A Chain of Meetings Leads to “Let My People Go”

One of the things I am most grateful for is the outstanding Board of The Avodah Dance Ensemble during the time I was Artistic Director.  The members were incredibly supportive.  Even though they all had very busy lives, and were prominent leaders in their fields, they made themselves available to answer questions and provide advice when asked.

In the spring of 1988, I wanted to take Avodah in a new direction particularly focused on building bridges and understanding between communities, rather than continuing to focus on only the liturgy and text of the Jewish community.  I decided to ask some of the Board members for ideas. Living in Westfield, NJ and being a member of Temple Emanu-El’s community, I went to Avodah Board member and Temple Emanu-El’s Rabbi, Charles Kroloff.

Sitting in his office one afternoon, we began brainstorming together.  Chuck suggested that maybe there was something Avodah could do to build better relationships with the Black community.  He pointed out that feelings were still strained between the two communities due to Jesse Jackson’s remark in 1984 referring to Jews as “Hymie” and New York City as “Hymie-town” when Jackson had made a bid for the Democratic nomination for President.  Chuck pointed out that Temple Emanu-El and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Plainfield, a predominately Black congregation, had pursued joint activities for several years.  They particularly focused on home improvement and rehabilitation for the Black community in Plainfield.  An evening program that focused on dance relevant to both the Black and Jewish community would be a natural project/fundraiser for the two congregations.

So the seed was planted, but I had no idea what the dance project would look like or with whom I would collaborate.  When I mentioned the idea to Avodah Board President Stephen Bayer, he suggested I contact Larry Rubin of the Jewish Committee Relations Advisory Council and see if he had any ideas.  Larry and I lunched together and discovered that we had both been on the faculty of Federal City College (now the University of the District of Columbia) during its first two years (1968–1970) when it was struggling to define itself. We had fun remembering the faculty meetings that occasionally became power struggles for points of view and were reported regularly in the two Washington newspapers.  I mentioned I was looking for a project that would be of interest to both the Black and Jewish communities and that I hoped to collaborate with a Black choreographer, although I wasn’t sure who that would be.

He suggested that I look at some of the poetry of James Weldon Johnson and mentioned in particular that his family often included Johnson’s poem “Let My People Go” from God’s Trombones as part of their Passover seder. I was vaguely aware of James Weldon Johnson, knowing he was a famous poet (1871-1938) and had also written a poem “The Creation” that Geoffrey Holder had choreographed for his wife Carmen de Lavallade.  I thanked him for the suggestion and soon after our lunch I found a copy of Johnson’s God’s Trombones:  Seven Negro Sermons in Verse, which included both “The Creation” and “Let My People Go.”  Yes . . . I could see that “Let My People Go” could make an ideal project for Avodah.  Now to find a collaborator.

Usually when I had the opportunity to collaborate I strived to find someone I could learn from as well as enjoy working with.  Thinking of prominent Black choreographers making a difference, I thought of Louis Johnson.

Louis has an amazing list of credits, including an early performance in Jerome Robbins’ Ballade after studying at the School of American Ballet on scholarship.  In the 50’s when ballet opportunities were scarce for Black dancers, he found his way to Broadway, appearing in Damn Yankees.  Soon he was choreographing for Broadway and movies.  In 1970 he choreographed and received a Tony nomination for the show Purlie.  In 1978 he choreographed the movie The Wiz.  His pieces have been in the repertories of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Philadanco, and Dance Theatre of Harlem, to name a few.  In 1986 he was appointed head of dance at Henry Street Settlement and would continue there until 2003.

Avodah also had a history with Henry Street Settlement, having performed there in the fall of 1979 for three weekends.  While Henry Street had begun in 1893 focused on a wide range of social services, the arts had played an important role from at least 1915, when early modern dancers such as Martha Graham and later Agnes de Mille shared their choreography in the small theatre playhouse.  Avodah’s performances were part of the American Jewish Theater’s program, but more about that in a later blog.

Hmm . . . I wondered if any of my contacts from nearly 10 years earlier could introduce me to Louis.  Barbara Tate, the Director of the Henry Street’s Arts for Living Center (now called the Abrons Art Center) had been there in 1979 when we performed, and I remembered meeting her.  She was still there and in fact was playing an increasingly larger role in the program, with her title changing from Administrative Director to Director.  Before she died in 2002, the summer camp program was renamed the Barbara L. Tate Summer Arts Camp, reflecting “Ms. Tate’s lifelong commitment to bringing the arts to the community, to encouraging new talent, and providing employment for artists” (Fall 2002, News from Henry Street Settlement).

A phone call to Barbara Tate and then a visit soon after – and Louis and I were on our way out to lunch.

While I can’t remember exactly where we ate on the lower East Side, I can remember so clearly the smile on Louis’s face and sparkle in his eye when he proclaimed that the James Weldon Johnson poem “Let My People Go” would be an ideal thing for collaboration.  He could hear the traditional chanting of Biblical text juxtaposed with the singing of the spiritual “Go Down Moses.”  And thus was born our collaboration and the seed of “Let My People Go.”

Resource:  God’s Trombones:  Seven Negro Sermons in Verse by James Weldon Johnson; drawings by Aaron Douglas; lettering by C.B. Falls.  Penguin Books. (First published in the U.S. by Viking Press 1927.  Published in Penguin Books 1976 and reprinted 1978, 1980.)

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