Abdel R. Salaam was born in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He is a choreographer, director, producer, mentor, and educator. He has been active in the arts since 1955. He is the co-founder and director of Forces of Nature Dance Theatre located in New York City. He is also the artistic director of

DanceAfrica DanceAfrica is a heritage and community celebration equable on the manifold dance forms of the African Diaspora held annually in New York City, Washington, DC, and Chicago. Included are indoor and outdoor performance including live music, a film ...

. DanceAfrica was founded by

Chuck Davis (dancer) Charles Rudolph Davis, also known as Baba Chuck Davis, (January 1, 1937 – May 14, 2017) was an American dancer and choreographer whose work focused on traditional African dance. He was the founder of DanceAfrica, the Chuck Davis Dance Company a ...

. DanceAfrica festival has become one of the largest African American dance, music, and art festival in the United States of America. Thousands of people attend the yearly festival which takes place at the Brooklyn Academy of Music during the Memorial Day holiday. The festival includes an outdoor bazaar, films, music, and workshops. It is one of

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

's longest running festival. In 1981 Abdel Salaam, Olabamidele Husbands, and principal dancer, Dyane Harvey founded Forces of Nature Dance Theatre company. A New York City based dance company. It is a fusion of traditional African dance, ritual dance using

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, modern dance and hip-hop

Early life

Abdel studied piano, xylophone, and glockenspiel at the age of five. At the age of nine he studied classical viola, and at the age of eleven he was playing alto saxophone. He attended High School of Music and Art in New York City. He graduated in 1968. After high school he attended

Lehman College Lehman College is a public college in the Bronx borough of New York City. Founded in 1931 as the Bronx campus of Hunter College, the school became an independent college within CUNY in September 1967. The college is named after Herbert H. Lehma ...

in the Bronx, New York City. While attending Lehman College he met Professor Joan Miller (choreographer) a dancer and choreographer. She recruited Abdel into the college's first dance major program, and was his mentor. Such dance teachers as Louis Falco, John Parks, Nadine Revine, Miguel Godreau, Chuck Davis and along with Joan Miller were faculty in the newly formed dance department degree program. He credits Joan Miller as being an influence that helped to shape his mission and beliefs towards art and dance. His mission and belief to use art to make social, political, and environmental statements that promote harmony with the planet and ecosystem, and with our issues and problems as people.

Career

While Abdel Salaam was studying at Lehman College Abdel became a principal dancer with the Joan Miller Chamber Arts Dance players. Early in his career he performed as principle with the Fred Benjamin Dance Company, Ron Pratt's Alpha Omega 1-7 Theatrical Dance Company, and Otis Sallid's New Art Ensemble. Later he became Associate Artistic Director for Chuck Davis Dance Company. Which performs internally. He has also been guest artist with the American Contemporary Ballet Company and with the Contemporary Chamber Dance Theater. In 1981, Abdel co-founded Forces of Nature Dance Theatre with his partner Olabamidele Husbands and his wife, former principal dancer Dyane Harvey. In the 80's Abdel was a delegate for the Artists for Ecology's International Summit that was held at the Sundance Institute in Utah. He was a participant for the Conference on Third World Arts held at the European Theater in Oxford, England. Also in the 80s he participated in the 12th Annual Festival for Peace in Moscow, Russia. In 1988 Abdel was commissioned by Reverend

James Parks Morton James Parks Morton (January 7, 1930 – January 4, 2020) was an American Episcopal priest and founder of the Interfaith Center of New York. Cathedral of St. John the Divine Morton was dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine for 25 y ...

a dean with the

Cathedral of St. John the Divine The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (sometimes referred to as St. John's and also nicknamed St. John the Unfinished) is the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. It is at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue in the Morningside Heights neighborhood ...

to create an African Episcopal Mass for the church using dance, music, and voice. He was a Brooklyn Academy of Music cultural delegate to the Dance Umbrella/Dance Alive Festival. The festival was held in Johannesburg, South Africa. Abdel is trained in modern dance, Afro-Caribbean and American modern-dance forms, ballet, jazz, traditional African dance, and martial arts. Forces of Nature Dance Theatre gives a yearly Kwanzaa at the Apollo theater in Harlem. Before moving the Kwanzaa to the Apollo it was at Aaron Davis Hall in New York City. Forces of Nature Dance Theatre company was founded in 1981. In 1990 Forces of Nature Dance Theatre company along with the

Alvin Ailey Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Cente ...

Dance company lead the procession during Nelson and

Winnie Mandela Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She serv ...

's historic visit to New York City. In 2015 Abdel became the artistic director for DanceAfrica by Chuck Davis who had started DanceAfrica in 1977. The festival brings artists from Africa, the African Diaspora and artists and local dance companies and artists and dance companies from the United States of America. In 2016, his theatre dance company Forces of Nature did a three-part PBS "Great Performances". A television special on the history of Black dance in the 20th Century. The television special was entitled 'Free to Dance'. His dance company was part of a film project what the National Association of Black Museums on the influence of African American dance in Western culture. This project was titled 'When the Spirit Moves'. The dance company also a part of an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Abdel Salaam is also artistic director of Brooklyn's DanceAfrica festival, director of the Harlem Children's Zone/Forces of Nature Youth Academy of Dance, and the artistic director of an annual Kwanzaa celebration at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. He has been on the faculties of Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Chuck Davis Dance Academy, and Lehman College. He is currently a director for the

Harlem Children's Zone The Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ) is a nonprofit organization for poverty-stricken children and families living in Harlem, providing free support in the form of parenting workshops, a preschool program, three charter schools, and child-oriented ...

and Forces of Nature Youth Academy of Dance, and Wellness at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Harlem.

Theatre Credits

Theaterworks USA as a choreographer for: "Sundiata, the Lion King of Mali" directed by David Schecter. Choreography for "

Measure for Measure ''Measure for Measure'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604 and first performed in 1604, according to available records. It was published in the ''First Folio'' of 1623. The play's plot features its ...

" directed by

Michael Rudman Michael Rudman (born February 14, 1939) is an American theatre director. Early life Rudman graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas in 1956, and four years later, graduated cum laude from Oberlin College with a degree in Government. In 1964, he ...

at the New York Shakespeare Festival's held at the Delacorte Theater at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

, New York City. Choreography for "Pecong" directed Dennis Zacek held at the Newark Symphony Hall. His theater credits as director and choreographer include: "Ju-Ju Man" at the Billie Holiday Theater in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. "Ancestral Earths" at the Apollo Theater in New York. "Ebony Magic" at the Aaronow Theater in New York City. "Sweet Saturday Night", which was a 20-city tour produced by Gordon Crowe Productions. "American Griot" at the Triplex Theater in New York, New York.

Television Credits

Choreographer for: "The Creative Spirit", WNET Channel Thirteen "Expressions in Black: Story of a People", for WABC "The Caribbean Music Awards", for BET Global Syndication "St. Francis Celebration" at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine WNET Channel Thirteen, "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters." WNET Channel Thirteen; "Great Performances: Forces of Nature."

Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language Terrestrial television, terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a divi ...

television, Mexico City "Critics Choice: Abdel Salaam", Gala TV (Mexico) Abdel appeared on the Richard Pryor Show as a performer. Great Performances "The American Dance Festival." WPIX Talk of the Town.

Noted Works

* "Eclipse: Visions of the Crescent and the Cross." Abdel describes the 'Eclipse as a "choreo-journey that explores conflicts and similarities between Islam and Christianity, from the Crusades on." * "The Life and Legend of

Marie Laveau Marie Catherine Laveau (September 10, 1801 – June 15, 1881)''Marie Laveau The Mysterious Voodoo Queen: A Study of Powerful Female Leadership in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans'' by Ina Johanna Fandrich was a Louisiana Creole people, Louisiana ...

". A dance theater work about a

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

voodoo priestess from the 18th century. * "Coming Forth by Day" * "Step One: Dance at the New Victory" * "Ode to Brahma" * "Terrestrial Wombs" * "Rhythm Legacy: The Living Books; Book IV: Club Legacy and Beyond" * "Ancestral Earths" * "Healing Seven" * "Rhythm Tree" * "Forest Guardians"

Awards and honors

* 1987 - DanceAfrica Award in Choreography * 1989 - American Choreographer of the Year nomination * 1991 to 1993 - Choreography - Fellowship from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

* 1994 to 1996 - Choreography - Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts * 1992 - Monarch Merit Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance from the National Council for Arts & Culture * 1994 - Lehman College - Silver Anniversary Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography, Teaching and Performance * 2000 - Better Family Life Lifetime Achievement Award in Arts * 2003 to 2007 - Artist in Residence, Tennessee Performing Art Center * 2004 - New York Foundation for the Arts fellow * 2007 - DanceAfrica Award in Choreography * 2013 - 41st annual

Audelco Award AUDELCO, the Audience Development Committee, Inc., was established in 1973 by Vivian Robinson to honor excellence in African American theatre in New York City. AUDELCO presents the Vivian Robinson/AUDELCO Recognition Awards (also known as Viv awar ...

for Excellence in Black Theater as Dance Company of the year * 2017 - The

Bessie Awards The New York Dance and Performance Awards, also known as the Bessie Awards, are awarded annually for exceptional achievement by independent dance artists presenting their work in New York City. The broad categories of the awards are: choreography, ...

in dance for 'Healing Seven'

Quotes

"My spirit is exalted through Art and the world of Dance! Dance and the Divine are One!" "A lot of people don't know that there is a huge contemporary dance movement on the African continent and a lot of it is postmodern." "A lot of that movement comes from the essence of taking traditional culture and rather than trying to imitate what you were raised in, it's about making a contemporary statement about the dynamism of African culture as we take our traditional language and turn it into something more modern. I feel DanceAfrica should reflect the many streams of consciousness in African dance." Abdel R. Salaam

References

External links

Dance Africa's Abdel R. Salaam Talks Carrying Forward Baba Chuck Davis' Legacy , BK Live A Question of Modesty (Forces of Nature)

Avitar Face 2 Face Interview with Abdel Salaam

Baba Chuck Davis Memorial Celebration

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salaam, Abdel R. Living people African Americans in New York City African-American male dancers American male dancers American modern dancers 20th-century African-American artists 20th-century American artists 20th-century American dancers African-American choreographers American choreographers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American people