Review: THE SPIRIT OF KWANZAA at Atlas Performing Arts Center

Dance Institute of Washington’s (DIW)’s 29th annual celebration The Spirit of Kwanzaa kicked off three performances at the Atlas Performing Arts Center on Friday, December 20. 

Kwanzaa is an African American week-long holiday celebration that centers on seven principles of community well-being. The theme for DIW’s performance this year is “For The Culture” and incorporated DC’s signature go-go music as an homage to the history and culture of the city. 

The performance included works by choreographers including Anthony Burrell, Ashanté Green, Crazy Legz, Lesina Martin, Daniel L. Moore, Afi Soul Lydia-Nkrumah, and Amanda Standard and featured over 40 young dancers from DIW. 

While the dancers’ ages are not shared, my guess is they ranged from 12 to 20. Many among them are stars, magnetic performers who light up the stage with their smiles and commitment to the movement in addition to technical virtuosity. I have seen these dancers in more classical works but the rhythmic and sensual African-inspired movements featured in The Spirit of Kwanzaa brought out a new dimension to their technique as well as palpable joy.

While the vocabulary of some works felt like mere classroom exercises brought to the stage, others were great. Osun, the pre-intermission closer, was my favorite, with dancers of all ages sauntering and spinning in yellow dresses. It was a celebration of life, an exultant offering of thanks. 

The full-cast pieces were also impressive for their ability to deftly use so many dancers. Like a finale in a story ballet, the stage was filled with bodies, but in this case they were actually dancing, intricately weaving through each other. Ms. Green’s works showed particular ingenuity in their entrances and exits; in multiple works she demonstrated a strong command of spatial patterns and caught my attention with charmingly irregular configurations such as two dancers performing one phrase while three others ran through them. The dancers found power in unison sections and also beauty in individualism.

The Spirit of Kwanzaa runs through Sunday, December 22. 

Runtime: 2 hours, 10 minutes with one intermission.

Photo Credit: DWN Photographic Arts

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