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| Photo: RJ Muna |
In Haiti, the mystical Rada spirits protect and provoke justice, counter dishonesty and inspire vitality and energy. It is these lwas, or spirits, that El Wah Movement Dance Theatre invokes in its dance, "Rele Tout Bon Moun Yo (Call All the Good People)," performed this weekend by the troupe - one of 10 dance groups that take the stage during the final week of the Ethnic Dance Festival at the Lam Research Theater at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
The news from Haiti is so frequently grim - earthquakes, political unrest, epidemics - that oftentimes the beauty of the island is forgotten. A score of dancers and musicians, including Haitian dance icon Blanche Brown, bring to life the color, ritual and pulse-pounding drumming in an adapted version of a traditional Haitian prayer.
Colette Eloi, a Haitian native who directs the 8-year-old company, choreographed "Rele Tout Bon Moun Yo," and also sings during the performance, dedicated the piece to the people of the world who came to Haiti's aid after the earthquake of 2010, which devastated the island nation, and from which the country is still recovering.
On Saturday night before the performance, Eloi and Brown will be joined by Deborah Vaughan and Latanya D. Tigner of Dimensions Dance Theater, who also perform at the festival this weekend, on a special panel moderated by Ethnic Dance Festival co-director CK Ladzekpo that will discuss the history and future of dance from the African diaspora.
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