About Our Repertoire

Carrying the torch for culture for 51 years, ever-relevant, Kulu Mele has been crucial to a cultural movement asserting African-grounded values and practices. From the 1950s, Baba Robert Crowder’s formative relationships with cultural and artistic luminaries (Saka Acquaye, Julito Collazo, Katherine Dunham, Maya Deren, others) put Kulu Mele among a vanguard actively pursuing African diasporan cultural investigation and practice. Maintaining relationships with continental and Cuban musicians and drummers over five decades, our repertoire reflects this vital history and active creative exploration with important artists from Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Cuba and African America including current and former Kulu Mele and Philadelphia dancers, musicians and choreographers. Generally, a Kulu Mele performance includes work from Cuba, West Africa, and a hip-hop piece. We offer dance-dramas with powerful and relevant stories. We can teach anyone to dance. We get people up and moving. We feed your spirit.

Main Stage and Family Performances (samples of past programs)

An Evening of Repertoire – features traditional Afro-Cuban and West African favorite dances and rhythms. Original and commissioned choreography and music by master artists from throughout the Diaspora celebrate the diversity of African dance. The performance connects traditional African dance with American contemporary and urban dance. With your purpose, themes, community, audience, and attendees in mind, we converse and work with you to curate a program suited to your needs, budget and calendar.

Sacred Journeys: An uplifting celebration of faith and the human spirit – comprised of four dances and two musical interludes, with a range of choreography in African and Afro-Cuban tradition. Elegba - Choreographed by Dorothy Wilkie. In Yoruba tradition, Elegba is the messenger of the gods; he holds the key to all the doors (good and bad) and is known for his mischievous ways. Elegba dances with a forked stick in his hand, which he uses to snare the unwary. Columbia - Afro-Cuban dance, similar to a Rumba, featuring Kulu Mele’s male dancers and guest artists. Palo - Choreographed by Danys “La Mora” Pérez Prades. From the Congo by way of Cuba, Palo begins with a salute to the ancestors and invokes the power of the earth. The dance also depicts the classic battle of good against evil; as in all of life, there is no resolution. Babalu-Aye - Choreographed by Dorothy Wilkie. While farming one day, the women of a mythical village are sickened by tainted water. An elder woman invokes the spirit of Babalu to return them to strength and power. Drum Interlude - Featuring Kulu Mele’s dynamic battery of drummers. Bao – This celebratory dance is from the Toma ethnic group of Guinea. The dance marks two young girls’ initiation into adulthood as they become ready for motherhood, work, and family.