Christian Conversion and the Challenge of Dance

The article by Sterling Stuckey was one of the few that talks about the true origins of black American dance. We learn that the first dances were actually forced dances; done in the depths of the ships ferrying the slaves to America in order to keep them healthy and fit. Another aspect, which is rarely talked about that the article brings out is the difficulty slaves had to undergo, to create dances. This is because they were ethnically different and spoke different dialects. The only thing they had in common was the color of their skin and the slave owner. Nonetheless, they realized that they shared an ancestral dance that was common to them in Africa.

The article then points out that many of the slaves were able to find solace in the ring shout. This was a dance that was known by many of the slaves who came from places that performed the circle dance. We are informed that this dance suggested wholeness that encouraged the spirit of community. In a sense, the slaves were able to fashion a dance that was consonant with majority of the religious values of the majority of the slaves. Unfortunately, many whites thought the bodily movements of the ring shout were associated with sexual activity and used this reasoning to try and break the mold of African culture in America.

Anthony

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