Caribbean Dance from Abakuá to Zouk: How Movement Shapes Identity

Description

Caribbean Dance from Abakuá to Zouk is an unprecedented overview of the dances from each of this region’s major islands and the complex, fused, and layered cultures that gave birth to them. The authors in this collection, from distinguished cultural leaders to highly innovative choreographers, reveal how dance shapes personal, communal, and national identity. They also show how Caribbean rhythms, dances, fragments of movement, and even attitudes toward movement reach beyond the islands and through the extensive West Indian diaspora communities in North America, Latin America, and Europe to be embraced by the world at large. From the anthropological to the literary and from the practical to the creative, these dances are explored in the contexts of social history, tradition, ritual, and performance. Connections are made among a fascinating array of dances, both familiar and little known, from culturally based to newly created performance pieces. Particular emphasis is placed on the African contribution in making Caribbean dance distinctive. An extensive glossary of terms and more than 30 illustrations round out the book to make it the most complete resource on Caribbean dance available. CARIBBEAN DANCE FROM ABAKUA TO ZOUK CONTENTS Introduction AFRICAN BACKGROUND 1. Crossroads, Continuities, and Contradictions: The Afro-Euro-Caribbean Triangle (Brenda Dixon Gottschild) 2. What Is Congolese in Caribbean Dance (Nathaniel Hamilton Crowell, Fr.) CUBA 3. Cuban Dance: An Orchard of Caribbean Creativity (Yvonne Daniel) 4. The Dance World of Ramiro Guerra: Solemnity, Voluptuousness, Humor, and Chance (Melinda Mousouris) 5. The Técnica Cubana (Suki Fohn) JAMAICA 6. Jamaican Dance Theatre: Celebrating the Caribbean Heritage (Rex Nettleford) 7. Rasta and Reggae (Thomas Osha Pinnock) HAITI 8. Haitian Vodou Ritual Dance and Its Secularization (Henry Frank) 9. Spirit Unbound: New Approaches to the Performance of Haitian Folklore (Lois E. Wilcken) DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 10. Dominican Folk Dance and the Shaping of National Identity (Martha Ellen Davis) 11. A Dominican York in Andhra (Ramon H. Rivera-Servera) PUERTO RICO 12. Dance in Puerto Rico: Embodied Meanings (Alma Concepción) 13. Gilda Navarra: Before ‘Taller de Histriones (Alma Concepcion) 14. The Challenges of Puerto Rican Bomba (Halbert Barton) VIRGIN ISLANDS 5. Winin’ Yo’ Wais’: The Changing Tastes of Dance on the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Croix (Cynthia Oliver) MARTINIQUE AND GUADELOUPE 16. Sa Ki Ta Nou (This belongs to us): Creole Dances of the French Caribbean (Dominique Cyrille) TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 17. In Search of the Limbo: An Investigation into Its Folklore as a Wake Dance (Molly Abye) 18. The Moko Jumbie: Elevating the Children (Patricia T. Alleyne-Dettmers) CURACAO 19. Tambu: Afro-Curagao’s Music and Dance of Resistance (Gabri Christa) UNITED STATES-CARIBBEAN CONNECTION 20. Katherine Dunham’s Tropical Revue (VèVè A. Clark) 21. Islands Refracted: Recent Dance on Caribbean Themes in New York (Susanna Sloat) 22. Teaching the People to Triumph over Time: Notes from the World of Mambo (Robert Farris Thompson) Glossary Bibliography About the Contributors Index