DanceAfrica 2026, this country’s longest-running celebration of the culture of Africa and the African Diaspora, can always be counted on to present a thrillingly dynamic panorama of music, dance, and more during Memorial Day weekend — and this year will be no different.
DanceAfrica Artistic Director Abdel R. Salaam has curated a program for May 22–25 with the theme “Uganda: Umoja/Mirembe/Obulungi (Unity/Peace/Beauty)!” that promises to turn the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House into a festive communal gathering.
Uganda’s Ndere Troupe returns to BAM after previous visits in 2001, at the invitation of Baba Chuck Davis, DanceAfrica founder and then-artistic director, and 2007, and will be joined by the Asase Yaa African American Dance Theater, celebrating their 25th anniversary with a newly revamped version of “The Revival: Djembe in the New Millennium” (2010). The DanceAfrica Spirit Walkers and Billie’s Youth Arts Academy Dance Ensemble (YAA) will also be part of the event.
In keeping with tradition, a libation ceremony precedes the opening performance (Friday, May 22) on the steps of the Peter Jay Sharp Building to honor those who have passed on to the ancestral grounds.
Each performance will include the traditional DanceAfrica greeting; welcoming ritual; calling of the names of the Ancestors; and a procession featuring the DanceAfrica Council of Elders, DanceAfrica Candlebearers, and youth ensemble.
Recalling the Ndere Troupe’s earlier DanceAfrica appearances and his recent visit to Uganda to see them in 2025, Salaam described them as “absolutely brilliant” and said “the audience is going to absolutely love them,” referring to the troupe’s thrillingly energetic dance and music that features intricate, virtuosic drumming and other instruments. Salaam recalled that the Ndere Troupe blew the audience away in 2007, adding that “since that was almost 20 years ago, there’s a whole generation that hasn’t seen them, so I’m honored to share more of these ancient dances and songs, mixed with shades of contemporary visions of East Africa, [through] the spirited artistry of the Ndere Troupe.”
Salaam added that “following the success of bringing East Africa’s Song & Dance Company of Mozambique in 2025, we traveled to Uganda to bring more of the best from this region to our audience. After spending time with the Ndere Troupe, we wanted to share the joy and impassioned commitment to their culture and tradition as it aligned with the resurgence of their traditional African identity in Uganda.”
In a recent interview with the Amsterdam News, founder and artistic director Dr. Rwangyezi Stephen described one of the driving forces behind his decision to found Ndere Troupe in 1984 as a desire to preserve the country’s indigenous culture. “Uganda, just like all the other countries of Africa, was a colony, and I think the biggest thing that colonizers ever did was to try and kill the indigenous cultures of the countries they were ruling,” Stephen said. Coming from “a family aware of our great culture,” even as it was in danger of being erased, he decided that “if I could ignite some sort of renaissance, I would.”
Stephen said another key mission of the Ndere Troupe involves the “many talented young people who could not have access to education. I wanted to recruit them into the troupe and mobilize resources and pay for their education. Dance also serves as a springboard to educating communities that don’t have access to television, newspapers, or even the internet, about important issues that affect them, like HIV-AIDS.”
Lastly, because Uganda had been torn by warfare during the days of Idi Amin’s rule, Stephen said, he “wanted to create examples of how people can live together where cultural diversity is seen as wealth and not a reason for conflict. Looking at the different tribes of Uganda, I created a troupe whose repertory would emphasize the beauty of diversity.”
This year’s program embodies that mission with a carefully curated selection of dances representing Uganda’s extraordinary cultural diversity, spanning courtship and celebration; spiritual ritual; and percussive, hip-driven movement that speaks across generations. The haunting sound of the Agwaara, a wooden trumpet, ushers in a festive procession dance of the same name, from the Alur people of Northwestern Uganda, which borders the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan — music that embodies cross-cultural respect, collective spirit, and communal joy. Bakisimba, from the Baganda people of Central Uganda, is an expression of peace, tranquility, and fertility, traditionally danced in celebration of abundance. Tamenhaibuga, from the Basoga people near the source of the world’s longest river, the Nile, is an ecstatic celebration dance whose frenetic energy invokes pure joy.
Orunyege is a love and courtship dance from Western Uganda, at the foot of the Rwenzori Mountains, paired with Ekaaro, a courtship dance from the nomadic Karamojong people of Northeastern Uganda. Echeevugo, epic poetry and arguably the ancient beginning of modern rap music, is intertwined with Echitaaguriro dance to celebrate the unique beauty of the long-horned Ankole cattle. The Adungu dance, named for the Adungu African bow harp, is a vibrant social celebration and a reminder to respect even the most vulnerable in society. Larakaraka, from the Acholi people of Northern Uganda, is a dance of courtship, frugality, and peace rooted in the belief that harmony comes when communities take only what they need and carefully balance decisions affecting humanity.
Echizino, the high-energy dance of the Bachiga people from the mountainous Kigezi region — home of the rare mountain gorillas — in Southwestern Uganda, is accompanied by the Enanga, a near-extinct instrument whose style is distinct in blues music, and celebrates physical power and communal spirit.
According to Salaam, all of this made Uganda’s Ndele Troupe a perfect fit for DanceAfrica 2026 and a program that mixes the traditional with forces creating what he called “a new tradition, the new voices.” That’s where Asase Yaa African American Dance Theater, the Billie’s Youth Arts Academy (YAA)Dance Ensemble, and Dance Africa Spirit Walkers come in. Salaam said that throughout his entire career, he’s been “in search of a Pan African language. I think the culture is dynamic, as opposed to fixed.” The Ndebe Troupe has struck a delicate balance of “preserving culture while keeping it a living, breathing thing.”
For folks hoping to experience the company’s choreography first-hand, dance classes, co-presented by BAM and Mark Morris Dance Center, offer hands-on engagement with African movement traditions taught by members of the Ndere Troupe.
DanceAfrica 2026 also does that with a varied program that extends beyond the stage, with dance classes, film screenings, visual art, and community programming presented in collaboration with the Billie Holiday Theatre at Restoration Plaza, Weeksville Heritage Center, Mark Morris Dance Center, Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), African Film Festival, Fort Greene Park Conservancy, and Center for Brooklyn History.
Of course, one of Brooklyn’s most beloved open-air marketplaces, DanceAfrica Bazaar, returns to the streets surrounding BAM, bringing together more than 150 African, Caribbean, and African American artisans, designers, chefs, and entrepreneurs celebrating Black culture through fashion, food, art, and community. The return of FilmAfrica to the culture-rich event brings a selection of films from across the continent, curated by the African Film Festival and deepening the festival’s exploration of African and diasporic culture.
For more info, visit bam.org/danceafrica.