After all the turkey, the mashed potatoes,and the gravy, what I’m most grateful for this week was having seen Vuyani Dance Theatre‘s performance of “Beautiful Me.” And for Miami Dade College’s Cultura del Lobo series that consistently brings us such artistic triumphs.

Maqoma had me before “hello,” before he was even visible, with a single exhalation emitted from the darkened stage at the Byron Carlyle. Before an appreciative audience filled with Miami choreographers and dancers — including Teo Castellanos of D-Projects, Augusto Soledade of Brazz Dance Theater, Tiffany Madera of Hanan Arts Cooperative, and Afua Hall — Maqoma moved with preternaturally relaxed assurance. He fused traditional South African dance with classical Western and Indian technique, and short, effective bursts of dialogue.

The most moving passage for me was when Maqoma danced out the layers of recent African history that leaders have been eager to erase, supposedly the better for society to progress. “We are dancing over a void,” he confesses. “Beautiful Me” is the answer for anyone who doubts that an embrace of the unblemished past is the best way to move to a viable future.