Momentum Dance Review

The purpose of this research is to identify the uniqueness and diversity of people and practices of the African American culture. Each culture in life has some similarities and some differences. The similarities and differences that are present in a culture is what make the culture what it is. When dealing with a culture, race, ethnicity, of a people or religion it has a history of where it originates and or a heritage that that culture or people can relate to and always go back to, because this is what sets a

Many of our life lessons were often given by our elders in the form of stories, jokes, and the spirituals which serve often song in the fields, as well as, on Sunday mornings. Yet, as a people, we thought it necessary to hold on these priceless teachings because it has served as the only link to our African ancestry. African American culture is both part of and distinct from American culture. African Americans have contributed literature, agricultural skills, foods, clothing, dance, and language to American culture.

From the 1500s to the 1700s, African blacks, mainly from the area of West Africa (today's Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Dahomey, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon) were shipped as slaves to North America, Brazil, and the West Indies. For them, local and tribal differences, and even varying cultural backgrounds, soon melded into one common concern for the suffering they all endured. Music, songs, and dances as well as remembered traditional food, helped not only to uplift them but also quite unintentionally added immeasurably to the culture around them. In the approximately 300 years that blacks have made their homes in North America, the West Indies, and Brazil, their highly honed art

There is no doubt that African Americans have a rich cultural background and history like the many different ethnic groups who settled in the New World, whose origins lie in another country. For this reason, America was known as the melting pot. However, the backgrounds of each of these cultures were not always understood or, in the case of African Americans, accepted among the New World society and culture. Americans were ignorant to the possibility of differences among groups of people until information and ideas started to emerge, particularly, the African retention theories. This sparked an interest in the field of African culture and retention in African Americans. However, the study of African American culture truly emerged as a result of increased awareness in America, specifically through the publication and findings of scholarly research and cultural events like the Harlem Renaissance where all ethnicities were able to see this rich historical culture of African Americans.

In Latin America, African music and dance did not rise to prominence in an unadulterated form, but rather one transformed by interactions with European styles in a process known as transculturation. Such an intricate transmutation occurs when cultures exchange aspects, including music, language, or dance, and mutually influence each other in both beneficial and adverse ways. John Charles Chasteen explores this concept in profound detail throughout National Rhythms, African Roots wherein he explains the origins of Latin American popular culture in a tale that spans centuries, continents, and race gaps. This radical transformation of culture is not removed from current events, but has become increasingly relevant with the rise of the internet and social media to serve as channels for such diverse interactions. After African and European dance and music were interwoven through transculturation, Latinos gradually embraced the hybrid rhythms as their own after being exposed to them at carnival street parades and clandestine dance clubs. Nonetheless, these interracial interactions were not completely free from racism and degradation to the African identity.

“The civil rights movement-its ideals, success, and failures-greatly affected both Ailey and the success of his dance company” (Obalil, 5). In the 1950s while Alvin was living in New York, the doors of opportunity into the white performance world were closed to him as a black man (Fleming, 23). During this time, “many well-trained, polished black dancers were totally shut out of a white dance field, which barely acknowledged their existence” (Fleming, 24). The goals and intentions of Ailey’s company started out by “wanting to create a black folkloric company, to present to the public what black artists has created in music and dance” (DeFrantz, 21). Ailey so badly wanted to give African American dancers an equal opportunity to showcase their talent on stage like the white people could. Inspiration sparked for Ailey from this unfair and unequal treatment of African American dancers with his piece Revelations. According to DeFrantz, Revelations recalled a segregated era when African Americans had little access to mainstream American life. Revelations’ popularity reached new heights with its national broadcast in 1962, demonstrating the

The Repertory Dance Company Fall Dance Concert was held at the Mannoni Performing Arts Center. The dancers involved in this dance concert are part of the University of Southern Mississippi Dance Department meaning they are either pursuing a degree in dance or teach dance at a university level. Both students and faculty had the opportunity to present work during adjudication to be chosen to be presented at this concert. I particularly enjoyed this concert because, while all of the dances presented were a part of the broad genre of modern dance, each dance had such a unique aesthetic so the concert still provided a great amount of variety to keep the audience captivated. The two pieces I have chosen to review represent this variety very

African American, also known Black American, is a very mixed and compacted culture. From history to present day, traditions taken back from slavery to the hip hop age. Incorporating details from all different times in history. Starting with the Music, African Americans have a very intellectual way of expressing their feelings, pain, history and teaching lessons, which really started from old hymns sung by slaves. From Jazz, to blues, to hip hop, all different forms of music to express the way of their lives. Music isn’t the only thing African Americans have to be proud of, they also so have a strong background of cultural food. Soul Food is very common and eaten by many across the world, and is used a lot with another tradition of African

What people don’t know about our society today is that African Americas have created most of the dances we do today. As a society, we have been inspired by the native African dances because they poured their souls into the dances which all had meaning. From what I’ve noticed African Americans and dance are a pair because it brings out the rhythm and joy in folks. The musical culture is very strong and over the last few years has become stronger.

Music is and has been an inconceivably paramount piece of black culture, when concentrating on any kind of black music it is all that much an investigation into the back mind. Music has been a piece of the black cultural scene going over to slavery. Despite the fact that Jazz music is cherished and performed by individuals of each national background, in America, the groundbreaker, pioneer and innovator in every venture forward of Jazz has been the Negro. Unequivocally in light of the fact that the black culture talks so effectively in Jazz, it has gotten to be adored and respected everywhere. Between the two, there is no division of consecrated, secular, music, vocals, or instruments.

My overall response to the dance concert is spectacular because each dance piece was moving, remarkable, and motivational. Each dance had an astounding affect on me and allowed to me repelled into the performance. These impressions came from me analyzing the dance pieces, “A Brief Study of Recent History and “One Heart, Two Worlds”, for the Spring 2016 Studio 115 Dance Concert Series at USM’s Dance and Theatre Building on May 4th. The first performance, “A Brief Study of Recent History” was choreographed by Elizabeth Lentz-Hill and introduced by the dancers Jennifer Alafat, Megan Bradberry, Shaquille Hayes, etc. While the second piece, “One Heart, Two Worlds”, was choreographed by Dejonelle Gleeton and the performers were Brittain Allgood,

I chose my topic “How Did the Great Migration Impact the Culture of America?” in order to learn more about my ancestors and how my country became what it is now. I also chose my topic to prove the claim that African Americans helped formed what America is today. Research lead me to various credible websites, journals, and articles that conveyed quality evidence that supported my claim. From these sources, I learned not only about black culture and its influence on white America, but also about the Harlem Renaissance, a time of black music, poetry, and art. In addition, studies proved African Americans only make up 12.3% of the American population. Because of these reasons, I concluded that African Americans greatly impacted the culture of America.

“Many of the Euro-American colonists were intrigued by the exotic music and dance of the African Americans” (Morgan, 656). In contrast, African American thinks Euro-American music was more superior or civilized than their different and proper style of music they have. Dance belonged as an important part because every day and on special occasions they danced. In the world of African American dance, existed many traditional dances like Ring Shout, a popular dance. From many of the kinds they danced from came hip hop and Rock and Roll.

The opening of Todd Rosenlieb Dance Company’s season is a performance fortified with modern dance works even including Erick Hawkin’s New Moon. Performances were held November 13-14th at 7:00pm at the Tidewater Community College Roper Theatre. The purpose of this performance was to celebrate the ten years of pure accomplishment by the company. The music selection for the various excerpts of the companies works were composed by: Meredith Monk, Johann Strauss, Tom Waites, Agustin Baríos, Nina Simone, Lou Harrison, and Frank Sinatra. Also with costumes by Ricardo Mendelez and Erick Hawkins including set designs by Ralph Dorazio.

This year’s edition of The George Washington University’s “Danceworks” directed by Anthony Gongora was a modern variety act that combined components of dance and theatre throughout several individual performances. Among these individual performance, there were acts that were narrated while others told a story just through dance; there were acts that related to particular circumstance of GW students such as “9:35, 11:10, 12:45, 2:20, 4:10”, others that narrated the life stories of a particular character such as “Belinha,” and others that looked into the deeper meaning of human existence such as “Exuviate.” Even though the individual performances generated some interest among the members of the audience, there was chronological sequence among