Ezibu Muntu, the oldest African dance company in the Richmond area, will mark its 50th year with a “golden” dance program at Dogwood Dell at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5.

“This is a huge milestone, but also a fresh start on the next 50 years” said Renée Knight Lacy, 68, the longtime artistic director, lead dancer and instructor for the company whose name means “family and community” in the Yoruba language of Nigeria.

The nonprofit and largely volunteer company, which seeks to educate and enrich the lives of young and old through West African dance, rhythms, traditions and cultural arts, is still going strong, Ms. Knight Lacy said.

The more well-known Elegba Folklore Society, also an African dance and cultural arts group based in Downtown, grew out of Ezibu. Janine Y. Bell started Elegba after serving as Ezibu’s business manager for years.

The lone remaining original member, Ms. Knight Lacy said that some of those who once participated in Ezibu are returning for what amounts to a reunion and celebration of the company’s longevity.

Among them are Michelle Belle-Villa, Brenda “BoPeep” Bentley, Ayodele “Ayo” Dowl, Sabrina Johnson, Yvonne “Bon- nie” Johnson, Debra Marshall-Webb, Daphne Mosley, Camille Simmons, Mildred Thaxton, Karen Barber Thomas and Lolita Thomas, she said.

One of Ezibu Muntu’s longtime members, Faye Bettina Walker, a former VCU adjunct African dance instructor and artistic director of Ezibu Muntu African Dance Company, died on Nov. 25, 2020.

“This is a horrific blow to the total African American community up and down the East Coast from New York City to Florida,” Ms. Knight Lacy said about Ms. Walker’ death in a VCU News interview in December 2020. “Faye was the glue that kept the whole African American community together. Especially with the dance company. ... Faye had an extremely big heart.”

Ahead of its Aug. 5 dance program, Ezibu will host a banquet Friday night at Third Street Bethel AME Church.

Ms. Knight Lacy, a veteran Richmond Public Schools educator, said that Ezibu started in 1973 as a dance program at Virginia Commonwealth University.

She was just a freshman when she joined the class that dance instructor Tanya Dennis created to introduce African dance.

When Ms. Dennis stopped teaching the dance class, its mem- bers decided to continue the program as an independent club. Ms. Knight Lacy said, “and it has remained an active part of this community since.”

She and other members traveled to New York, Washington and Durham, N.C., to study dance and drumming from such masters as Melvin Deal and Charles “Chuck” Davis so the company members could offer classes to the public. Ezibu’s company also performed at community events in Richmond and elsewhere throughout the years.

A few years later, Ezibu secured its nonprofit status and later moved to 418 E. Main St., which served as its home for nearly three decades.

Now retired, Ms. Knight Lacy also introduced African dance in some schools during her educational career.

She’s proud of work that Ezibu has done to spread interest in the dance style and to showcase Richmond drumming and dance talent.

Now located at 1606 Ownby Lane in North Side, Ms. Knight Lacy said that Ezibu continues to offer classes and spread the joy of African dance.

“We are smaller than we were before the pandemic,” Ms. Knight Lacy said. “We’re now seeking new people as we rebuild for the future. The next step is to secure a permanent building to have the appropriate space. Once that happens, the sky’s the limit.”