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Dancers bring forth spirit of Kwanzaa

Sixth day is celebration of creativity.

By NICOLE JOHNSON
Published December 26, 2006

CLEARWATER — They leap into the air with their arms stretched wide like soulful birds gliding across the Serengeti.
The dance is the koukou, and the performers are the Dundu Dole Urban African Ballet troupe.

On this day the group is preparing a routine that will be performed at St. Petersburg’s First Night New Year’s Eve celebration this weekend. But for some who will be seeing it, the dance will carry more meaning.

Sunday marks the sixth day of Kwanzaa, or kuumba, which means creativity in Swahili.

Honoring the holiday through dance is the way Jai Hinson, who heads the dance troupe through her Life Force Cultural Arts Academy, began celebrating Kwanzaa 20 years ago as a dancer in New York.

“We’d go around and dance for a lot of different groups,” Hinson said. “It is very important for African-Americans, particularly, to research and re-instill these cultural things that bring unity back to our lives, like African dance and language.”

Tuesday marked the first day of Kwanzaa, a seven-day celebration of African tradition and values created to reinforce unity within the black community. It is estimated that about 18-million people celebrate the nonreligious holiday worldwide.

Across the Tampa Bay area, families and organizations will spend this week commemorating the seven principles of Kwanzaa by lighting candles, dances, feasts and African story telling.

Born out of the civil rights and problack movements of the 1960s, Kwanzaa was created by Dr. Maulana Karenga, a college professor and activist at the University of California.

Karenga wanted the black community to reclaim its cultural identity.

Kwanzaa celebrations play out in various ways, from the solace of home where families gather around the kinara, or candleholder, and light candles, to larger community efforts that promote unity through shared African culture, spirituality and history.

And some say that is the true beauty of Kwanzaa: it can mean something different to everyone.

Rudean Crawley, founder of the North Tampa African Alliance, gathered her mother and sister together for breakfast Tuesday. The family shared fruit and lit a candle as they talked how they could improve their lives in the upcoming year.

For Treasure Montana, a 33-year-old mother of four, the celebration is about leaving a legacy.

Montana, president of the Clearwater Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., organizes a yearly Kwanzaa celebration at the historic Mount Olive African Methodist Church in Clearwater. Young people play a large role in the celebration, that includes storytelling and a large dinner.

“It’s important to participate for our youth,” said Montana, a child protection investigator for the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. “They represent the promise of tomorrow, and as elders it’s our responsibility to teach them the right way.”

Justin George contributed to this report and can be reached at jgeorge@sptimes.com or 813-226-3368. Nicole Johnson can be reached at njohnson@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4162.

[Last modified December 26, 2006, 21:15:27]