Digging the Africanist Presence in American Performance: Dance and Other Contexts / Edition 1

by Brenda D. Gottschild

Overview

This ground-breaking work brings dance into current discussions of the African presence in American culture. Dixon Gottschild argues that the Africanist aesthetic has been invisibilized by the pervasive force of racism. This book provides evidence to correct and balance the record, investigating the Africanist presence as a conditioning factor in shaping American performance, onstage and in everyday life. She examines the Africanist presence in American dance forms particularly in George Balanchine's Americanized style of ballet, (post)modern dance, and blackface minstrelsy. Hip hop culture and rap are related to contemporary performance, showing how a disenfranchised culture affects the culture in power.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275963736
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/30/1998
Series:	Contributions in Afro-American and African Studies Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.52(d)
Lexile:	1350L (what's this?)

About the Author

BRENDA DIXON GOTTSCHILD is Professor Emerita of Dance at Temple University. Formerly a professional dancer and actress, she is the Philadelphia critic for Dancemagazine and has published articles in The Drama Review, Dance Research Jourbanal, Design for Arts in Education, and The Black American Literature Forum. She is coauthor of the third and most recent edition of The History of Dance in Art and Education.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Up from Under: The Africanist Presence
First Premises of an Africanist Aesthetic
Don't Take Away My Picasso: Cultural Borrowing and the Afro-Euro-American Triangle
Barefoot and Hot, Sneakered and Cool: Africanist Subtexts in Modern and Postmodern Dance
Stripping the Emperor: George Balanchine and the Americanization of Ballet
Past Imperfect: Performance, Power, and Politics on the Minstrel Stage
Dance and Theater in a Multicultural Context: Who Stole the Soul, Who Takes the "Rap," or Free To Be You and Me?
Illustrations
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

An exuberant excavation of Africanist influences on European American popular culture, performance, and dance, providing the kind of contemporary analysis that revitalizes history and also speaks deeply to issues of power and politics. Dixon Gottschild (dance, Temple U.) defines the Africanist Aesthetic and trails it through the minstrel stage to modern and postmodern dance (particularly George Balanchine), and on to the emergence of hip hop in the theater. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews