Honor Juneteenth this weekend with a conventional African dance showcase devoted to the mighty calabash | Leisure

If you walked by Mulberry Arts Studios in the past couple of weeks, there’s a chance you heard the sound of drums.

Not just any drums — traditional African drums, called djembe, that are so captivating that if you stopped paying attention for just a moment, you may have mistaken the rhythm for your own heartbeat.

It’s a taste for what’s to come at the Ware Center in downtown Lancaster this Saturday, as the African dance group Imani Edutainers practices its traditional dance routines for its annual African dance and music showcase. This year, the dancers, in every age and size, will perform “Calabash: The African Gourd.”

“The calabash was an instrument, it was the first drum,” musical director of Imani Edutainers Chinua McFarlane says. “The djembe evolved from the calabash style.” 

The calabash has both cultural and practical uses. For instance, many people in West Africa use calabashes to make bowls and utensils, while others use them to make instruments like Sèkèrè and kora, which are like a maraca and a lute-harp combination, respectively.

The simplistic, yet deeply symbolic and useful nature of the calabash inspired this year’s event. A brochure for the upcoming event describes the calabash as “the sacred vessel of creation, one of the first crops harvested for a multitude of utilitarian purposes, and as a powerful symbol of divine femininity and womanhood.”

Founder of Imani Edutainers, Sonya Mann-McFarlane, comes up with the themes for every year’s showcase. This is the dance company’s 25th annual performance, and she has never repeated a theme, Mann-McFarlane says.

“I have a thought, and then I just put things in motion. And I just sit back and see what’s going to happen,” Mann-McFarlane says. 

Mann-McFarlane started the organization in 1992 in North Carolina because she wanted her and her daughter Imani to be part of a group that was united through the love of West African culture.

“It’s how I live my life,” Mann-McFarlane says. “It’s what I do. Dance is just a piece of it.”

When she moved to Lancaster, she continued the group, naming it after her daughter. The name Imani serves a dual purpose, as the name also stands for faith and belief.

The group was informative but yet put on entertaining performances, hence where Edutainers came from. It’s half educational, half entertaining.

“It’s a safe place to just learn … and feel like you’re part of something bigger and feel like you’re actually inside the culture.” McFarlane, Sonya’s son, says.

Katie Beth Wubbels, one of the choreographers, agrees. She says she saw the dance group as a safe haven and a chance to dance with people who looked like her.

“And, they were actually teaching me about myself,” Wubbels says.

How it came together

In a typical year, Mann-McFarlane would lead classes in the spring, fall and winter. It takes about four months to conceptualize a performance like “Calabash: The African Gourd.”

Organizers at Millersville University asked Mann-McFarlane if the dancers wanted to perform on June 18. The timing couldn’t have been better, as Juneteenth, the national holiday that commemorates the emancipation of African-American slaves in the United States, is the next day. So, Mann-McFarlane took it a step further and helped to coordinate free programming at the Ware Center for Juneteenth. (More information is in the accompanying text box).

Maria Lane, one of the choreographers with Imani Edutainers who has been with the dance company since she was young, says that Juneteenth is an important day to observe because people deserve to know their history and where they came from.

“We were more than just slaves,” Lane says. “We were doctors, we were lawyers, we were all this stuff … Realizing where you come from, that helps you to know where you’re going.”

Lane, along with the other choreographers — Wubbels, Gracie Berry, Daniela Gonzalez, Abena Moya and Ashanti Jenkins, many of whom have been dancing with Imani Edutainers since they were children — helped to create this year’s program from scratch. Mann-McFarlane says it’s the first time she hasn’t choreographed any component of the show.

The choreographers took components of traditional African dances and modified them to make a routine. Each routine honors the calabash, as well as different gods that West African cultures worship and celebrate.

Berry, an artist from Philadelphia with works at the Ware Center, says she enjoys getting to learn traditional songs. 

“I don’t know specifically the translation of what the songs are saying, but I know it’s uplifting and comes from a place of joy and comfort,” Berry says. Her works from the collection “Shadowkeepers & Roothealers: The Original OGs” will be on display through June 24. Her works pay homage to Obatala, Olokun and Orunmila, who are Orisha gods from the Yoruba culture in West Africa.

There are more than 400 gods in Yoruba culture, however. Both Berry and Imani Edutainers honor the Yoruba gods, but in different ways.

“We stick to tradition,” Lane says. Though, the group is open to different interpretations of tradition, as religion that derives from West Africa can morph when brought to other countries. Gonzalez is Cuban and honors parts of the Yoruba religion, though says that Cubans handle traditions in a different manner.

The performance will be one of celebration and honor for traditions and gods from West African cultures.

“The culminating concert is just like life,” Mann-McFarlane says. “You never know what’s going to happen, just that things are going to change.”