By Rashidah Fowler
“Dap, Snap, and Wrap,” the second installment of York’s Male Initiative’s Black History Month celebration, was led by André M. Zachery, an artist, dancer, and scholar of the Renegade Performance Group based in Brooklyn. The interactive workshop focused on the rich and complex history of African American culture and how much of it is rooted in improvisation, the need for community, and rebellion.
The DAP, a handshake still prevalent in today’s culture standing for “dignity and pride,” was created as a greeting among Black combat troops during the Vietnam War. A Snap, a form of expression born in the Queer community of Black and Brown people, is used as punctuation and/or substitution for words. The Wrap, specifically a Tignon, was a head covering enforced on free Black women in the 1780’s to subjugate them. In their rebellion, Black women redefined and redesigned the Tignon by adorning them with colorful fabrics, jewels, and feathers.
The two-hour presentation began with Zachery introducing himself to the crowd, and for accessibility purposes describing himself in full detail for the visually impaired. “I’m wearing a forest green jumpsuit with some black sneakers and black Jays. I am a dark-skinned Black man with black hair, and I have a beard.” Short in stature but big in presence, Zachery entertained the York community with his knowledge and provided video commentary to support the information.
Zachery served as a DAP Instructor on the set of Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods” starring Delroy Lindo and the late Chadwick Boseman. The 7-minute clip he showed went into full detail on the many versions in which a DAP can be created and how different forms of the handshake signified military branch, rank, or region that a soldier was from. The clip even referenced the fist-bump of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as a form of a DAP. With a volunteer, Zachery improvised a DAP and set it to music, before encouraging the rest of the audience to do the same.
Similarly for the Snap portion of the event, Zachery shared a clip from the 1989 Marlon Riggs’ film “Tongues Untied,” showing how to snap “like a diva.” Underscored by a boppy jazz tune, the clip demonstrates the ways in which one can communicate through finger snaps. Many members of the audience were excited to share their conversations through finger snaps, reminiscing on their childhood experiences watching their elders do the same.
With the growing discord in America and subsequently the world, Zachery issued words of encouragement about knowing our cultures and the importance of sharing space together. “Black culture is a lot of work,” said Zachery. “And the work is coming together in communion. Going to classes. Not forgetting recipes. There’s so much of our history within scholarship, within books, within readings and it’s crucial. That’s something I’ve never taken for granted, even to this day as an artist.”
Zachery is an artist-in-residence at York College and Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (JCAL) through the CUNY Dance Initiative facilitated by Professore Emily Verla Bovino, Art History Coordinator at York College. Additionally, you can find out more about Andre M. Zachery and his work with Renegade Performance Group through their website, RenegadePG.com
