Chuck Davis was one of the foremost and most beloved teachers and choreographers of traditional African dance in America. He traveled extensively in Africa and the diaspora to study with leading African artists. Davis founded the Chuck Davis Dance Company in New York City in 1968 and the African American Dance Ensemble in Durham, NC in 1983. He founded DanceAfrica in 1977 at BAM, where it has become the institution’s longest-running series and expanded to other cities. Davis served on many distinguished panels and received numerous awards and accolades, including honorary doctorates. The St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation founded the GlaxoSmithKline Charles “Chuck” Davis Endowment in 2010, and BAM established the Chuck Davis Emerging Choreographer Fellowship in 2015. His archives are held at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. 

Abdel R. Salaam is the Artistic Director of DanceAfrica, the Executive Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Forces of Nature Dance Theatre, founded in 1981, and a critically acclaimed choreographer. Born in Harlem, he has served as a dancer, teacher, and performing artist on five continents throughout his 56-year career in the dance and theater worlds. He has received numerous awards and fellowships for excellence in dance and dance theater, including the 2017 Bessie Award for Outstanding Production of The Healings Sevens at DanceAfrica and the 2019 American Dance Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in Dance. During his artistic direction and leadership, DanceAfrica received the 2021 Bessie Award for Outstanding Service to the Field of Dance. Abdel continues to dedicate his life's work to the healing and empowerment of us all. 

Al Crawford is a NYC-based lighting artist working globally in a broad variety of genres. He currently serves as the General Manager of City Theatrical, Inc., a prominent manufacturer of bespoke lighting products and accessories.  

Al was the Lighting Director of the world-renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for 25 years. While with the Company he produced the lighting for Ailey in virtually every major theater, performing arts center, and opera house on the planet, and toured to 48 states and over 60 countries, including historically significant performances in Russia, China, and South Africa. He has had the opportunity to design for many important choreographers in the dance world, including Judith Jamison, Robert Battle, Garth Fagan, Matthew Rushing, Ron Brown, George Faison, Mark Dendy, Trey McIntyre, Christopher Huggins, Hope Boykin, Osnel Delgado, Jeanguy Saintus, Baba Chuck Davis, and others. In addition to maintaining the Ailey repertoire, he has designed 21 new works for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and 12 for Ailey II.  

Crawford founded Arc3design, a lighting design group dedicated to merging his theatrical aesthetic into all areas of art, architecture, dance, live music, theater, broadcast, and live event production. Arc3design creates lighting for over 100 projects annually. Recent and current projects include architectural installations at New York Central Synagogue, Barbizon Lighting World Headquarters, World Trade Center NYC, New Jersey Performing Arts Center; dance design for BAM’s DanceAfrica, Haiti’s Ayikodans, Cuba’s Malpaso Dance Company, Trinity Irish Dance Company, Limon Dance Company, and HopeBoykinDance; and events including multiple state dinners for the White House (Obama administration), Cedar Point’s multimillion-dollar light show Luminosity, SeaWorld’s Electric Ocean, and brand events for Spotify, Google, YouTube, Samsung, Intel, Dom Perignon, and Lamborghini. 

Al has served on the Board of Directors of the Gilbert Hemsley Lighting Programs and the Board of Trustees  of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He currently serves on the advisory board of the Studio School of Design. Al has been awarded the Knight of Illumination Award, considered globally to be one of the top achievements in Lighting Design. He is a member of United Scenic Artists (USA-829) and the International Alliance for Theatrical Stage Employees (Local 635). He is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

David Margolin Lawson is a New York-based sound designer, composer, and recording engineer. He has worked with, recorded, and designed for many New York-area performing arts organizations, including Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), La Mama, E.T.C., The Juilliard School, The Public Theater, The Signature Theater, UP Theater Company, HERE Arts Center, The New School, Repertorio Español, Urban Stages, and others. Recent works include the release of Lawson & Merrill's Analogues (Neuma Records) the second album of new electronic instrumental music co-composed with David Merrill (lawsonandmerrill.com). Lawson is a faculty member at Pace University, where he teaches courses in Theatrical Sound Design.  

Kristin Colvin Young is honored to be a part of DanceAfrica 2025. Kristin is the Manager of Dance Production at The Juilliard School. Her journey leading up to this distinguished position includes roles as Production Stage Manager for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (2000—2023) and Company/Stage Manager for Parsons Dance Company (1997—2000), and she was a founding member of Battleworks Dance Company in 2002. Young started her career at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 1997, and has since had the pleasure of working with choreographers such as Judith Jamison, Ronald K. Brown, Wayne McGregor, Alonzo King, Camille A. Brown, and Jamar Roberts. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College with a BA in dance and sociology, Young frequently lectures at colleges and universities, encouraging the next generation of stage managers. 

Ngoma Woolbright is a native of Jacksonville, FL. He began his career as a stage manager in 1968 with the Chuck Davis Company, where he later became technical director. He has worked with several dance companies in and around New York City. Until recently, he was the technical director for the Forces of Nature. Woolbright’s credits include Lyon and the Jewel, Frankenstein’s Rib, The Greatest of All Time, and Muhammed Wait for Me. He has been stage manager for DanceAfrica since its inception in 1977. 

Normadien Woolbright is a graduate of the Performing Arts High School, holds a BA in dance education from Lehman College, and studied with Chuck Davis beginning as a teenager. She became artistic director of the Chuck Davis Dance Company when Davis relocated to Durham, NC in 1989. She now serves as road manager and director of educational projects for the African American Dance Ensemble. She remains active in the field of dancing through teaching, performing, and participating in school residencies. 

Eli Gutierezz (he/they) is very excited to be making his BAM debut! He has trained in Stage Management at Sarah Lawrence College and The Juilliard School. Recent credits include All Nighter (MCC); I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan (ATC); The Glass Menagerie; Our Town; New Dances; Choreographers & Composers (Juilliard); and multiple new play readings at The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. 

Ibiwunmi Omotayo Olaiya aka Wunmi is a singer, songwriter, performer, and fashion designer. Born in London, and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. Wunmi is regularly commissioned to design costumes for the most influential choreographers and dance companies of our time, and was awarded a Bessie (New York Dance and Performance Award) for her work with both Ronald K. Brown and Marlies Yearby.  

Wunmi was commissioned to design and produce costumes for the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. Her designs were also featured on the HBO hit series And Just Like That. Wunmi was formally trained at the London College of Fashion, and was partner in a number of small design companies before starting her own line, Wow Wow by Wunmi, in 2012. Wow Wow is primarily crafted in Nigeria and Togo, where Wunmi works closely with textile artisans and a small group of tailors to create her exclusive line of heirloom quality, one-of-a-kind pieces. The online store is up and growing! Check it out at wowwow.wunmi.com. 

This DanceAfrica favorite returns to the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House for the 29th year. The ensemble serves as a symbol of youth involvement in the preservation of African heritage, celebrating both ancestral roots and the modern-day community. 

Karen Thornton hails from Brooklyn, New York and is proud of it. She started her dance training at the age of five after seeing a production of Swan Lake, which inspired her. She has studied dance at the Clark Center for Performing Arts, Broadway Dance Center (New York & Japan), Steps, Martha Graham School, Dance Theater of Harlem, Brooklyn College, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, where she was a merit scholarship recipient and a member of the Alvin Ailey 3 Workshop under Kelvin Rotardier. An Audelco Award winner for outstanding achievement and recipient of AbunDance Award Leader of the Path Award, Karen has taught dance around the world. Karen's television credits include The New Show, Best Talk in Town, The McCreary Report, Deja View, and the sitcom Here and Now. Stage credits include the national and international productions of Orpheu Negro (New York & Vienna, Austria with Dance/Brazil), American Griot (NY), Black Nativity (NJ), Pecong (NJ), Wole Soyinka, Body and Soul (European Tour), Synchronicity (Osaka & Tokyo, Japan Tour), The People Could Fly (The Apollo Theater, NY), and the movie Fighting Back, directed by Sidney Poitier. Karen recently started her own company, KTD/Ascension Arts, to showcase her talents as a dancer, choreographer, and teacher. She has studied under a plethora of world-class teachers, all masters in their craft and art. Karen is presently the Program Manager for The Billie's Youth Arts Academy Dance Ensemble. She thanks her family and friends for their continued support in allowing her wings to open wide and take to the heights in flight throughout the years. And as always “TO GOD BE THE GLORY!”   

The DanceAfrica Spirit Walkers were founded by Baba Abdel R. Salaam in 2016 to theatrically honor the ancestors of Africa and its diaspora through the annual DanceAfrica Memorial Tribute, originally developed by the late Baba Chuck Davis. The group comprises professional dance artists and musicians from the RestorationART alumni and Forces of Nature Dance Theatre, melding African vernacular forms, modern, hip-hop, and contemporary dance. The DanceAfrica Spirit Walkers is a division of Forces of Nature Dance Theatre. 

Mama Coumba Saaraba is a Brooklyn-based dance and drum ensemble that specializes in Senegalese Thiossane, or traditional culture. Formed in 2018, the group is named in reverence to Artistic Director and founder Fatouseck Primus’ mother, teacher, and longtime BAM DanceAfrica Elder, Mama Koumba Andara, combined with the Wolof word saaraba, meaning paradise. The group’s debut and encore performances at the historic National Black Theatre in Harlem and Billie Holiday Theatre in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, wowed audiences with the heartwarming story of The Wedding. The founding members consist of 12 dancers and drummers trained in Sabar, Djembe, and Kutiro movement, history, and music. MCS artfully combines the intricacy of concert performance with the simple beauty of ancient tradition. 

The Song & Dance Company of Mozambique (CNCD) has been at the forefront of Mozambique’s artistic and cultural landscape for over four decades. Founded in 1983, the company is dedicated to preserving and reinterpreting traditional Mozambican music and dance, blending folkloric, contemporary, and theatrical elements to tell the stories of Mozambique’s diverse regions. As Mozambique’s premier cultural ambassador, CNCD has performed on five continents, earning acclaim at the Kennedy Center, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and across the U.S., Europe, Africa, and Asia. At home, the company has reached hundreds of thousands annually, using dance and music as powerful tools for storytelling, education, and social engagement—addressing themes such as democracy, national unity, and cultural identity. Bringing their artistry to New York for performances at DanceAfrica 2025, CNCD offers a rare opportunity for audiences to experience the depth and dynamism of Mozambican movement traditions—a powerful testament to the endurance, beauty, and evolution of African performance on the global stage. 

Karen Thornton hails from Brooklyn, New York and is proud of it. She started her dance training at the age of five after seeing a production of Swan Lake, which inspired her. She has studied dance at the Clark Center for Performing Arts, Broadway Dance Center (New York & Japan), Steps, Martha Graham School, Dance Theater of Harlem, Brooklyn College, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, where she was a merit scholarship recipient and a member of the Alvin Ailey 3 Workshop under Kelvin Rotardier. An Audelco Award winner for outstanding achievement and recipient of AbunDance Award Leader of the Path Award, Karen has taught dance around the world. Karen's television credits include The New Show, Best Talk in Town, The McCreary Report, Deja View, and the sitcom Here and Now. Stage credits include the national and international productions of Orpheu Negro (New York & Vienna, Austria with Dance/Brazil), American Griot (NY), Black Nativity (NJ), Pecong (NJ), Wole Soyinka, Body and Soul (European Tour), Synchronicity (Osaka & Tokyo, Japan Tour), The People Could Fly (The Apollo Theater, NY), and the movie Fighting Back, directed by Sidney Poitier. Karen recently started her own company, KTD/Ascension Arts, to showcase her talents as a dancer, choreographer, and teacher. She has studied under a plethora of world-class teachers, all masters in their craft and art. Karen is presently the Program Manager for The Billie's Youth Arts Academy Dance Ensemble. She thanks her family and friends for their continued support in allowing her wings to open wide and take to the heights in flight throughout the years. And as always “TO GOD BE THE GLORY!”   

Born in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, schooled on the Caribbean island of Montserrat and raised in Brownsville, Mama Dr. Patricia Dye has been a dance faculty member of Ballet Hispánico and performed with professional dance companies such as Forces of Nature and Ballet Schulz Beckman, in addition to having taught master classes and workshops, choreographed, and appeared in videos, industrial shows, Broadway shows, television commercials, and movies throughout the US and Europe, throughout her successful career of over 50 years. Dye served as assistant and Dance Captain for Baba Dr. Charles “Chuck” Davis, and for seven years was the Artistic Director of the Restoration Dance Theater at the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation. In 1993 she became the Founder, Artistic Director, and principal dancer of the Passing Ancestral Knowledge Along Theater Dance Company (PAKA). She is a member of the DanceAfrica Council of Elders for African Cultural Heritage and a featured Master Dance Educator in the NYS Emmy-nominated documentary PS Dance! 

A devoted and experienced dance teacher, adjudicator, and facilitator, Dye has shared her skills and insights in collaborations with the New York City Department of Education Office of Arts and Special Projects (OASP), the Arnold New Dance Teacher Support Program, New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development's Dance Education Program, and the Dance Department at the Tisch School of the Arts. Dye earned her B.F.A. in Dance Performance at Adelphi University and her M.A. in Dance and Dance Education from New York University Steinhardt School of Culture and Human Development. A lifelong learner, she is currently pursuing her doctorate in the Dance Education Ed.D. program at Teachers College, Columbia University.