Hot Feet and Social Change : African Dance and Diaspora Communities

The popularity and profile of African dance have exploded across the African diaspora in the last fifty years. __Hot Feet and Social Change__ presents traditionalists, neo-traditionalists, and contemporary artists, teachers, and scholars telling some of the thousands of stories lived and learned by people in the field. Concentrating on eight major cities in the United States, the essays challenges myths about African dance while demonstrating its power to awaken identity, self-worth, and community respect. These voices of experience share personal accounts of living African traditions, their first encounters with and ultimate embrace of dance, and what teaching African-based dance has meant to them and their communities. Throughout, the editors alert readers to established and ongoing research, and provide links to critical contributions by African and Caribbean dance experts. Contributors: Ausettua Amor Amenkum, Abby Carlozzo, Steven Cornelius, Yvonne Daniel, Charles “Chuck” Davis, Esailama G. A. Diouf, Indira Etwaroo, Habib Iddrisu, Julie B. Johnson, C. Kemal Nance, Halifu Osumare, Amaniyea Payne, William Serrano-Franklin, and Kariamu Welsh "African dance has a long history in the United States: Asadata Dafora, a Sierra Leonean, had a successful run on Broadway with "Kykunkor" in 1934, and he was one of many artists who, in the 1920s to 1940s, concertized and stylized what we have come to know as African dance. Many African dance specialists remained in the States and taught dance, which began a renaissance in African Dance across the Americas in the 1960s, particularly in the U.S. As a result, the last fifty years have seen an explosion of African performances, choreography and courses in academic institutions and cities across North America, South America, and Europe. Still, there is little information available on African dance per se and some artists and teachers, while well intentioned, disseminate within performative information, myths and falsehoods that continue to characterize African dance as undisciplined, a historical, and with scant technical skills. This collection brings indelible stories of African dance as it exists within major cities across the United States, demonstrating the power and considerable influence it has in awakening identity, self-worth, and diverse community respect. It alerts readers to the revealing research that dance investigators have completed and are pursuing--for example, analyses of the aesthetic components within African dance movement, the relationships between the musical and movement elements of African performance practices, or the differences between African and Diaspora usage of improvisation. And it represents traditionalists, neo-traditionlists, artists, teachers and scholars as they tell their stories." -- Provided by publisher Cover Title Page Copyright Contents Foreword: The Bantaba! Initiation of Purpose Preface Introduction: When, Where, and How We Enter PART I: HOT FEET AND LOCAL HISTORIES SAUCE!: Conjuring the African Dream in America through Dance Dance Rooted in the Movements of Bedford-Stuyvesant: Two Choreographers, One Aesthetic Tradition From Warm-up to Dobale in Philadelphia: Embodying “Community” Meaning in a West African Dance Class PART II: THE ELDERS’ WORK AND WORKS Ago! Ame!: Baba Chuck Speaks! The “Gospel” of Memory: Inscribed Bodies in the African Diaspora Kankouran West African Dance Company, Washington, D.C. Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago: 1972–2018 and Still Thriving Kumbuka African Drum and Dance Collective: In the City and a Prison of New Orleans “The Fierce Freedom of Their Souls”: Activism of African Dance in the Oakland Bay Area The African Choreographer’s Envisioning Mentoring Notes on African Diaspora Dance Styles and Continuity PART III: PERPETUAL MOTION IN THE AESTHETICS OF AFRICA Embodying Rhythm: Improvisation as Agency in African Dance From Village to International Stage: Baamaaya and the Politics of Adaptation Men Walk in Parallel!: Dancing in Chuck Davis’s “Paths” Selected Bibliography Contributors Index Back cover The Popularity And Profile Of African Dance Have Exploded Across The African Diaspora In The Last Fifty Years. Hot Feet And Social Change Presents Traditionalists, Neo-traditionalists, And Contemporary Artists, Teachers, And Scholars Telling Some Of The Thousands Of Stories Lived And Learned By People In The Field. Concentrating On Eight Major Cities In The United States, The Essays Explode Myths About African Dance While Demonstrating Its Power To Awaken Identity, Self-worth, And Community Respect. These Voices Of Experience Share Personal Accounts Of Living African Traditions, Their First Encounters With And Ultimate Embrace Of Dance, And What Teaching African-based Dance Have Meant To Them And Their Communities. Throughout, The Editors Alert Readers To Established And Ongoing Research, And Provide Links To Critical Contributions By African And Caribbean Dance Experts.contributors: Ausettua Amor Amenkum, Abby Carlozzo, Steven Cornelius, Yvonne Daniel, Charles Chuck Davis, Esailama G. A. Diouf, Indira Etwaroo, Habib Iddrisu, Julie B. Johnson, C. Kemal Nance, Halifu Osumare, Amaniyea Payne, William Serrano-franklin, And Kariamu Welsh