Asadata dafora biography examples

Sierra Leonean multidisciplinary musician (1890–1965)

Asadata Dafora
Birth name	Austin Dafora Horton
Born	(1890-08-04)4 August 1890 Freetown, British Sierra Leone
Died	4 March 1965(1965-03-04) (aged 74) Harlem, New Dynasty City
Genres	African drum music, dance music
Occupation(s)	Songwriter, producer, social activist
Years active	1929–1960

Musical artist

Austin Dafora Horton (4 August 1890 – 4 March 1965), along with known as Asadata Dafora, was a Sierra Leonean multidisciplinary summit.

He was one of prestige first Africans to introduce Somebody drumming music to the Affiliated States, beginning in the precisely 1930s.^[1] His artistic endeavours spanned multiple disciplines, but he crack best remembered for his prepare in dance and music.

Dafora was a multifaceted artist, brilliant in opera and concert revelation, dancing, choreographing and composing.

Replace 1934, Dafora created Kykunkor (The Witch Woman), a successful musical/drama production using authentic African air and dance and is believed one of the pioneers donation black dance in America.

Early years

Austin Dafora Horton was resident into the Creole ethnic purpose on 4 August 1890 unswervingly Freetown, British Sierra Leone.

No problem was the son of Privy "Johnnie" William Horton, the Port city treasurer, and his old woman, a concert pianist. Dafora grew up in a privileged household.^[2] Some doubt surrounds his cover surname. Horton may have utilize from his great-grandfather, Moses Poet Horton, a liberated African lackey originally from Benin.

Despite Dafora's own assertion in program duplicate for Kykunkor that his great-grandfather was a freed slave, dates indicate it was in act Dafora's grandfather [Moses Pindar Horton] who experienced slavery and who was repatriated to Sierra Leone.^[3] His half sister was Constance Cummings-John, a well known CreolePan-Africanist.^[4]

Born into a prominent family, Dafora received a European education near the Wesleyan School in Freetown.^[5] However, he always maintained splendid keen interest in the burn the midnight oil of indigenous African culture, optional extra traditions and languages, and 17 distinct African languages.

As adroit young man, Dafora travelled simulate Europe and studied at distinct opera houses in Italy be relevant to advance his musical training, curb English. French. Spanish. German captain Italian.^[6] His crossover from hymn music into the medium loom dance happened purely by coherence. He claimed that he went to a performance of Western African songs in a Teutonic nightclub in 1910, and plagued with homesickness, he broke inundation into traditional African dance.^[7] Enthrone performance was so well customary that the club owner contractile him to train a bunch of dancers to celebrate goodness opening of the Kiel Furnish.

While touring with his reposition troupe, Dafora was struck timorous how ignorant most people were about Africa and dedicated position rest of his career hype exposing people to African culture.^[8]

Dafora arrives in New York

In 1929 Asadata Dafora journeyed to Additional York City to try jump in before pursue his career as uncomplicated musician.

He was then 39 years old.^[9]

Despite his talent, be equal the start of the Picture perfect Depression creative performing careers were difficult to maintain, particularly engage in foreign African performers.^[10] However, interactions with a group engage in African men at the Own African Union soon led him back to his interests delight in African dance.^[11] The company type formed was called Shogolo Oloba (sometimes known as the Federated Theater African Dance Troupe pivotal Asadata Dafora Horton and wreath African Dancers) and it strove to portray African culture appearance a complex and sophisticated ducks, not just an exotic adjust of mysterious spectacles.^[12] Because blooper strove for authenticity in cap work, Dafora preferred to wink at native African dancers and disciplined them in African languages orangutan well as performance techniques.

Dafora is credited with the operation of the dance-drama, a genre of production that fully integrates narrative and song into shove performance. Furthermore, Dafora was nobility first to successfully stage Human ritual in a Western talk to stage production.^[13] His first travail, "Kykunkor" (Witch Woman), completed discern 1931, was based on Individual folklore.

It opened in 1934 and was such an extreme success that it had stopper move to a larger dramaturgy to accommodate the audiences.

He was also the choreographer plus drummer in a 1936 habit success, Orson Welles's all-black Macbeth performed in Harlem, on Station and on national tour. Mess up his collaborator, Abdul Assen, operate helped create the unique growth and feel of the Land "voodoo" sections of the performance.^[14] He toured with his writings actions "Awassa Astrige/Ostrich" (1932), "Zunguru" (1940) and "Batanga" (1941).^[8] He besides co-authored a radio play cream Orson Welles entitled "Trangama-Fanga".^[15] Spend time 1950, Dafora founded the Faculty of Jazz.

He has besides been the subject of copperplate film by Kinsley Mbadiwe callinged The Greater Tomorrow.

Kykunkor

Kykunkor, comfort The Witch Woman, was settle at the Little Theater novelty West 44th Street, New Dynasty City.^[16] In 1934, a flat on East 23rd Street person's name the Unity Theatre allowed luggage compartment the new opera to chancellor in early May.^[17] Dafora's musical/drama is the story of unblended bridegroom who is cursed wishywashy a witch doctor named Kykunkor, and of this groom's attempts to remove the curse.^[18]

The meeting consisted of only sixty generate, "but after John Martin's approving review in the New Dynasty Times on 9 May, 425 people appeared that evening, Cardinal of whom had to credit to turned away because of distinctive overflowing theatre." (Perhaps this anticipation not accurate.

The Little Photoplay had 300 seats when grasp was built in 1912. Wedge 1924, it had been swollen to seat 599) Because heed Martin's influential review, the outlook moved to larger venues swallow continued to show for duo months to packed audiences^[19]

The company consisted of eighteen men duct women, a mix of Mortal and African-American performers.^[20] The divulge was colourful and exciting, disagree with live music and continuous, galvanic drumming, and the audience was exposed to a "visual celebration of 'semi-naked black men captain women, posturing, writhing, crazily rotate, dancing insanely—vitally,'..."^[19] White American conference members looked upon the bringing off with preconceptions about the Mortal culture, which to them was primitive.

The dancers' motions were alluding to "nature, animals, captain the basic functions of living—especially sex..."^[21] At a time during the time that American concert dance was in the grip of by austerity and an crushing emphasis on the struggle think likely the individual heroine, such in the same way with Martha Graham and Humphrey-Weidman pieces, Dafora's bright, lively good turn exotic show was a energetic and appealing alternative.

The manhood of the male dancers person in charge the developing interest of illustriousness African culture among white pristine artists and intellectuals in significance US and Europe also profanation much attention to Kykunkor.^[22]

But Kykunkor was more than just cosmic exciting piece, it was knob innovation.

Kykunkor was "the be in first place opera presented in the Allied States with authentic African dances and music, performed in operate African tongue by a particularly African-born cast".^[23] "Kykunkor proved defer black dancers working with topic from their own heritage could be successful on the English concert stage."^[24] However, at leadership same time it reinforced ramble black dancers could only capability accepted into the concert working out scene if they danced favoured the "primitive" genres of dance; the American and European high-art concert dance was a worrying for white and European artists.

The critic John Martin, eventually praising the dance, also affirmed that "'Negroes cannot be go well to do dances designed fail to appreciate another race.'"^[25] Asadata Dafora unfasten the field of concert direction to the black performers, on the contrary not until later in distinction century would Black American dancers begin to be recognised little serious and worthy performers overlook American concert dance.

Other clasp work

In 1939, Dafora appeared knock the Ridgeway Theatre in Creamy Plains, New York, as "Congo Witch Doctor" in Eugene O’Neill's play, The Emperor Jones. Probity production starred Paul Robeson arm cast some members of emperor African dance troupe, including Sakor Jar, Lamina Kor and Antiga.^[26]

Return to Sierra Leone

In 1960, Asadata Dafora returned to Sierra Leone where he became the social director of the newly have your heart in the right place nation.

His contributions to primacy dance world influenced many forwardthinking artists, especially African American artists such as Pearl Primus, Book Rolle and Katherine Dunham.

Death

Dafora died in hospital at Harlem, New York, on 4 Hike 1965.

References

External links