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Sekou Sundiata: Udu

"It's complex," says poet and performer Sekou Sundiata about his most recent music theater work, Udu, a collaboration with composer Craig Harris. "The piece is about the way the present is informed by the past--by its ghosts, its spirits, its benevolence. It is a rare instance where art and social responsibility come together." Chronicling human slavery in both 18^th century America and present-day Africa, Udu offers revelations that are sometimes challenging or painful. But in the hands of this creative duo, the work is also a celebration of music and an affirmation of the power of language to educate, motivate, and heal. In a word, Udu is complex.

Artistically, Udu does away with the usual boundaries between actor and musician, storyteller and dancer. Chronicling the lives of Ntianu, an escaped slave in present-day Mauritania, and Udu, her ancestor who was enslaved and brought to America centuries earlier, the work is performed by an actress, five vocalists, six musicians and one poet (Sundiata). Throughout Udu, the poet integrated into the movement onstage, often circling the actress and vocalists in kaleidoscopic patterns, while the singers play multiple character roles. The music, which knits the stories of Udu and Ntianu together, is Harris's signature blend of African percussion, near-operatic vocalese, and American funk, jazz, and gospel instrumentation.

Sundiata and Harris have created five works together, including 1993's acclaimed The Circle Unbroken Is a Hard Bop, which mythologized the radical politics and Black arts movement of the 1960s. The two began developing Udu through a residency at the New World Theater's summer lab. First conceived as a retelling of the 18^th century slave narrative The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavas Vassa, the African, 1789, the work also drew on the findings of contemporary scholar Samuel Cotton's The Silent Terror, which exposes current slavery practices in Mauritania.

Writing in The New York Times about Udu's 2001 New York premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, critic Jon Pareles noted that Udu "has a lot on its mind. But the intellectual concerns are always grounded in soulful humanity." The audience reaction to the piece was strong as well. "A lot of people were disturbed by it," Sundiata recalls. "They had no idea that slavery was still going on in Africa." Each time Udu was presented, the artists held a post-performance discussion with the audience, which included Cotton and an abolitionist from either Mauritania or Sudan. As Sundiata explains, the word "abolitionist" alone proved difficult for some viewers to accept. "You can imagine," he says, "how that was hard for people--to realize that there are still abolitionists working today."

One of America's most acclaimed contemporary poets, Sundiata has a knack for addressing even the most incendiary subjects and ideas with charm, empathy, and wry humor. That ability is perfect for communicating the stories in Udu. Asked if he purposefully set out to balance so many elements and possibilities in his work, Sundiata laughs. "It's not something I'm doing consciously," he says. "It's just my way."

A 1992 Bessie Award winner and two-time Audelco Award winner for Excellence in Black Theater, Sundiata is a tireless innovator and has long been able to break through the usual boundaries separating art and politics, music and poetry. His band recently released its second CD, Long Story Short, and toured with folk-punk icon Ani DiFranco. A prominent influence on a generation of younger poets, Sundiata has been featured on national television programs such as Bill Moyers's Language of Life and recently developed a solo work, Blessing the Boats, which premiered at New York City's Aaron Davis Hall in 2002. For a lot of artists, any one of these laurels might be enough to rest on. But for Sundiata, they're all just part of his way.

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THIS PROJECT'S CATEGORIES: Performance > Music | African American Themes | History | New York | 2000