Davis, Chuck (Charles Rudolph Davis), 1937–2017), American dancer, choreographer, and proponent of African dance, b. Raleigh, N.C. After serving in the navy, Davis studied with Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, Katherine Dunham, and others. He joined the Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji's dance troupe in 1963 and formed the Chuck Davis Dance Company in 1968. In 1977 he founded DanceAfrica, a festival celebrating the dance and folkoric traditions of Africa and the African diaspora, and served as its artistic director (emeritus after 2015). He also founded the African American Dance Ensemble in Durham, N.C., in 1983.
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