Queens’ diaspora

Abstract

This article examines Fela!, the Broadway show about Nigerian musical icon Fela Anikulapo Kuti (1938–1997). Anchored by interviews conducted with its cast members, critical viewings of the musical, and a consideration of Kuti's performance repertoire, it reads Fela! through the terms of dance, diaspora, and sexuality. The Queens – Kuti's performance collaborators and wives – raise important questions about movement, nation-making, and authenticity. Rather than the Queens' dance serving as a sign of inherent African female sexuality, this article argues that their movement represents the efficacy of dance to constitute national identities, in spite of being undergirded by a cultural hybridity that characterizes African diasporic expressive cultures.

Keywords:

• Fela Kuti
• Queens
• diaspora
• African dance
• sexuality

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. ‘Fela’ refers to the musical's character, while ‘Kuti’ refers to Fela Kuti himself.

2. Fela! received Tony Awards for ‘Best Choreography’, ‘Best Costume Design’, ‘Best Sound Design’; ‘Outstanding Broadway Chorus’ Award from the Actors Equity Association's Advisory Committee On Chorus Affairs; Outer Critics Circle Award for ‘Outstanding Choreographer’; Obie ‘Distinguished Performance Award: Sahr Ngaujah’ (2009); Lucille Lortel Awards (2009) for ‘Outstanding Musical’, ‘Outstanding Choreographer’, ‘Outstanding Costume Design’, ‘Outstanding Scenic Design’; Fred & Adele Astaire Awards for ‘Choreographer’ and ‘Female Dancers’ among others.

3. Tony Allen explains:

They had gone to Whiskey a Go-Go where they had dancers on platforms and cages in short skirts and go-go boots. The entire atmosphere made an impression on Fela's mind. When they came back to Lagos, they set up the Afro-Spot [nightclub] at the Empire Hotel. They had Dele dancing and a bunch of other girls in these pedestal cages; no one in Nigeria had ever seen anything like this. (Dumas 2010, 77)