African-American Dance: Researching a Complex History

Author(s): Naomi Jackson

Source: Dance Research Journal, Vol. 28, No. 2 (Autumn, 1996), pp. 107-110
Published by: Congress on Research in Dance
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1478602
Accessed: 28-02-2020 00:53 UTC

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Hochradner,
Hochradner,"Die
"Die
Pongauer
Pongauer
Tanzkapelle
Tanzkapelle when excitement
excitement lit
lit up
up people's
people's faces
faces as
as they
they
Pokorny";
Pokorny";Emil
EmilH. H.
Lubej,
Lubej,
"Die"Die
Tanze
Tanze affectionately
affectionately shook
shook hands
hands or
or embraced.
embraced. By
By
Zentralsardiniens-En
Zentralsardiniens-En Vergleich
Vergleich
zwischen
zwischenthe end of the
the conference
conference many
many e-mail
e-mail ad-
ad-
vokaler
vokalerund
undinstrumentaler
instrumentaler
Begleitung."
Begleitung." dresses had
had been
been exchanged
exchanged to
to allow
allow for
for con-
con-
tinued dialogue.
dialogue.
Arzu Ozturkmen The overall tone of the conference can
Bogaziqi University, Istanbul be captured best in one memorable moment,
when Brenda Dixon Gottschild, the vener-
able dance scholar of Africanist concerns and
keynote speaker, commented that "we are all
both black and white." She appeared to be
AFRICAN-AMERICAN DANCE: RE- suggesting that as "Americans," we all have
SEARCHING A COMPLEX HISTORY been influenced by both "European" and
"African" traditions and that none of us is
(University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,
25-27April 1996) exclusively one thing. This statement, it ap-
pears to me, raised the central question of
The CORD Special Topics Conference the
"Af-conference: What are "blackness" and
rican-American Dance: Researching a Com-
"whiteness" and to what extent (and to what
plex History" was held on the chilly, cloudy
purpose?) may each of us claim either of
campus of the University of Illinoisthese
at attributes, especially with regard to
Urbana-Champaign, April 25-27, 1996. dance?
The
weather was a real treat for me, having flown
Different papers reflected different an-
in from a dusty, sun-filled 90-degree swers to this question. One cluster of talks
Phoenix, Arizona. As it transpired, themore
cli-or less assumed the existence of a sin-
mate was not the only welcome change.gular
The "Euro-Centric" dance tradition, call-
conference turned out to be one of the best ing for a re-balancing of university curricu-
I've attended. lums to include more "African and African-
Perhaps what was special about this con- American" dance. One of the most helpful
ference was the intimate feeling which was presentations in this regard was Karen
so pervasive. It was a small group, with ap- Hubbard and Pamela Anderson Sofras's
proximately thirty presenters and a dozen or "Strategies for Including African an
so more participants. People had a chance African American Culture in an Historicall
to meet each other for more than the typical Euro-Centric Dance Curriculum." The two
handshake. Furthermore, there were few associate professors from the University of
competing sessions, which meant that you North Carolina at Charlotte reported on
were able to hear most of the presentations, seven strategies they had successfully em-
and a common ground was more or less es- ployed to include more visiting artists and
tablished for everyone. Thanks are undoubt- information on African-American dance in
edly due to the CORD organizers, and espe- their curriculum. A couple of their most in-
cially John Perpener, conference chair. teresting suggestions included tapping mon-
Most important, however, was the con-
eys allocated for student groups, and calling
ference theme-African-American dance potential teachers "consultants" (instead of
history-which was sometimes volatile, yet
"guest artists") on curriculum development.
allowed for real moments of intimacy. There
They also brought to people's attention an
were times when you could feel the inten- excellent publication available free from the
American Dance Festival, titled The Black
sity in the room, as anger rose like blisters
from a fresh burn. There were also times Tradition in American Modern Dance.

Dance Research Journal 28/2 (Fall 1996) 107

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 Numerous
Numerousother
otherpanels
panelswere
were
alsoalso
infor-
infor- ence
ence members
membersfelt
feltextremely
extremely
uncomfortable
uncomfortable
mation
mation oriented,
oriented,going
goinginto
into
detail
detail
concern-
concern- with
with the
thepresentation.
presentation.It It
was
was
inferred
inferred
that
that
ing
ing particular
particularAfrican-American
African-American andand
Afri-
Afri- these
these "white"
"white"jazz
jazzartists
artists
were
were
claiming
claiming
own-
own-
can-bor
can-bor dancers,
dancers,dances
dancesandand
performance
performance ership
ership and
andauthority
authoritytoto
speak
speak
about
about
a "black"
a "black"
traditions.
traditions.Nadine
NadineGeorge
Georgeof of
Northwestern
Northwestern kind
kind of
of jazz
jazzdance
dancethat
thatwas
wasvery
very
different
different
University
Universityspoke
spokeononthe
the
Whitman
Whitman Sisters
Sisters from
from the
theAnglicized
Anglicized"Bob
"Bob
Fosse"
Fosse"
strain
strain
from
from New
NewOrleans,
Orleans,Veta
Veta
Goler
Golerwhich
which seemed
of of seemedsosoclearly
Spelman
Spelman clearly
embodied
embodied in their
in their
College
College discussed
discussedthe
the New
NewYork-based
York-based
work. cho-cho-
work. The
Thequestioners
questionersfelt
feltthat
thatthethe
"black
"black
reographer
reographerDianne
DianneMcIntyre,
McIntyre,andand
Maureen
roots"Maureen
roots" were
werebeing
beinginaccurately
inaccuratelyappropriated
appropriated
Needham examined Asadata Dafora's and
and that
that the
thepanel
panelmembers
members failed
failed
to make
to make
"Kyunkor" premiered in 1934. In addition,
the
the necessary
necessarydistinction
distinction
between
between these
these
twotwo
Marcia Ethel Heard of New York Univer- strains-an "authentic black" strain and the
sity gave a fascinating overview of the per-"white" strain embodied by this particular
formance of traditional dances of Africa in cluster of panelists.
New York City from the 1930s on. These ex- In indirectly considering how black and
cellent presentations were a tribute to the vast white identities are constructed within soci-
amount of research that still needs to be done ety, this panel suggested that while there may
in uncovering the rich African-American and be some overlap, the two are distinct and not
African dance heritage. fully transferable. African-Americans em-
The high point in terms of fact-gather- body a distinct history, and that (including
ing was a charismatic presentation by Dr. the pain and anger it references) must be
William Oscar Anku of the University of acknowledged. Many other people at the
Ghana. He spoke on the theoretical basis of conference reflected more directly on this
rhythm and structure in the music of Africa. theme, sharing a similar perspective. In her
With the high-tech aid of his lap-top com- paper "Danced Spirituals" Susan Manning
puter and an overhead projector, Dr. Anku compared the spirituals staged by Euro-
proceeded to explain that African music con- American choreographers Helen Tamiris and
sists of many parts which work together to Ted Shawn with those staged by African-
create a whole. He pointed to the fallacy of American choreographers Edna Guy and
considering the parts separately from each Charlotte Moton Kennedy. She argued that
other, and displayed the many possible ways in the 1930s, while all these artists were par-
that a master drummer can weave a seam- ticipating in "modern dance," white artists
less unit out of multiple rhythmic strands. were more successful because they were
Dr. Anku's presentation was the last pre- permitted to represent the "other," whereas
sentation of a longer panel entitled "What Is the black body was seen as either "primi-
Jazz Dance?" Taken as a whole, this was one tive" or unsuitable for modernist expression.
of the more controversial presentations to Manning went on to consider how conven-
focus audience attention on the main issue tions for staging the black and white body
raised by the conference, namely the mean- in performance shift over time, but always
ing of "blackness" and "whiteness." Here with a difference in which the "black" body
three "white" performers danced/talked loses out.
about their views of jazz dance, focusing in Ann Daly, in "Searching for the
on the close relationship of the dancers with Africanist Presence in American Dance"
the music, and such things as syncopation, gave a presentation on a seminar she had
improvisation and "letting go" of one's offered at the University of Texas in the
weight and sense of control. During the ques- Spring of 1995. In it she had looked closely
tion period it became clear that some audi- at the different ways canonical figures from

108 Dance Research Journal 28/2 (Fall 1996)

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American
Americandance
dancehistory-Isadora
history-Isadora
Duncan,
Duncan, poignantly stated that he both believed that
Martha
MarthaGraham,
Graham,Helen
Helen
Tamiris,
Tamiris,
George
George color need not be an issue, and yet that in
Balanchine,
Balanchine,etc.-conceived
etc.-conceivedof of
an imagined
an imagined some ways it was unavoidably an issue
African "other" in their work and rhetoric. within our culture.
From what I gathered, Daly's strategy, remi- Significantly, the two giants of twenti-
niscent of Edward Said's deconstruction of eth-century dance who were honored by the
images of the east in his work Orientalism conference-Lester Horton and Katherine
(1978), led her to conclude that these chore- Dunham-were the ultimate reminders of
ographers' conceptions of "blackness" were the abilities and difficulties of the creative
largely self-serving constructions that played artist to cross the boundaries constructed by
into stereotypical ideas of exoticism and dif- racial discourse. Bella Lewitsky offered an
ference. informative overview of Horton's life and
Daly's paper evoked an interesting dis- philosophy in a lecture Friday afternoon, and
cussion which opened up the complexity of Lewitsky's company performed at the im-
the topic. A number of people were annoyed pressive Krannert Center for the Performing
that African-American dancers were left out Arts (also generously offered as a site for
of her course. They felt that this erased the numerous conference events) that night.
African-American perspective, African- It was when Ms. Dunham entered the
American agency, and in many ways kept room of the concluding conference banquet
the discourse of dance history in an all that the feeling of transcendence was at its
"white" arena. Another person questioned height. Everyone rose to greet her with a tidal
the way "whiteness" was being defined, wave of awe and appreciation. Dunham, the
pointing out that a number of the choreogra- universalist, the world traveler, the artist and
phers discussed by Daly, including George social activist, was the force unifying so
Balanchine, were immigrants or from immi- many people. It was clear that she was and
grant families. To that extent they were strug- is a lover of all humankind. Special moments
gling to broaden the then current perception followed as people filed by to meet Ms.
of "whiteness," so that they too might be Dunham and she graciously allowed the
accepted as "Americans." Perhaps their very flashing camera lights to surround her like a
struggles were helpful in opening up stages halo.
to blacks as well as others? But a compelling post-dinner presenta-
Discussions such as these clearly dem- tion by Ken Reardon, an assistant professor
onstrated the limitations of set conceptions in the Department of Urban and Regional
of "black" and "white," "European" and "Af- Planning at the University of Illinois, re-
rican." This was also the feeling left by an minded us of the huge problems faced by
amazingly honest and self-reflective perfor- the majority of African-Americans in our so-
mance and panel with Bebe Miller, Ralph ciety. The Katherine Dunham Center for the
Lemon and Ronald Brown. Following two Arts and Humanities in East St. Louis is on
very interesting works-a duet with Miller the edge of collapse. And while Reardon,
and Lemon, and a solo by Brown-Brenda who heads a committee committed to sav-
Dixon led the three choreographers in a dis- ing Dunham's legacy, seems to be on the path
cussion of their work. While Brown per- to success, it is and will be an uphill battle.*
ceived himself more overtly as a choreogra- Dunham commented after his impassioned
pher working with African-American mate- plea for aid, "I don't know what motivates
rial, Miller and Lemon saw their work as you [in the fight to save the center], but what-
shifting in relation to different contexts and ever it is, I thank you."
personal agendas. At one point Lemon The intensity of the evening left the dis-

Dance Research Journal 28/2 (Fall 1996) 109

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tinct
tinct impression
impressionthat
that
much
much
is left
is left be done. UNM were given
to betodone. given over
over to
to the
the tenth
tenth annual
annual
More
More African-American
African-American andand
African
African
dancedance Festival Flamenco
Flamenco Interacional.
Interacional. This
This year's
year's
professionals
professionalsneed
needto to
be be
part
part
of higher edu- edu- festival featured
of higher featured Spanish
Spanish nuevo
nuevo flamenco
flamenco
cation. More research needs to be done on artist Antonio Canales and his dance com-
figures lost to history. More questioning pany in three riveting flamenco perfor-
needs to be done about modes of represen- mances, including Canales's masterful fla-
tation of race in American dance. Perhaps menco ballet, Torero. Canales and a smaller
most importantly, we need to keep dancing group of his select dancers were featured
our concerns. In the case of Ron Brown, this later that week in solos and duets in a tradi-
was vividly illustrated. With a chameleon- tional flamenco performance, Fiesta Fla-
like facility to alter his body, this stunning menco. Much to the delight of festival par-
dancer seemed to pulsate through the myriad ticipants, the company musicians performed
meanings of being "black" today-shifting in a show of their own on June 12, A Cuerda
from hip hop to African dance imagery to y Tacon.
ritualistic gesturing to modem dance leaps Also preceding the history conference
to his own personal movement style. One was the summer institute, an integral part of
person said afterwards that the dance was so Festival Flamenco since its inception in
amazing that it made her eyes burn. 1986. This year the institute offered twenty-
Certainly, this is an image we need to one workshop classes from June 3-13, in-
take into the classroom as we strive to re- cluding beginning through advanced tech-
imagine America. nique and repertory dance classes, beginning
through advanced guitar classes, classes in
Naomi Jackson palmas, flamenco composition, flamenco
Arizona State University notation, sevillanas, escuela bolera, casta-
nets and cante.

*People who wish to support the Katherine Antonio Canales and his lead dancer,
Dunham Center for the Arts and Humani- Patricia Torrero, taught the advanced reper-
ties in East St. Louis should contact Ken
tory dance classes. Uncompromising teach-
Reardon at the University of Illinois at and brilliant technicians, the two artists
ers
Urbana-Champaign. pushed the students to their physical and
mental capacities. Adhering strictly to the
flamenco compds, Canales and Torrero con-
centrate on new stylized, geometric, and ab-
stract movements within that structure. This
FIRST BI-ANNUAL FLAMENCO HIS- style looks well on American flamenco danc-
TORY CONFERENCE (University ofNew
ers already familiar with jazz and modern
Mexico, 13-15 June 1996) dance isolations and abstractions.
The Canales dance style was the topic
The first bi-annual flamenco history confer-
of much debate during the history confer-
ence, sponsored by the University of New
ence. In a panel discussion illustrating the
Mexico dance program from June 13-15,
differences between flamenco styles in Spain
1996, attracted large numbers of flamenco
and the United States, Canales said he was
students, aficionados, scholars, dancers,
influenced by the late flamenco maestro
Vicente Escudero. Canales reminds one of
singers, and guitarists from across the United
States.
Antonio Gades in this respect. Gades and
One reason for the success of the con-Canales are similar in many respects, but to
ference was that the previous two weeks at see and hear Canales perform is to recog-

110 Dance Research Journal 28/2 (Fall 1996)

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