"Riffing on the President's House" [dance]

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The following performance art review was written and sent to me by Dr. Iya Adjua after she visited the recent "Riffing on the President's House" performance exhibition at the African American Museum in Philadelphia.

A Dinner Party for Enslaved Africans? (Thoughts on "Riffing on the President's House") by Dr. Iya Adjua

A recent performance at the African American Museum in Philadelphia sponsored by a local group of artists (who I believe had good intentions in terms of exposure and sharing artistic expressions of Africans who were enslaved by George Washington) annoyed me greatly.

The performing artists, dancer/choreographers Germaine Ingram and Alexandria Bradley, were excellent in their tap dance portrayals of what some of our ancestors went through in making decisions about freedom versus "staying with a good life as G. Washington’s property", and equally so in their renditions of "ring shout" dances. Still, one of the artists, and the project archaeologist, were annoying in their descriptions of the motivation for a few of the jazz selections they included in the performance, which were supposed to be reflective of how the enslaved Africans may have felt and what they were thinking during the time of their enslavement.

When one artist was describing the Africans' enslaved by G. Washington, he gave two descriptors before saying that they were human. To me, if he was really seeing them for who they were (humans enslaved by an unjustly deserved, celebrated hero of American society) then he should have referenced their humanity first.

While I can comprehend the approach taken, I definitely do not accept or respect it as adequate descriptors of my African ancestors. Surely, there are some who may see this as nitpicking, however when someone is attempting to share expression of my enslaved ancestors, I want to hear about their humanity first and foremost. In this sense, that person who is sharing about my ancestors is giving agency (Asante, 2005) to the Africans about whom they are speaking.

The archaeologist for the project kept talking about the enslaved Africans having a dinner party, and this was one of the motivations for a selection played by a majority-European jazz group. An artist went on to explain that, in his desire to accommodate the archaeologist’s thoughts about this picture of enslaved Africans having a dinner party while enslaved, he had chosen a selection titled "Dinner Party" for the next musical selection.

Although the Africans enslaved by G. Washington probably had more access to resources than their fellow enslaved African family, I’m sure they did not consider themselves as ever being at a goddamn dinner party, especially not when they were thinking about freedom. This I’m as sure of, as Hercules, Oney, and their fellow enslaved African family eventually, rightfully, garnered their freedom -- at great cost to their lives and the lives of their family that was left still within the confines of enslavement.

This is why when Europeans seek to express the thoughts and feelings of African people in a public forum they should be advised by their fellow artists who are conscious as to whether or not what they say is appropriate, not annoying, and not offensive. They should be notified of the possibilities of audience offense and possible annoyance.

Reference the humanity of enslaved Africans first, this way their progeny in the audience will determine the presenters as sincere in their presentation/interpretations of the feelings of their African ancestors.

I always think of myself, my elders and ancestors as humans first, everything else is secondary.