Uzima Drum and Dance Company

By Cynthia Connell Davis

"In Africa, there is a dance for everything." Thus, Director Pierre Batiste (actor and self-taught dancer) begins talking about UZIMA! I am at the Dancenter on Hickory Road in South Bend, where UZIMA! drummers have set up their djembe (pronounced "jim-bay") and the three-drum dum dum ("doom doom"). The dancers are about to rehearse. "Dance," Pierre continues, "is so embedded in the culture that even finding a word for 'dance' – we couldn't."

The company finally settled on the Swahili word UZIMA! which means "wholeness, health, and life." The company blends all forms of dance – ballet, jazz, modern, and contemporary – with a foundation in West African dance. They rehearse here and at DeBartolo, Notre Dame. They give two concerts a year, in January for Martin Luther King Day and in June for Juneteenth.

A Dance for Everything

West African dance arose from the way the people understood life and how to live. The indigenous tribes dance as part of the changing seasons of life. Dance celebrates births, mourns deaths, and celebrates planting and harvest. There is something magical in the movements of the body in any form of dance. It connects the individual with the rhythms and essence of life. UZIMA! recreates these values.

In 2012, Kelly Burget ("bur-gay") founded UZIMA! Drum and Dance Company. A former Alvin Ailey dancer transplanted from New York and a choreographer, she brought together people from many backgrounds to create unity. She and Pierre design the dance. They have used unity, jubilee, and Black history as themes for concerts. (see online: DeBartolo Performing Arts Series) UZIMA's uniqueness isn't only in the movement style they create; it is equally rooted in cultural values. Kelly says, "One of the things I love about African dance is that it was never created to be a performance. It was created so that the tribe, the village, the community, has a way of journeying through life together"

Michelle Jewell, Director of Communications, discovered UZIMA! in 2019. She says, "Competitiveness? None. We lift each other up. We give each other praise. UZIMA! welcomes everyone. It's inclusive. Regardless of age, body type, or any of that. We're family. We have each other's back."

She had a devastating personal crisis – her brother died. Despite this, she decided to attend the rehearsal that night. Everyone helped her. The support she received, plus dancing with her "family of dancers," lifted her up. Just as the people of West Africa dance, so do they dance in South Bend.

Dance is jam-packed with meaning. In fact, it's probably the most meaning-filled activity that living creatures do. Humans probably learned from plants and animals. I remember a summer with a prolonged drought. The morning it rained, on the front lawn, the deer leapt and frolicked and cavorted. Everyone could feel them celebrating. And so, the remarkable thing about writing about dance is there is so much to say about its meaning. Yet, when trying to describe what one sees, words fail. We can only say how it feels to watch. Shouts, chants, cries, clapping, leaping, the thud of graceful bodies falling and touching the ground, jumps, lunges. "Sway, turn, twist," cries Pierre, demonstrating the movement. "Again! bop, bop, bop…."