Chuck Davis (dancer)

{{Infobox person

| name = Chuck Davis

| image = Chuck_Davis.jpg

| image_size = 275px

| caption = Chuck Davis in 2010

| birth_name = Charles Rudolph Davis

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1937|01|01}}

| birth_place = Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|05|14|1937|01|01}}

| death_place = Durham, North Carolina, U.S.

| occupation = Dancer, choreographer, activist

| education = John W. Ligon High School

| alma_mater = Howard University

| years_active =

| awards =

}}

Charles Rudolph Davis, also known as Baba Chuck Davis, (January 1, 1937 – May 14, 2017) was an American dancer and choreographer whose work focused on traditional African dance. He was the founder of DanceAfrica, the Chuck Davis Dance Company, and the African American Dance Ensemble.

Early life

Charles Rudolph Davis was born on January 1, 1937, in Raleigh, North Carolina to Tony and Ethel Davis.{{Cite news|last=Fox|first=Margalit|date=2017-05-15|title=Chuck Davis, Who Brought African Dance Traditions to America, Dies at 80 (Published 2017)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/arts/dance/chuck-davis-dead.html|access-date=2021-01-28|issn=0362-4331}} He graduated from John W. Ligon High School in 1954 and went on to serve in the United States Navy for two years, also working as a hospital corpsman at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland.{{Cite web|last=Geary|first=Bob|date=2014-04-09|title=Raleigh school explores the past on its 60th Anniversary|url=https://indyweek.com/api/content/775a211c-91f0-500c-b3f9-22b7ec71459c/|access-date=2021-01-28|website=INDY Week|language=en-us}} He received nursing training at George Washington University Hospital. Davis became inspired by African dance while working at the Naval Hospital, dancing to live Afro-Cuban mambo and salsa music at the Dunbar Hotel while he was off-duty. The hotel's booking manager asked him to join the hotel's nightclub revue, leading to him joining an African dance troop. He went on to attend Howard University to study theatre and dance; training in ballet, jazz, and tap. He also studied Caribbean dance technique with Geoffrey Holder and Lorna Hodges-Mafata.{{cite web|url=http://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/arts-culture/article34193025.html|title=Transcendent, humbling period for dance titan Chuck Davis|last=McDonald|first=Thomasi|date=September 5, 2015|website=The News & Observer|accessdate=May 22, 2017}} In 1963, he took part in the March on Washington.{{cite web|url=http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/durham-county/article151707862.html|title=Peace, love and respect for Chuck Davis|last=Vaughan|first=Dawn Baumgartner|date=May 20, 2017|website=The News & Observer|accessdate=May 22, 2017}}

Career

Davis founded the Chuck Davis Dance Company in New York City in 1968, DanceAfrica in 1977, and the African American Dance Ensemble in Durham, North Carolina in 1983.{{cite web|url=http://www.wral.com/dance-master-chuck-davis-remembered-for-unifying-bridging-cultural-gaps/16710308/|title=Dance master Chuck Davis remembered for unifying, bridging cultural gaps|date=May 18, 2017|website=WRAL|accessdate=May 22, 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bam.org/artists/chuck-davis|title=Chuck Davis|publisher=Brooklyn Academy of Music|accessdate=May 22, 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://spectacularmag.com/2017/05/14/dr-chuck-davis-founder-african-american-dance-ensemble-dies/|title=Dr. Chuck Davis, Founder of African American Dance Ensemble, Dies|last=Coley|first=Phyllis|date=May 14, 2017|website=Spectacular Magazine|accessdate=May 22, 2017}} While living in New York, he was an instructor at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. In 1974, he joined the faculty of the American Dance Festival.{{cite web|url=http://www.heraldsun.com/news/local/counties/durham-county/article150496672.html|title=African American Dance Ensemble icon Chuck Davis dies at 80|last=Bellamy|first=Cliff|date=May 14, 2017|website=The Herald Sun|accessdate=May 22, 2017}} He traveled to Africa over fifty times to study African dance techniques.{{cite web|url=http://www.wral.com/peaceful-founder-of-durham-african-american-dance-group-dies-/16701553/|title=Peaceful founder of Durham African American dance group dies|date=May 14, 2017|website=WRAL|accessdate=May 22, 2017}} He served as a panelist for the National Endowment of the Arts and was a recipient of the AARP Certificate of Excellence, the North Carolina Dance Alliance Award, the North Carolina Artist Award, the North Carolina Award in Fine Arts, and was inducted into the North Carolina Order of the Long Leaf Pine.{{cite web|url=http://abc11.com/society/chuck-davis-african-american-dance-icon-dies-at-80/1992208/|title=Chuck Davis, African American dance icon, dies at 80|date=May 14, 2017|website=ABC 11|accessdate=May 22, 2017}} He served on the board of the North Carolina Arts Council from 1991 until his death in 2017. Davis worked with the NC Arts Council to develop and launch the NC Black Folk Heritage Tour in the late 1980s and early 1990s.{{Cite web |title=North Carolina Mourns the Passing of Chuck Davis, Ambassador and Icon of African Dance |url=https://www.ncarts.org/north-carolina-mourns-passing-chuck-davis-ambassador-and-icon-african-dance |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=www.ncarts.org |language=en}} In 1996 he received a $100,000 grant from the National Dance Residency Program for the African American Dance Ensemble. In 1998 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Medgar Evers College.{{cite web|url=http://www.blackstarnews.com/others/extras/bams-danceafrica2012.html|title=BAM's DanceAfrica2012|date=May 18, 2012|website=Black Star News|accessdate=22 May 2017}} He was an adjunct professor at North Carolina Central University in the Department of Theatre and Duke University.{{cite web|url=http://www.africanamericandanceensemble.org/index.html|title=Dr. Charles R. Davis Dancer for Peace|publisher=African American Dance Ensemble|accessdate=May 22, 2017}} Davis was awarded two Bessie Awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.{{cite web|url=http://www.mancc.org/artists/chuck-davis/|title=Chuck Davis|publisher=Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography|accessdate=May 22, 2017}}

Along with the Durham dance scene, Davis was an instrumental leader in the African-American community. He led the Hayti Heritage Center's annual celebration of Kwanzaa and served as the grand marshal of one of Durham's first Mardi Gras parades.

Davis also performed as a featured dancer for the Eleo Pomare Dance Company.{{cite web | title=Eleo Pomare: Biography | website=The HistoryMakers | url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/eleo-pomare-41 | access-date=26 August 2022}}

Death and legacy

File:BabaChuckDavis.jpg

Davis died of cancer on May 14, 2017.{{cite web|url=http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/remembering-baba-chuck-davis-legendary-voice-of-the-african-dance-diaspora/Content?oid=6286511|title=Remembering Baba Chuck Davis, Legendary Voice of the African Dance Diaspora|last=Woods|first=Byron|date=May 17, 2017|website=Indy Week|accessdate=May 22, 2017}} A visitation was held on June 2, 2017, at Fisher Memorial United Holy Church in Durham. A community celebration of his life was held the same day at the Hayti Heritage Center. The funeral was held on June 3, 2017, at Union Baptist Church in Durham.

The legacy of Davis was honored at the 48th annual Bimbé Festival and at the 82nd season of the American Dance Festival in 2017.{{cite web|url=http://www.heraldsun.com/news/local/counties/durham-county/article151730422.html|title=48th annual Bimbé Festival pays tribute to the late Chuck Davis|last=Bellamy|first=Cliff|date=May 20, 2017|website=The Herald Sun|accessdate=May 22, 2017}}

In July 2019 Davis was posthumously inducted into the Wake County Public School System's Hall of Fame.{{cite news|url=https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article232448357.html|newspaper=The News & Observer|title=African American dance icon Chuck Davis named to Wake school system's Hall of Fame|date=2019-07-09|first=T. Keung|last=Hui}}

Davis was recognized as a Main Honoree by the Sesquicentennial Honors Commission at the Durham 150 Closing Ceremony in Durham on November 2, 2019. The posthumous recognition was bestowed upon 29 individuals "whose dedication, accomplishments and passion have helped shape Durham in important ways."{{Cite book|last=Durham 150|url=http://archive.org/details/durham-150-closing-ceremony-program|title=Durham 150 Closing Ceremony Program|date=2019-11-02}}

References

External links

[https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip_529-bz6154fx5v "Interview with Chuck Davis"] from KUT's In Black America series on the American Archive of Public Broadcasting, May 7, 1985.

Category:1937 births

Category:2017 deaths

Category:African-American choreographers

Category:American choreographers

Category:African-American male dancers

Category:American male dancers

Category:African-American nurses

Category:American nurses

Category:Bessie Award winners

Category:Deaths from cancer in North Carolina

Category:Dance in North Carolina

Category:Dancers from North Carolina