ABDEL SALAAM

 

Mr. Salaam’s theatrical credits as a choreographer include: “Sundiata, the Lion King of Mali” directed by David Schecter at Theaterworks USA; “Measure for Measure” directed by Michael Rudman at the New York Shakespeare Festival’s Delacorte Theater; and “Pecong” directed Dennis Zacek at the Newark Symphony Hall. As a director/choreographer, Mr. Salaam’s credits include: “Ju-Ju Man” at the Billie Holiday Theater in New York; “Ancestral Earths” at the Apollo Theater in New York; “Ebony Magic” at the Aaronow Theater in New York; “Sweet Saturday Night”, a 20-city tour by Gordon Crowe Productions; and “American Griot” at the Triplex Theater in New York.

In television, Mr. Salaam served as choreographer for: “The Creative Spirit”, WNET Channel Thirteen; “Expressions in Black: Story of a People”, WABC; “The Caribbean Music Awards”, BET Global Syndication; “St. Francis Celebration” at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, WNET Channel Thirteen; “Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters,” WNET Channel Thirteen; “Great Performances: Forces of Nature”, Telemundo, Mexico City; “Critics Choice: Abdel Salaam”, Galavision, Mexico City. As a performer, Mr. Salaam appeared on the Richard Pryor Show, Great Performances “The American Dance Festival”, and WPIX Talk of the Town.

Through his company Forces of Nature Dance Theater, Mr. Salaam has served as a featured director and choreographer in the first and second “Belize International Dance Festival;” the “First International Black Dance Festival” at the Albany Theater in London; “Propaganda Musicale E Danza” in Sardinia & Sicilia, Italy; “The Gran Festival Internacional De Mexico,” at the Teatro Jimenez Rueda, Mexico City; “The American Dance Festival” at Sejoung Center for the Performing Arts” in Seoul, Korea; “The Aruba International Dance Festival” in Aruba, Central America; and the “Twelfth Annual Festival for Peace” in Moscow, Russia.

NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 27: Abdel R. Salaam attends the Kwanzaa Celebration Regeneration Night at The Apollo Theater on December 27, 2014, in New York City. (Photo by Shahar Azran/WireImage)

Mr. Salaam’s choreographic commissions include: “The Forest Guardian”, Sakoba Dance Theater in London, England; Buffalo Soldiers at Erie Bay Front Bllet in Erie, PA, “Buffalo Soldiers” and “Lamban Taino”, Ballet Isleno de Puerto Rico in Punta Borinquen, Puerto Rico; “The Bittercup Heals” and “Pendulum” Contemporary Chamber Dance Company, New York, NY; “Ebony Magic” Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center, Brooklyn, NY; “Visions at Goree”, African American Dance Ensemble, Durham, NC; and “Dance Tek Warriors” Union Dance Theater, London, England.  Additionally, Mr. Salaam has received two choreographic commissions from Florida A&M University to choreograph “Buffalo Soldiers” and “Afro-House” and Hofstra University where he developed “Le Mer Rouge.”  He has choreographed six “Winter Solstice” celebrations for Paul Winter at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. Most recently, Mr. Salaam and his company received a grant through the New England Foundation for the Arts/ National Dance Project to develop “Rhythm Legacy: The Living Books” which premiered in 2001 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Harvey Theater.  The project was then awarded additional funding to tour the United States during its 2002-2003 season.

Forces of Nature at Central Park Summer Stage

In 1979, Mr. Salaam received a Certificate of Study from the University of Ife in Nigeria for Yoruba Arts and Culture and completed a special workshop series in Dakar, Senegal in Mandinke and Wolof culture. He has served on the faculties of the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC; Lehman College of the City University of New York, and at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre as Guest Instructor in Choreography and the Influence of African Dance on American Modern Dance and Culture.