Haiti Dance History

The Haitian Revolution was one of the most important slave revolts in Latin American history. It started a succession of other revolutionary wars in Latin America and ended both colonialism and imperialism in the Americas. The Haitian Revolution affected people from all social castes in Haiti including the indigenous natives, mestizos, mulattos and the Afro-Latin. The idea of starting a rebellion against France began with the colony’s white elite class seeking a capitalist market. These elites in the richest mining and plantation economies felt that the European governments were limiting their growth and restricting free trades. However, the Afro-Latin, mestizos and mulattos turned the Haitian Revolution into a war for equality and built a new state. The Haitian Revolution, with the support of it large slave population and lower class citizens, eliminated slavery and founded the Republic of Haiti. Tin this essay I will discuss how mestizos, mulattos and the Afro-Latin Americans population in Haiti participate in the fight for independence and how they creation of new republics.

Peru’s music has a style of music and dance known as Afro-Peru: a mixture of African and Peru culture. Within the music, the music has a style of soul. The dance is highly energetic and sensual, which can be traced back to African

The area of New Orleans, Louisiana was one of the places that was strongly influence by Haiti. The City of New Orleans has the richest culture compare to others Urban area in the United States. Haitian life and elements is found in the tradition of voodoo. Which is still a part of the Culture in New Orleans today. Elements of the Haitian language was contributed to the Creole language. Which people speak in New Orleans and areas around it.

Cumbia is a musical genre that originated in Colombia, it evolved from an afro-colombian traditional form of music to a more popular, urban form of music. This new form of music arrived and started to become popular in Peru, specifically Lima, in the 1960’s due to migrants coming from the Andean Mountains. This new form of music emerging in the society of Lima was looked at in both a positive and negative light. In Peru, the Cumbia that is played and performed is different than that of Colombia, it is considered a subgenre called “Chicha”.

As we all may know slaves underwent a time when their humanity was taken from them when they came to the Americas. But even though their humanity was taken from them they still managed to carry on a tradition that still lives on. This tradition is dance. Over the years dance has developed and become more modern but it is still has the influence from African dance.

Thesis: In order to explain Haiti’s history I will discuss its location, when and how it became independent and Haiti today and also its early history

The people and culture of Haiti are diverse and complex. The religion, norms, attitudes, and language, give Haiti its uniqueness from other cultures in the world. Although Haiti is famous for its popular religion, voodoo, the official religion of Haiti is Catholicism. Haiti has a set of its own unique social norms. Personal greetings are very important to Haitians. Physically greeting each individual that enters a room or place is an expectation among Haitians. While Haitian men usually shake hands, Haitian women give kisses when meeting new acquaintances. All others, from relatives to friends, receives a kiss on each cheek as a sign of endearment. Haitians address superiors or persons of status of title such as Monsieur, Madame, or Doctor, followed by their last name. The elderly might be called “aunt” or “uncle” as a sign of respect, even if not related to the person. Haitian attitudes match their social norms. Haitians are generous, warm, and friendly people. Their tradition of hospitality is apparent by how they treat guests or will stop what they are doing to help strangers find something they need, no matter what it may be. No matter what the conditions are like for them, Haitians celebrate life with joy, laughter, and

Haiti has a very interesting history of culture and religion. Currently, while Roman Catholicism is the official religion, Voodoo can be considered the national religion; about half of all Haitians practice it. This culture and religious history – and current practice – is essential in understanding one of the most important genres of music in Haiti; Rara.

The culture of Haiti is a various mix of African and European elements due to the French colonization of Saint Dominguez. I chose to research this culture for two reason one reason being that I have a friend who is Haitian and I never understood why she did what she did, or even her mother. The second reason is because many people in Haiti is associated with voodoo, and that’s something I personally wouldn’t get to involved with due to my religious views. Throughout this essay we will see in detail the differences in culture from ours to theirs. We will learn about their primary language, religion, their different values and beliefs and last but not least their social practices. While reading on Haiti I started to appreciate their culture more due to the fact that know.

For the purpose of this project, I have chosen the Puerto Rican Bomba Dancing as my artifact. This artifact is not something you can physically hold in your hands or go to a store and purchase, it is intangible and yet pure. It represents a culture and embodies the idea of freedom. Unlike most dances where the person follows the rhythm, in Bomba dancing, the dancer leads the drummer with the tap of their feet and movement of the hips and shoulders. The parties involved mostly dress in white with the females wearing plantation style outfits and head scarves. The lyrics sung normally evoke a sense of freedom and an escape from the hardships of slavery. (Bomba, n.d.). The most important elements of Bomba Dancing are the lyrics, the drums and the traditional outfits. The combination of these 3 elements truly enhance the experience. Moreover, Bomba dancing is one of those things that the medium of experience should be in person. This is due to it having the potential to take you back in time to the 17th century where you

"Two hundred years ago, our precursors in Haiti struck a blow for freedom, which was heard around the world, and across centuries." – Baldwin Spencer

     The Voodoo religion is one of the most, if not the most misconceived religions of our time. Often when Voodoo is mentioned, it is related to evil, black magic, devious sorcery, cannibalism, and harm. Although the Voodoo religion appears to the outsider as an illusion or falsehood, it has been an instrumental political force because it has helped the Haitians resist domination and form an identity of their own. Since the end of the 17th century, Haitian Voodoo has overcome every challenge it has been faced with and has endured. The religion is based on a polytheistic belief system and represents a significant portion of Haiti’s 8.3 million people. The engaging religion plays an important role in both the family

Haiti is a diverse country with different languages. Haitian Creole is the national language of Haiti. All Haitians speak Haitian Creole besides the 10% that speak French. The people that have learned French learned it from either home or school. Haitian Creole is used in everyday lives.

The special thing about these rhythms is that there are many unique ways to approach the dancing and the playing of the rhythm. Professor Parker explained to me that “ You can go so many places to learn these songs, dances, and rhythms and other instructors will teach them different. It’s the people’s movement and that's what so unique about West-African movement it’s interpreted differently. Yes you may see similarities but I guarantee you it won’t be the same Tendu or Plie´that you can identify immediately in other dance genres.” (Parker)

The article explains where the Haitian Creole language comes from and by which dialects was it inspired. When African slaves were imported on the island they had no effective method to communicate between them. People spoke different languages since the slaves were form different part of West Africa, and so they had to create their own system of communication. The article also gives the main languages that influence Haitian Creole and how it finally became a nationally recognized language, in