Summary

Creator:

Davis, Charles

Abstract:

Dr. Charles Rudolph "Chuck" Davis or Baba Chuck (1937-2017) was an African American dancer, choreographer, and founder of the African American Dance Ensemble, the Chuck Davis Dance Company, and the annual DanceAfrica Festival. Collection includes correspondence, paper based records, printed materials, teaching materials, programs, posters, publications, newspaper clippings, conference materials, notebooks, photographs, negatives, slides, super 8 film, videotapes, artwork, and various other types of memorabilia.

Extent:

23.25 Linear Feet

Language:

English and French

Collection ID:

ADF.018

Background

Scope and Content:

Collection includes correspondence, paper based records, printed materials, teaching materials, programs, posters, post cards, publications, newspaper clippings, conference materials, notebooks, photographs, negatives, slides, super 8 film, videotapes, artwork, and various other types of memorabilia

Biographical / Historical:

Dr. Charles Rudolph "Chuck" Davis or Baba Chuck (1937-2017) was an African American dancer, choreographer, and founder of the African American Dance Ensemble, the Chuck Davis Dance Company, and the annual DanceAfrica Festival. Born in Raleigh, North Carolina, Davis trained after high school as a naval medical corpsman in Washington, D.C., where he discovered a passion for Afro-Cuban dance. He then attended Howard University, taking classes in theater and dance. He continued his study of African dance under the guidance of Babatunde Olatunji, Eleo Pomare, and the Bernice Johnson Dance Company. After dancing with choreographers such as Martha Graham, Katherine Dunham, Arthur Mitchell, Alvin Ailey, and José Limón, Davis founded the Chuck Davis Dance Company in 1968. The American Dance Festival offered Davis a position of artist-in-residence in 1971. After ADF's move to Duke University in 1978, ADF offered Davis the position again in 1980 and later asked him to lead their Community Outreach Program, a position he held until 1987. While in Durham, Davis founded the African American Dance Ensemble in 1983. Davis maintained consistent ties with the African community by hosting Cultural Arts Safaris and working with children in Gambia. With the motto "peace, love, and respect for everybody," Davis and the African American Dance Ensemble worked with schools, children, prisoners, and various other communities. Davis received many awards and honors including the 1992 "Bessie" award for excellence, 1992 North Carolina Award in Fine Arts, the Brooklyn Academy of Music Award for distinguished service, honorary doctorates from Medgar Evers College in New York and Williams College in Massachusetts, the 2004 Dance Magazine Award, the Balasaraswati/Joy Anne Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching at the American Dance Festival in 2006, and the international Capezio Award in 2007.

Acquisition Information:

The Dr. Charles Davis Records were received by the American Dance Festival Archives as a gift.

Processing information:

Processed by ADF Archives Staff, June 2018

Arrangement:

Arranged into eight series: Correspondence, Administrative Records, Subject Files, Printed Materials, Newspaper Clippings, Notebooks, Audiovisual Materials, and Memorabilia

Rules or Conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Subjects

Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.

Subjects:

African American dance
Modern Dance -- United States
Choreographers -- United States
Modern dance -- Study and teaching -- United States
Performing arts -- Dance

Names:

African American Dance Ensemble
Chuck Davis Dance Company
DanceAfrica
Davis, Charles