The benefit features Dr. Raul Ruiz Miyares, a professor of Afro-Cuban culture and history at Casa del Caribe, Santiago de Cuba. His lecture, "Cuba & Africanismo: The Making of Revolutionary Culture", will include slides and a video. The benefit also includes: spoken word, an Afro-Cuban folkloric performance, a Caribbean dinner, and a Latin, World Beat dance party, all on Friday, May 2.6 p.m.
Gonzalez,Anita, (Author), Jackson,George O. (Photography), and Pellicer,Jose Manuel (Photography)
Format:
Book, Whole
Publication Date:
2010
Published:
Austin: University of Texas Press
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
163 p, rticulates African ethnicity and artistry within the broader panorama of Mexican culture by featuring dance events that are performed either by Afro-Mexicans or by other ethnic Mexican groups about Afro-Mexicans. She illustrates how dance reflects upon social histories and relationships and documents how residents of some sectors of Mexico construct their histories through performance.
The Philadelphia region was the site of a rare, artistic treat when Balé Folclórico, Brazil's premiere professional folk dance company made a special Black History Month visit. Formed in 1988, the 33-member troupe of dancers, musicians, and singers perform a repertory based on various Bahian folkloric dances of African origin, including: capoeira (a form of martial arts), samba and other cultural traditions celebrated during Carnival. Hailing from Salvador, in the northeastern state of Bahia, Balé Folclòrico represents Bahia's most important cultural manifestations under a contemporary theatrical vision that reflects its popular origins.
78 p., Examines the ways in which the African American identity articulates and constructs itself through dance. Norman Bryson, an art historian, suggests that approaches from art history, film and comparative literature are as well applicable to the field of dance research. Therefore, as his main critical lens and a theoretical foundation, the author adopts the analytical approach developed by Erwin Panofsky, an art historian and a proponent of integrated critical approach, much like the one suggested by Bryson. Demonstrates that Erwin Panofsky's iconology, when applied as a research method, can make valuable contributions to the field of Dance Studies. Uses Katherine Dunham's original recordings of diaspora dances of the Caribbean and her modern dance choreography titled L'Ag'Ya to look for evidence for the paradigm shift from "primitive" to "diaspora" in representation of Black identity in dance also with the aim of detecting the elements that produce cultural difference in dance.
221 p., Carmen (Mérimée 1845, Bizet 1875), the story about the (in)famous Gypsy dancer from Spain, is the second most adapted narrative in the history of world cinema, with over eighty global versions officially recognized to date. Despite the global reach of the Carmen phenomenon, many scholars claim that this tale has hardly been reworked in Spanish America and never in the Caribbean. Following Carmen from Spain to Spanish America, the author shows how the template of Carmen (a love story that reveals the racio-ethnic and gender stratification in Spain) has been artfully but unsuspectingly reappropriated and "creolized" in postcolonial Cuba in the controversial film María Antonia (1991) by Afro-Cuban filmmaker Sergio Giral, based on the landmark play María Antonia (1964) by Afro-Cuban playwright Eugenio Hernández Espinosa.
The recent performance featured five of the pieces from their repertoire. Three of the pieces, 'Sankofa-Ja' (choreographed by Professor Kariamu Welsh Asante), 'Evolution' (choreographed by Abeldo 'Tokie' [Monika Lawrence]) and 'African Nite' (choreographed by Monica Lawrence assisted by Orville Hall) were added to the ensemble's repertoire this year. '[Liza]' weaves together the stories and music from 'Linstead Market', 'Mout-a-Massie Liza' and 'Every time me Memba Liza' to tell the story of a young girl who becomes disaffected with country life and goes off to the city.
Inspired by the African Diaspora in the Caribbean, Katherine Dunham spearheaded an American dance revolution, breaking down social barriers and prejudice
"For the ones who could not afford it, he (Nettleford) used his influence to get them into different dance schools throughout the world because he valued the totality in education in every genre of dance," he added. "He supported kids who weren't able to support themselves at the tertiary level, without fanfare. Many NDTC dancers get scholarships... the company sponsors them and pays their tuition while they are away." "Most of the steps that are considered Caribbean dance were developed by the NDTC under his tutelage," he said. "Dance companies in Jamaica mirror the NDTC and there are many other groups throughout the Caribbean doing these same dances." NDTC alumni have not just branched out to form their own dance companies in Jamaica, they have also had success internationally. Two prime examples are Jackie Guy, one of Britain's leading lecturers in Afro Caribbean dance, who choreographed "The Harder They Come", and Garth Fagan, who choreographed "The Lion King".
The major event -- "A Moment in Time" -- will take place on Saturday (June 25th). It's a white- tie tribute gala honoring the life mission of [Katherine Dunham]. The honorary chairs of the event -- Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover and Dick Gregory -- will be joined by a host of other luminaries, including Eugene Redman, poet-laureate of the State of Illinois, to highlight the many contributions of the "Grande Dame of Modern and African Dance" who was instrumental in projecting Haiti on the international scene in the 1940's and '50's. An alert Ms. Dunham reminisced about Haiti's "glorious days" under Presidents Estimé and Magloire. She said, "You all were too young to know about that!" When the Prime Minister said, "Oh no! We aren't that young, we were there too," she beamed and added: "So, you know what I'm talking about."
Mocko Jumbie, as it is called in the Caribbean, has been a part of the Virgin Islands culture for more than 200 years. The phrase "Mocko Jumbie" may have different meanings according to the different tribes that practices the art. "Mocko" could mean "Mock" or it could mean "Good God."
