hall
International Dance Company
Nancy Boufford,
Dean Buckley,
Cathy Butler-Corish,
Erma Colvin,
Dan Cummings,
Dagney Ernest,
Arthur Floyd,
Phil Frey,
Kat Gifford,
Stu Gillam,
Gail Gulick,
Arthur Hall,
Jon Jennings,
Patrice Janssen,
Gale McCullough,
Cheryl Mitchell,
Lisa Morgan,
Emily Seymour,
Martin Steingesser,
Martine Toulouse,
Jenna van Loo,
Bruce Williams, and
Van Williams
And Guest Artists
Oscar Mokeme and Alfi Nodah
D’Moja
Brandon Klarich, Mark Klarich, Dwight Graves
Bong’bo Society
Fred Dillon,
Kimery Felix,
Joey Frenchette,
Jeff Howe,
Sister Keita,
Ted Sylvia, and
Michael Wingfield
Jobo Kunda - Gray Parrot
Mkerhe - directed by Erma Colvin
William Hall and Kwabena CHAN AnsaPilsqehSis
The Program
Overture
D'Moja
This Ground
- Martin Steingesser -
flute music: While the Eagle Sleeps
a Native American night song by Alice Gomez
- Martin Steingesser -
Fanga
Arthur Hall choreography
Liberia via the late Pearl Primus
A dance of Welcome for the New Year, newborn babies,
returning soldiers, and for strangers. The gestures of the dance mean
"From our hearts with open hands and no weapons
We welcome you, whether you are from the
North, South, East or West."
- Patrice Janssen, solo -
Harvest Dance
Arthur Hall choreography
Ghana via Saka Acquaye
Preparing the ground, planting the seed, rain and energy falling from Heaven,
the seeds turning over in the ground and sprouting up to be harvested.
- the company -
Ancestor Mask
Nigeria
- Oscar Mokeme, solo -
- Alfi Nodah, keeper -
Sierra Leone
Arthur Hall choreography
via the National Dance Company of Sierra Leone
Salaam Aleikum - a traditional Islamic song of greeting - "Peace be with you."
- Martin Steingesser, stilts -
The community dresses in their finest clothes to welcome strangers.
- the company -
Kora Praise Song
The Gambia
- Gray Parrot -
Liberte
Erma Colvin choreography
A dance of slavery and freedom.
- Mkerhe -
Masquerade
Papa Bois, Jack in the green, Buami, a vital spirit of the plant world.
- Van Williams -
- intermission -
Second Act Overture
"Rhythmania"
Bembe Elegua,
Rumba Yesa,
Rumba Columbia
- Bong’bo Society -
Kora Praise Song
The Gambia
- Jobo Kunda -
Ode to Yemaya
Arthur Hall choreography
An African American dance in praise of the Great Mother.
Yemaya is the goddess of the Ogun River in Nigeria.
Slaves arriving in the New World gave thanks to her for surviving the
Middle Passage, making her the goddess of the Oceans as well.
Her husband is Olokun, lord of the undertow.
- Van Williams -
- Cheryl Mitchell -
Divining
CHAN choreography
music: Canteloube
- William Hall -
- Kwabena CHAN AnsaPilsqehSis -
Agong
Arthur Hall choreography
via Saka Acquaye
The power in women’s hands - sometimes used well, sometimes used not well -
however it is used, it will not go away.
- Cathy Butler-Corish, solo -
Celebration
Arthur Hall choreography
Guinea via les Ballets Africains
A dance for young women ready for marriage, having graduated from Bush School
and learned the traditional values of the community taught there.
- the company -
Snake Dance
Arthur Hall choreography
Damballah is the snake - the image of immortality.
- Arthur Hall, solo -
Yanvallu
Arthur Hall choreography
Haiti via Lavinia Williams
Agwe, from the stomach of Dan - Damballa, the serpent.
An ancient and sacred dance from Dahomey
documented in Haiti as early as 1619.
- the company -
The Earth is a Satellite of the Moon
by Leonel Rugama (Nicaragua, 1950-1970)
English translation by Sara Miles et al.
- Martin Steingesser -
Heart and Drum
by Martin Steingesser
- Martin Steingesser -
Tigare
Arthur Hall choreography
Akan (Ghana) via Saka Acquaye
Tigare is the witch chaser, a tiger.
A dance of transformation to encourage women to use their power
for good and not for evil. Analogous to the Gelede of the Yoruba,
Tigare is ubiquitous to West Africa.
- Van Williams, Tigare -
- Nancy Boufford,
Cathy Butler-Corish, Dagney Ernest,
Gail Gulick,
Patrice Janssen, and
Emily Seymour, witches -
Finale
Arthur Hall choreography
from Dance Conga,
Haiti via Lavinia Williams
- the company -
- exeunt -
Patrons
Anonymous
Arthur Hall
Alice W. Hunt
Patrice Janssen
Nancy and Hanna Lukens
Maine Christian Communications Arts Fund of the Maine Community Foundation
Joan Bayne Williams
Business sponsors
Cuddledown of Maine, Portland and Freeport
Camden Riverhouse Hotel
Shop N’Save, Gardner
John Gillespie, Architect, Camden
Peabody & King, Rockland
Mid Coast Coffee News, Rockland
Megunticook Market
Whitfield, Scott & Co., Camden
Fresh off the Farm, Rockport
and the Senior Rockets
The Arthur Hall International Dance Company
Return to Arthur Hall Presents