March 4, 2022 – Orpheum Theater – Omaha, NE
On March 4th, the Orpheum Theater in Omaha, Nebraska, played host to Sankofa Danzafro. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the show was awesome. Each of the performers were spot on, and you could tell how many hours of practice they put in. According to their website, Sankofa means “to return to the root”; More than a word, it is an African philosophy that proposes knowing the past as a condition for understanding the present and being able to dimension the future. This thought has guided the path of the Sankofa Afro-Colombian Cultural Corporation, founded by Rafael Palacios in 1997, as a space dedicated to dance training and creation. Through various pedagogical and staging projects, the Corporation aims to build a differential and intercultural framework from dance between the Black Communities in Colombia and other populations whose human rights are violated.
Sankofa’s work is oriented towards the search for poetics that stem from the roots of Afro dance, developed within the framework of everyday life, the traditional and the contemporary, as an option for social bonding, personal growth and positioning of local cultures in the national dynamic.
Some of Sankofa’s achievements have obtained important recognitions, among which is the National Dance Award in 2008, awarded by the Ministry of Culture, the National Arts Award in 2017, by the University of Antioquia, Mention of the United Nations as Good Afro-descendant Social Inclusion Practices in Latin America in 2010, with the Pasos en la Tierra Project , which was developed with dance practitioners in the regions of Chocó, Buenaventura, Puerto Tejada, Urabá Antioqueño and the San Andrés and Providencia Archipelago, in agreement with the Training Program for Trainers of the Ministry of Culture between 2008 and 2016.
The Corporation has a wide repertoire of works and a stage history that includes countries such as France, Spain, Jamaica, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Uruguay, Canada, China, Panama and the United States. The show kept my attention and had powerful messages throughout. If you have the chance, check it out!
For the complete photo gallery from this show, please visit The Review Junkie Facebook page.