African American Dance History
Professor David J. Popalisky
Zaire, Ngbaka harp, wood and skin
Class Welcome
• Who am I
• Who are you
• Getting to know you questionnaire
• Class atmosphere: a collective dialogue that needs everyone’s open contributions, questions and comments. My goal is to guide this dialogue and hopefully foster an excitement about the process.
Artifacts - what can we discover from, how do we react to:
images of another century?
70 year old film clips?
a poem?
The Little Colonel - Bill Robinson and Shirley Temple
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Syllabus Details
• Reading - due on day listed. Bring two questions on reading to each class.
• Watch videos - a few in media lab, most in class.
• Quizzes - online, generally after Thursday.
• Assignments - a quick look. More specific guidelines to be handed out
Syllabus Highlights
• Class guests - recent experiences with Afro-centric dance
• Dance class with Blanche Brown in Afro-Haitian dance
• Alvin Ailey Dance Concert in late February
Upcoming Events
• Choose partners for Project One by Tuesday, Jan. 16
• MLK Night - Jan. 15, Mayer Theatre
• Sign up for ANGEL this week
How is Dance History?
• How can we access a group of people, their lives, their triumphs and tregedies through dance?
• How do we understand or “read” dance?
• What does it tell us about the people, and circumstances of their lives, of their dances? Are these two different?
How is Dance History?
• Dance reveals meaningful information, tells us about the people.
• Why did they dance? • Religious, ritual• Secular, social• Performance, entertainment•Community – how does one relate to a community
•Where did they dance?• In - secret places (voodoo, slavery)• Jook houses, rent parties• In the open, in public• In performance
How is Dance History?
• How did they dance? • African based roots• Blends with European forms – interactions with other cultures. Irish - lowest social class of whites meant greater interaction with free blacks. Irish are the early minstrel performers. • Jazz and tap
• Who danced?• Slaves • Minstrels• Octaroons• 20th C artists - popular and concert
How is Dance History?
• For who did they dance? • Whites• Blacks• Mixed audiences
• When did they dance?• Holidays • Saturday nights• In performance
• High art and popular art - different contexts, intentions and audiences
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