Poem Analysis: The Harlem Dancer

always been known for the risky and powerful movements which are often why dancers retire from the company. The dancer’s movements were often very intense and emotive, such as the “throws” across the stage in which the dancers would, almost violently, launch themselves across the stage in different forms (leaps, falls and flips to name a few). Another section where the movements were emotive is where the dancers were thrusting their hips in different positions to perhaps show sexuality in “self”.

     Harlem Renaissance, an African American cultural movement of the 1920s and early 1930s that was centered in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. According to Wintz:

     The Harlem Renaissance was a time of racism, injustice, and importance. Somewhere in between the 1920s and 1930s an African American movement occurred in Harlem, New York City. The Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. It was the result of Blacks migrating in the North, mostly Chicago and New York. There were many significant figures, both male and female, that had taken part in the Harlem Renaissance. Ida B. Wells and Langston Hughes exemplify the like and work of this movement.

The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and literary period of growth promoting a new African American cultural identity in the United States. The years of 1920 and 1990 and “were clear peak periods of African American cultural production.” During these years blacks were able to come together and form a united group that expressed a desire for enlightenment. “It is difficult not to recognize the signs that African Americans are in the midst of a cultural renaissance” (English 807). This renaissance allowed Blacks to have a uniform voice in a society based upon intellectual growth. The front-runners of this revival were extremely focused on cultural growth through means of intellect, literature, art and music. By using these means

By swaying in the delicate phrases and jerking with the harsh ones, the performers became the dancers in the ballet. They expressed different levels of emotion when required which reflected their playing.

This poem is divided into three stanzas. The first and last stanza has 19 lines while the second stanza has 45 lines. Stanza one deals with the way women in society regard strippers as an insult to all woman as well as ‘Helen’s’ argument as to why she has chosen this job. The second stanza forms a story base about her clients and their reaction towards her as a stripper. The last stanza is more aggressive and personal on ‘Helen’s’ behalf. This form of poetry is enjoyable to follow and keeps the reader interested.

Despite of being declared free and living in a free society, many times characters remain restricted due to their own conflicting matters. This can be seen evidently in the play Harlem Duet through the main character, Billie. Despite all blacks being declared officially free from slavery by the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, Billie still feels ‘enslaved’ many times due to pressures of external factors, such as racism that still exists in society, and internal factors such as her inability to remain in control of a situation.

Claude McKay’s “The Harlem Dancer,” focuses on an African American woman performing in a nightclub during a period of time in the 1920’s know as the Harlem Renaissance. She faces the crisis of self-exploitation and perception while exposing her “perfect half-clothed body (line 2)” to those who “toss coins in praise (line 10)” of her dancing. One can conclude from line 14 of the poem, “I knew her self was not in that strange place,” that the dancer feels like a slave to her job in being that perhaps she is doing it against her will. She appears not mentally strong enough to stop doing it.

Many tragic stories are extremely powerful and because their impact is strong, they are often presented solitarily. Harlem Duet (Djanet Sears, 1996) however combines two powerful strategies of stories. With the use of media performance text, Djanet Sears presents Billie’s personal tragedy of Othello and Billie resisting each other's thoughts, actions, and wants by the use soundscape of Martin Luther King’s speech, dialogue referencing to Oppositional Gaze, and the handkerchief to combine these two stories. The reader can identify the combination of these two stories in Harlem Duet by Martin Luther King’s speech playing in the background, which becomes a tragedy. Resistance comes forward with the assist of Martin Luther King’s speech as Othello denies that the two races are different, the dialogue and reference to oppositional gaze in which Othello expresses a very sexist and racist view between White and Black women because Othello informs Billie that White women are desirable because they are easier, which becomes the tragic insecurity for Billie, and resistance to Billie and Black woman. Additionally, the most important combination of tragedy is when Billie is going insane and resistance happens. She decides to curse the handkerchief and resist Othello and Mona’s love.

Mansfield’s description throughout the narrative is intriguing and captivating, pulling the reader into the drill hall and making them sway to the “oft, melting, ravishing tune” as though they themselves could have been Leila. Moreover, her use of description allows her to create the character of the “fat man” and utilise him to portray the idea that “happiness [doesn’t] last for ever.” Because she describes him as the fat man, who is old and wearing a coat that “looked dusty with French chalk”, she creates an evident contrast between the beautiful characters she initially described. Through this imagery, Mansfield subtly portrays Leila’s fears of losing the beauty of this first ball and emphasises that in fact, beauty doesn’t last. However, Mansfield plunges the reader back in to the dance, such that the almost

taste, hear and touch. ' Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun' this

Djanet Sears’ Harlem Duet was written around 30 years after Martin Luther King gave his speech. It’s basically used as a reflection of Martin Luther king’s “The dream” on the society and cultural repercussions. Also Malcolm X teachings are reflected within the play. There are questions about the black identity and the society’s perception of the black identity. While sears tries to create this dream for the main characters, it fails due to the society’s perception of what the black identity should or shouldn’t be like.

The great philosopher Plato once orated: “Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. PBS defines the the Harlem Renaissance a “Cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place in Harlem between the end of World War I and the middle of the 1930s. During this period Harlem was a cultural center, drawing black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars.” Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.”Authors such as Langston Hughes, Lucille Clifton, and Colleen McElroy explore their cultural heritage through hard-hitting poetry.

The poem "The Harlem Dancer" is specifically about a women who dances. This is evident from the first two lines "applauding youth laughed with young prostitutes and watched her perfect, half clothed body sway." Despite the fact that the woman is a dancer the speaker finds beauty in her. He compares her voice to "blended flutes" given her an elegant qualities that seems to contradict the environment she is in. The speaker notices the way in which she carries herself on stage, with grace and calm. Even though she's a dancer she carries her self with pride, and in a way this shines more of her beauty. In line 10 reality finally sets in for the speaker when he acknowledges the "tossed coins in praise". He had been so mesmerized by the woman's elegance

In the novel Dancer from the Dance the author uses beauty and aesthetics in many different ways. The author uses beauty and aesthetics in ways such as, the night life in the city, the relationships between the characters in Dancer from the Dance, the clothing that the character’s wear, and the way each character looks. The characters in Dancer from the Dance feel like themselves when they are able to dress, act, and go places where they won’t be judged by others. The author shows the reader that during the day the characters have to hide who they really are so that they won’t be judged by society, but at night the characters are free to do what they want and won’t be judged for it because they will be with others like themselves. The characters do the things that they do because that is who they are, and there is beauty in those things.