Founding Directors

  • Abdel R. Salaam

    Executive Artistic Director/Choreographer

    Mr. Salaam was born in Harlem in 1950, and performed as a principal dancer and soloist throughout the 70's in the Joan Miller Chamber Arts/Dance Players, the Fred Benjamin Dance Company, Ron Pratt’s Alpha Omega 1-7 Theatrical Dance Company, and Otis Sallid’s New Art Ensemble and ultimately became Associate Artistic Director of the internationally acclaimed Chuck Davis Dance Company. He also performed as a guest artist with American Ballet Theatre's Keith Lee's company, Ballet of Contemporary Arts as well as Nanette Bearden's Contemporary Chamber Dance Theater. In 1981, Mr. Salaam co-founded Forces of Nature Dance Theatre with his partner and Executive Managing Director Olabamidele Husbands along with his wife and former principle dancer/soloist, Dyane Harvey.
    Continue Reading →

  • Olabamidele (Dele) Hart-Husbands

    Chief Executive Officer

    Olabamidele Husbands (Dele) is the Chief Executive Officer and Director of Education for the Forces of Nature Dance Theater Company, which she co-founded in 1981 in partnership with Executive Artistic Director/ Choreographer, Abdel Salaam. In addition to her administrative work she has served as a Master West African Dance Teacher and Rehearsal Director for the company and performed as a Principal Dancer since 1986. She carried the company’s mission to Nigeria, West Africa in 1982 where she served as a Senior Arts Fellow at the University of Calabar and the University of Port Harcourt working with the famed Nigerian Playwright Ola Rotimi and Somali author Nurridin Farrah. While there she produced and hosted a weekly television series entitled “The Forces of Nature” which aired until her return to the United States in 1984. Ms. Husbands toured extensively throughout Nigeria as a dancer, actress and vocalist working with famed African musicians, Geraldo Pino (Sierre Leone), Manu Dibango (Cameroun); guest artist appearances with Fela and Roy Ayers (Nigeria) and a command performance for the first civilian President, Shehu Shagari.
    Continue Reading →

  • Dyane Harvey-Salaam

    Assistant to the Artistic Director/Company Member

    Dyane Harvey is the Assistant to the Director of Forces of Nature Dance Theatre , former principal soloist and has been a founding member since its inception in 1981. She has also performed as principal soloist with the Eleo Pomare Dance Company for over 20 years, having toured the United States, Italy, Australia and Lagos, Nigeria as U.S. representative in F.E.S.T.A.C. (the Second Black and African Festival of Art and Culture). Her relationship with Mr. Pomare is timeless as he is responsible for shaping her approach to movement and the necessary theatricality in creating relevant art. In 2009 she reconstructed two of his seminal solos ( Roots and Hex) and offered a presentation on his life as part of “The Black Dance Project” at the Centre National de la Danse in Paris.
    Continue Reading →