Honoring the African Spirit in the James River
Richmond, VA
No matter your age or background, the spirit and the openness of the Elegba Folklore Society will enchant you. In a way that perhaps you will expect or in a way that is totally spontaneous, your energy will blend beautifully with ours, closing the gap between performer and audience. Participants find themselves swept up in a universal cultural energy that links them with the global significance of this timeless art form.
For Riverlore, Omilade Janine Bell, founder, president and artistic director of Richmond’s Elebga Folklore Society will lead “Honoring the African Spirit in the James River:”
The Spirit of the Water. A sometimes unnoticed key of life. The Afro-Atlantic connects Africa to America, and that spirit flows through the Bay and up the Powhatan River, now the James. Water deities align us with ourselves — confidently, lovingly. They express the presence of Nature for African seafarers, who traveled before Columbus to the Americas, and for those stolen Africans who arrived as captives in heinous objectification.
The spirit of the water gives clarity for reverence, for honor and for gratitude. Bring the spirit of your Ancestors and an element of Nature to this opening moment of homage for our Ancestors, the river and its lore.