A performance choreographed and directed by an Elon University assistant professor of dance tackles the 18th and 19th century trans-Atlantic slave trade in Ghana and the journey of captives held in dungeons for months before their forced migration to the Americas.
Friday, February 26
Amistad We Stand
Directed and choreographed by Jason Aryeh
McCrary Theatre, 7:30 p.m.
This is a performance that seeks to explain the nature of something that should NOT have happened. “Amistad We Stand” is inspired by a research project conducted in a slave castle in Ghana that operated from about 1672 to the 1800s. A choreographer’s own interpretation of events and personalities whose journey of courage and defiance stand chronicled in historical accounts of the period. The performance also attempts to stimulate the community to reflect and address issues on racial bias, equality, color, discrimination and gender.
From Jason Aryeh:
“The existence of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in Ghana was one of most unfortunate historical human calamities that must not be allowed to happen again. Not only is there evidence of some 35 slave markets dotted around the area in West Africa where Ghana is situated, there are also many routes, transit camps and objects available to establish that the trade took place under horrendous conditions. Several of these transit camps and markets have been identified within the area where Ghana is currently situated. And some of these inland sites are characterized by water cisterns, remnants of slave warehouses, rock boulders and trees with large or long exposed roots for chaining the enslaved. Burial grounds for slaves are still visible. The Cape Coast Castle in Ghana, known for holding slaves before they were loaded onto ships and sold in the Americas, was one of the gateways of the trans-Atlantic slave trade where 12.5 million Africans were shipped to the new world and 10.7 million survived the dreaded middle passage.
“‘Amistad We Stand’ tackles the story of the journey of the slaves being captured and held in the dungeons for months, through the tunnel and finally through the ‘Door of No Return’ onto the ship. This performance remembers and celebrates the courageous souls and personalities that survived the journey into the new world and honors the souls that did not.
“I was inspired through stories growing up and a research project conducted in Cape Coast slave castle through a FR&D summer fellowship grant. This inspiration stirred up my thoughts about the events of something that should not have happened and personalities of souls whose journey of courage and defiance should not be forgotten, but remembered and celebrated.
“As a choreographer and humanist, I am compelled never to close my eyes to what is happening around me, as my life is constantly affected by many things. I found designing this performance to be a creative, challenging and thought-provoking experience for the artists, performers and audience. It also stimulates the community to reflect on some issues affecting us as humans.
“I am looking toward a future where more of us will call ourselves artist and work together to make dance concerned with the primary issues of life. A future where art is once again honored for its power to inspire, teach, transform and heal our separateness. Let there be a future in which all people dance together when the circle is big enough for both grandparents, children, people of any color or culture and spiritual practice. Let there be a future where we love and respect the natural world and all of life’s creatures. Let there be a future that is all of this or there will be no future at all.
“I am dancing toward that future and a gladly hope you will join me.”
The performance is a collaboration with Jean Rattigan-Rohr (Executive Director of Community Partnerships, Director of the Center for Access and Success), Gerald Knight (Associate Professor of Music), Michael Smith (Associate Professor of Performing Arts), Jon Metzger (Professor of Music and Artist-In-Residence), Jamie Butler (Assistant Director for the Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity Education) and Frances Ward-Johnson (Associate Professor of Communications), as well as students, alumni and professional artists within the North Carolina community.