- Kumasi Allen: One, two, three, one, two, three.
[drumming]
- She is known as "Mama Ferne."
For more than 50 years,
she's been the mother of African dance in Wisconsin.
- Ko-Thi has done a lot of firsts in this state.
- Ko-Thi is an internationally renowned dance company,
and Ferne Caulker Bronson is its driving force.
- Kumasi Allen: Every step of African dance
that's done within Wisconsin
has come from Mama Ferne.
And without Mama Ferne,
Wisconsin wouldn't have African dancing, honestly.
Whoo!
- The name Ko-Thi is Sherbro, which means "to go Black."
It was very brave of me to call the company this in the '60s,
but I did that intentionally
because it-- "Ko" meaning "to go," as to seek, to discover
and "Thi" meaning "black."
The color black.
We've actually seen a massive change occur
in terms of how people perceive the African dance and music.
[drumming] - Whoo!
? ?
- In the early years, Wisconsin wasn't so welcoming.
- We're talking in the '60s.
We came out in African dress and attire and performed.
It was to, bluntly put, people screaming at us,
"Go back to Africa where you came from."
I was young and naive. [laughs]
And I don't think I had any idea how hard it was going to be.
No idea, no idea.
- Her idea to form an African dance company
started on a day of deep reflection
at an infamous trading depot in Ghana
built by the Portuguese to export enslaved Africans.
- Sitting there at Elmina Castle
and realizing that there was a disconnect
between what Africans in Africa in the '60s thought
with those Black people who live in that country called America,
that's when the light came on for me.
Here we are in the 51st year.
[drumming]
- What Ferne brought to Wisconsin and then the world
was African dance,
music,
and empowerment.
- When you get in a room with people
and the drums are going,
the music is going,
and the dance is going,
you can actually hold on to something,
that's called spirit.
[singing]
This is why the drum and African dance
was banned on the plantation.
They knew that there was something powerful there.
- Ferne elevated that power, becoming a trailblazer
at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee.
- I think about her work as an academic and scholar.
She's always been a frontrunner in that sense.
She was the first person to implement African dance classes
to build a degree program,
a dance program that specialized in this art form.
- African dance wasn't looked at as an art form.
It was more so looked at as a tribal dance.
? ? - Whoo!
[cheers and applause]
[percussion and singing]
- As the years passed, Ferne built Ko-Thi Dance Company
into a beacon of African pride.
- When you step into this room, you are African.
It used to be shunned
and for a long time growing up as a kid,
I was almost embarrassed to be African.
- I think Ko-Thi's vision is to help people
to be able to dream... themselves.
Because when you can dream yourself,
then nothing can stop you.
Mandela taught us that.
Gandhi taught us that.
Martin Luther King taught us that.
It's the most beautiful thing in the world.
Alright, here we go.
From within the circle of truth,
- Group: We will always find continuity, faith, and love.
- I think it's about reinstilling a connection
so people can get back in touch with their soul power...
[drumming]
...that Black people are beautiful,
that Black people can be happy,
and can be flamboyant,
and can be colorful,
and can be joyful.
[singing]
Black people can embrace other people
because we're confident in who we are.
- After more than 50 years, Ferne is in transition,
mentoring the dance troop's next leaders
with wisdom and grace.
- I call myself "the whisperer" because I feel my role now
is to help their path in the leadership of the company
be a little easier than mine was.
Musical director of Ko-Thi Dance Company, Kumasi.
[cheers and applause]
- In African culture, you have to respect your mama.
Even though she's not our direct mother,
she continuously gives us knowledge of path.
When we're wrong, she corrects us.
- When we say "Mama Ferne," we take that very seriously.
It's out of respect for her.
[cheers and applause]
It is the place where I became an artist.
- For Mama Ferne, the days of dancing
have given way to the rhythm of writing.
- I hope my legacy will be that in the African tradition,
my name will be talked about forever.
It took crazy,
and it took crazy to start Ko-Thi Dance Company,
and it's going to take crazy to keep it going.
I found a bunch of crazy young people
who believe in a crazy dream
and a crazy old woman
who are crazy enough
to be just this side of successful.
Crazy! [chuckles joyfully]