Senate Resolution No. 2127

BY: Senator PARKER

COMMENDING the Brooklyn Academy of Music upon the
occasion of hosting its 49th Annual DanceAfrica
Festival from May 16-28, 2026

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to recognize and
pay tribute to those institutions of high purpose and worthy
accomplishment whose enduring commitment to artistic excellence,
cultural preservation, and the celebration of the African diaspora has
enriched the civic and cultural life of the State of New York; and

WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to
commend the Brooklyn Academy of Music upon the occasion of hosting its
49th Annual DanceAfrica Festival from May 16-28, 2026, with main stage
performances held May 22-25 at the Howard Gilman Opera House in
Brooklyn, New York; and

WHEREAS, DanceAfrica is the nation's largest festival dedicated to
African and diasporic dance and music, and stands as the Brooklyn
Academy of Music's longest-running program; born in Brooklyn and grown
into a national institution, DanceAfrica has for nearly five decades
transformed BAM and the surrounding Fort Greene neighborhood into a
living gathering place for African, Caribbean, and African American
artistic traditions, welcoming artists, audiences, and community members
from across the world in a celebration that is at once a festival, a
homecoming, and an act of cultural affirmation; and

WHEREAS, The 49th Annual DanceAfrica Festival unfolds under the
theme "Uganda: Umoja/Mirembe/Obulungi - Unity, Peace, Beauty," honoring
the East African nation's past, celebrating its present, and rejoicing
in its future, a theme that resonates deeply within a Brooklyn community
whose cultural ties to the African continent and its diaspora are woven
into the very fabric of our borough's identity; and

WHEREAS, The festival is anchored by the triumphant return of
Uganda's Ndere Troupe, one of Africa's most celebrated dance and music
ensembles, performing on BAM's main stage for the first time since 2007,
joined by Asase Yaa African American Dance Theater, celebrating their
own 25th anniversary with a newly revamped presentation, alongside the
DanceAfrica Spirit Walkers and the Billie's Youth Arts Academy Dance
Ensemble, now in its 30th consecutive year as part of the festival; and

WHEREAS, In keeping with the sacred tradition that has opened every
DanceAfrica since its founding, a libation ceremony will precede the
opening performance on May 22, conducted by the DanceAfrica Council of
Elders on the steps of BAM's Peter Jay Sharp Building, honoring those
who have passed to the ancestral grounds and grounding the festival in
the spiritual continuity that connects past, present, and future; and

WHEREAS, DanceAfrica 2026 extends far beyond the main stage,
encompassing FilmAfrica screenings curated by the African Film Festival,
dance classes co-presented with the Mark Morris Dance Center, visual art
installations, and community programming developed in partnership with

the Billie Holiday Theatre at Restoration Plaza, Weeksville Heritage
Center, the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), and
the Fort Greene Park Conservancy, ensuring that the festival's gifts are
shared across every corner of our borough; and

WHEREAS, The beloved DanceAfrica Bazaar returns to the streets
surrounding BAM on May 23-25, transforming Fort Greene into a vibrant
open-air marketplace featuring more than 150 African, Caribbean, and
African American artisans, designers, chefs, and entrepreneurs,
embodying the festival's vision of cultural celebration as an act of
community and economic empowerment; and

WHEREAS, DanceAfrica has always understood that the preservation and
transmission of African diasporic culture is not merely an artistic
endeavor but a political and spiritual one; an insistence, in the face
of erasure, that the traditions, stories, and movement vocabularies of
the African world are worthy of the grandest stages, the deepest
reverence, and the widest audiences; and

WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is proudly moved to honor the
Brooklyn Academy of Music, its leadership, its artists, its cultural
partners, and the community of Brooklyn that has made DanceAfrica its
own for 49 extraordinary years; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commend the Brooklyn Academy of Music upon the occasion of hosting its
49th Annual DanceAfrica Festival from May 16-28, 2026, and to extend
congratulations to all artists, performers, vendors, educators, and
community members who make this annual celebration of African diasporic
culture one of the great cultural institutions of our State and Nation;
and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to President Tamara McCaw and the staff of the Brooklyn
Academy of Music, and to the artists and cultural partners of the 49th
Annual DanceAfrica Festival, in recognition of their profound and
enduring contribution to the cultural life of Brooklyn, New York, and
the African diaspora.