By Marcus A. Williams

With teenage crime rates in the D.C. metropolitan area climbing almost as steadily as gas prices and the Trinidad community recently being in a state of “locked down,” it gives the impression that kids in the area just have too much idle time on their hands.

But a local West African dance instructor Victor Bah has created the African dance team is doing his part to give the students and alumni of Bishop McNamara High School a plan B.

The school’s African dance team was started six years ago with a hand full of eager adolescents ready to experience a genre of dance that didn’t include a “walk-it-out,” “one-two step,” or the District’s signature, “beat your feet” dance moves.

“I have been dancing since I was ten years old and  I have to say that when I saw the team perform I was really impressed with them and when I joined it I really enjoyed how professional everyone was,” says Hope Wiseman, rising Junior at Bishop McNamara High School. “The program is really diverse and inviting, that’s what really made me want to do it.”

The initial hand full of participants has turned into lines of students nervously waiting to audition to become a member of the school’s dance team, many saluted with “try again next school year,” or “work on a few things and come back.”

But the select few who actually make it into the dance group devote three hours of their school day learning the traditional rhythms, movements and energy that goes into the traditional African dance, Sankofa.

For the program’s sixth annual performance, dance instructor Victor Bah have had participants practicing a dance presentation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which they creatively renamed Hamile.

Hamile is a high spirited production complete with drummers, dancers and custom costumes, delivering Hamlet with an African twist.
It’s set in West Africa and offers a new and refreshing understanding of Shakespeare whose work is often described as “confusing and daunting.” 

“The students participated in the development of this concept and have taken ownership of it and are dedicated to presenting it to the general public,” says Bah.  “It is important to support the arts, teach the classics, and encourage the young generation to use their talents positively”, he continues.

Bah’s hard work with the performers has been evident in each of the five performances in the high school’s auditorium and is ready for exposure.
“I was there viewing the performance as a parent and at the end of the performance I was just thinking how I couldn’t believe it was happening in the Washington Metropolitan area,” remembers Dorthea Bazilio, parent of dancer, Brenden Bazilo and the local promoter of the dance team. “So I thought to myself ‘this has got to be taken beyond the walls of this school to a broader audience.”

Little did she know that her brief thought would quickly turn into a reality.
Over the span of four months Bazilio called almost every venue in the metropolitan area to see who would book Bishop McNamara ’s African dance team for a performance. Ready to give up, she made one last call to the Lincoln Theater and surprisingly enough they had three open slots for the performers — two more than they had expected.

When Bazilio took the news back to Bah and the African dance team they immediately started to revamp the Hamile for the “big stage” of the Lincoln Theater.
Eight additional male dancers and a full ensemble choir were added to the presentation, transforming it into an 82 member production.

Once the team wraps up at the Lincoln Theater they will not be standing around idly at the local basketball court or nearby street corner, but instead will be practicing new routines and brainstorming ideas for next year’s performance.
The African dance team will be performing at the Lincoln Theater on Friday, June 20 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, June 21, 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

For more information or to purchase tickets log onto www.thelincolntheatre.org/events.asp or call 202-397-7328