The History of Black Dance

After reading “What is Black Dance” by Lisa Jo Sagolla, I came to a conclusion that Black Dance should not be defined. What is “Black Dance?” At first, I struggled with the concept of connecting an art form to a specific race, because the name excludes others who do not identify with such race. The title made me wonder if Asians have Asian Dance or if White people have White Dance.  Is then ballet a white dance? I thought it might be not politically correct or even stereotypical to call something Black Dance as if it were something that only African-Americans can do. But after reading the article, I realized that Black dance is not a dance performed just by black dancers or choreographed by black choreographers. Black Dance’s extensiveness and great impact allows dancers to shape and incorporate new dance styles. It allows dancers of all backgrounds and race to learn about the broad themes that Black Dance embodies, such as spirituality, passion, traditions and struggle.  Black Dance’s great influence in the American society makes it an integral part of the American culture and American dance itself. So when Brenda Dixon Gottchild said that Black Dance shows the democracy of all body parts, I believe that it also demonstrates a democracy of people from different backgrounds. It is also interesting to note how Shantella Sherman, author of “The History of Black Dance” says Black Dance evolves from a form of expressing struggle to an entertainment art form.  I think that the theme of struggle is still very much present in the art form. In the historic sense, Pearl Primus’s Strange Fruit (1943) describes the horrors of lynching and racial injustice. After today’s class, I feel that the techniques in Black Dance also shows the quality of struggle: a struggle against gravity or “the quicksand floor” as we try to move our body parts on the dance floor.

DANC 163-A

Ricky Chen

Cristal Brown