African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
Focuses on cultural manifestations of pan-Americanism through the development of Haitian folkloric dance by the Haitian-born dance director Jean-Léon Destiné and the U.S. African American dance educator Lavinia Williams. As early as the mid-1930s, the Haitian government began to support the advancement and consumption of Haitian cultural arts to increase tourism to the country. In fact, many Caribbean administrations encouraged similar investments in tourism during this time to complement industrialization and to answer the dilemmas of debt, unemployment, and failing economies. The work of Destiné and Williams sought to modernize Haitian dance or, rather, to discipline it, classify it, and theatricalize it so Haiti’s original art form could be exhibited on the world stage and educate audiences about Haitian history and culture. The establishment of cultural institutions and the training of Haitian dancers by a U.S. African American choreographer affirmed not only the spirit of pan-Americanism’s cultural exchange programs, but also the creation of an alternative world by black dancers in which African-based art forms were celebrated and in consistent dialogue with Western culture.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
266 p, This study spans several linguistic areas of the Caribbean and parts of the Atlantic coast of the U.S., Mexico, and South America; it examines historical, national, popular, parading, sacred, and combat dances to reveal both meanings and consequences of performance. Beyond unfolding important physical and cultural significances of each genre, the analyses deepen to understand core motivations for African diaspora performance; the results are transcendence, resilience, and citizenship among dancing and music-making participants. The study repeatedly acknowledges Katherine Dunham, who began teaching the citizenship of Caribbean dance/music practices and reviews the literature since her original trilogy on Caribbean dance practices. Analyses also place local Caribbean dances as viable commodities within crucial Caribbean tourism and both cultural and economic globalization.
Schwartz,Peggy, (Author) and Schwartz,Murray, (Author)
Format:
Book, Whole
Publication Date:
2011
Published:
New Haven: Yale University Press
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
324 p, Pearl Primus (1919–1994) blazed onto the dance scene in 1943 with stunning works that incorporated social and racial protest into their aesthetic. This book offers an intimate perspective on her life and explores her influences on American culture, dance, and education. It traces Primus's path from her childhood in Port of Spain, Trinidad, through her rise as an influential international dancer, an early member of the New Dance Group (whose motto was 'Dance is a weapon'), and a pioneer in dance anthropology. Primus traveled extensively in the U.S., Europe, Israel, the Caribbean, and Africa, and she played an important role in presenting authentic African dance to American audiences. She engendered controversy in both her private and professional lives, marrying a white Jewish man during a time of segregation and challenging black intellectuals who opposed the 'primitive' in her choreography. Her political protests and mixed-race tours in the South triggered an FBI investigation, even as she was celebrated by dance critics and by contemporaries like Langston Hughes.
