During the beginning of the 20th century, Native American tradition, art, and culture was suppressed by governmental bans of Native American customs. One of the commonly misunderstood forms of these Native American customs is dance, which plays a significant role in Indigenous tradition. It was viewed at the time as threatening and hostile as many referred to Indigenous dance as a “war dance” without understanding that each dance holds different importance's. The bans of these kinds of cultural expressions ultimately leads to the decline of knowledge and possible extinction of tradition. In book Reginald and Gladys Laubin, American Indian Dancers by Starr Jones, Reginald and Gladys Laubin, married cultural historians, decide to partake in…
For this analysis, I analyzed the documentary Rize. The story setting is focused on African American youth, during a time that was very controversial in African American history, in the United States. The introduction to this documentary depicts this time that was filled with violence and rioting involving African Americans, including the Watts Riots in 1965 Los Angeles, as well as the infamous Rodney King Riots in 1992 Los Angeles. In the documentary Rize, the themes of expression of emotion and dance as social and personal healing are represented by the dancing, costumes, characters, and music in the film.…
“A fundamental principle for cultural anthropologists is to live among the people that they choose to study—eat their food, speak their language, and experience their habits and customs” (Katherine Dunham; Anthropology). This is exactly what Katherine Dunham did during her 2 year expedition in the West Indies and the Caribbean. She lived among the people of the Accompong village, where she learned and participated in their sacred and religious ways. She then went to Martinique, Trinidad and Haiti, where she participated in their culture and gained knowledge about the dance styles sacred to that culture (The Katherine Dunham Center for the Arts and…
In today's society it is easy to explore other cultures through things like music and dance. People are able to learn a lot about someone's culture by watching and listening.…
“Dancing is my greatest passion and spreading such knowledge among new generations is my happiness“ said Ana. The flamenquita, as everybody calls her, is an example of how enormous goals can become tangible projections. This is my cousin, a woman who graduated with a bachelor degree in fine art in dance and built a small business to show our community the significance of the art as a part of the children’s education. She believes in the magic of dance and the miracles it can do. Therefore, she decided to open a dance studio.…
In the beginning of this dance piece, I was intrigued by the different tones of colors on the stage and his costume that grasped my attention. During this dance piece, Columbus used strong outward focus, rolling, leaping, turning at a quick pace, and deep breathing phrases. Along with these movements, I was able to grasp onto what I thought the main message was. I believe that the choreographer's intentions were to teach how negative, inconsistent thoughts can control one’s body and the effects of low self-esteem and self-image. One reason I believe this to be the choreographer's intentions was that during Columbus strong outward focus, he tighten his muscles along with his knuckles, and had an angry expression on his face looking towards the…
Dance has long been a medium that represents American culture that is constantly evolving and Martha Graham and Frank Gatson Jr. are two of many choreographers that helped developing modern dancing in America. After watching a lot of videos on how different type of dances emerged in America, I found Martha Graham’s work appealed to me the most because of her expressiveness and intensity in movements. Brought up by a father who was a psychiatrist, her first lesson of dancing was, “Movement never lie. You will always reveal what you feel in your heart by what you do on your movements”.…
I am honored and humbled everyday to live my life as a creative Black woman and to have the agency to contemplate, investigate, and develop various forms of literature, visual art, music and movement to navigate the changing dynamics of the world. Dance is a universal way of expression. Through prolonged study and practice, dance engages with the body’s linguistics. Through…
Scholars have identified the works of several artists who showed a blend of both the Native American culture and that of Euro-American cultures in their paintings and drawings. For example, in the Shawnee War Dance by Ernest Spybuck 1833-1949, Spybuck shows the dance being performed for an Indian and a non-Indian audience. Spybuck has also embraced a Euro-American style of painting (Judith, 2008). The defined figures and flattened pictorial spaces of the earlier ledger drawings are no longer used as are swapped by sculptural figures and an illusionistic rendering of space similar to the work of 19th century artists such as George Catlin who frequently painted Native Americans. For Native Americans, narrative genre paintings were insignificant way of self-definition.…
The intense lights, colorful costumes, and ribboned pointe shoes decorated the stage. As the lively music played for those dancing in the spotlight, I waited in the wings, nerves jumping in my stomach. Every little movement would be seen from the peering eyes of the audience. Preparation for this role was packed into a few weeks, and both the honor of earning this part and the pressure of performing well accumulated on my shoulders. Originally, I had an ensemble part with the rest of my dance class, only understudying for role of Autumn, one of the four soloist positions offered in Milwaukee Ballet School’s Spring Showcase, Snow White.…
“ Dance was in some sense an adaptation to a new world dominated by European powers” (Ranger 17). The dances were given more meaning. Now they are meant to give the country a sense of nationalism and pride. They watched as countries around…
All over the world, culture is the ancient beauty and mystery of a country. It was carefully preserved and passed from the previous generation to the next generation in society. Culture is the essence represents a unique and long history of human beings. Towards the historic civilization, people can explore innumerable, interesting concepts. Every country has many different cultural aspects that not only represent the beauty of that country, but also the soul and heart of its community.…
In our textbook its states that dance is a major part of Africa culture. In Africa, people dance at funerals, wedding, and many other occasions. In these dances their clothing and headdresses usually symbolizes the significance of that person’s role in the ceremony. Like all artists they chose materials, displaying the skill of sculpting, and molding and in return they create forms that interest the viewer with color, shapes, and movements.…
Many people use drugs just for the effects, others however, will take a drug to try and increase performance, apart of a cultural ritual, or because of those around them using. Many college students will start taking Adderall or Ritalin to try and increase performance or to stay awake long enough to finish all of their work. Many Native American tribes used drugs like alcohol and tobacco as apart of rituals. You then have people who are apart of a great ecosystem of drug user, dealer, and seller who may get wrapped into drugs because they are apart of that group. College is a time where people have the most amount of pressure for academic and social success.…
1. When we sing and dance together our brains synchronize. Why is this important? How does this contribute to the development of culture?…