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.

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9780275963736

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Reviews

Dr. Dixon Gottschild's voice is convincing because of her eclectic documentation and it is touching as well because of the human experiences the reader is drawn into within the related responses of her students, her colleagues, herself, and her antagonists. She is always clear about specific objectives, leaving tempting tangents, yet incorporating the thinking of scholars and learned others in multiple disciplines--definitely in a creole mode that is rich, colorful, and not easily discounted. - Yvonne Daniel, Associate Professor of Dance Anthropology Smith College and the Five College Dance Consortium

Author Information

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 Journal, 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.

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