Digging the Africanist Presence in American Performance: Dance and Other Contexts

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This ground-breaking work brings dance into current discussions of the African presence in American culture. Dixon Gottschild argues that the Africanist aesthetic has been invisibilized by the pervasive force of racism. This book provides evidence to correct and balance the record, investigating the Africanist presence as a conditioning factor in shaping American performance, onstage and in everyday life. She examines the Africanist presence in American dance forms particularly in George Balanchine's Americanized style of ballet, (post)modern dance, and blackface minstrelsy. Hip hop culture and rap are related to contemporary performance, showing how a disenfranchised culture affects the culture in power.

Reviews

"Brenda Dixon Gottschild makes a powerful case for an African presence in modern American ballet and in dance generally, and...brings the black aesthetic, in theoretical terms, ever nearer one's reach. [This text is] a dance of the intellect."-Sterling Stuckey, Presidential Chair Professor of History and Religious Studies University of California, Riverside
"Dr. Dixon Gottschild's voice is convincing because of her eclectic documentation and it is touching as well because of the human experiences the reader is drawn into within the related responses of her students, her colleagues, herself, and her antagonists. She is always clear about specific objectives, leaving tempting tangents, yet incorporating the thinking of scholars and learned others in multiple disciplines--definitely in a creole mode that is rich, colorful, and not easily discounted."- Yvonne Daniel, Associate Professor of Dance Anthropology Smith College and the Five College Dance Consortium
"Written with dynamism, passion, and perception on a subject of central importance to all of us, this powerful book makes us ponder issues we took for granted. It deserves a broad readership."- Lawrence W. Levine, Margaret Byrne Professor of History, Emeritus University of California, Berkeley
"Brenda Dixon Gottschild's brilliant Digging the Africanist Presence in American Literature walks a line between anecdotal revelation and researched historical postulation as it traces cultural trends in dance and performance....Gottschild packs loads of inventive theorizing into this slim offering....[A] major accomplishment."-DCA News
[E]xcellent work....[H]elps us understand the role of "stealin' steps" in the process of perpetuating the traditions of African American vernacular and choreographed dance and how stealing steps has obscured the importance of African American dance for all of American culture. Like all original and creative works, ...Gottschild increase[s] our knowledge and provide[s] leads for other scholars to follow.-American Quarterly
[This book] takes on the interesting subject of how the African American culture has made a difference to art in America--what this difference is and how it is manifest. Gottschild's subject is the saturation of America with the African....Gottschild focuses on dance but includes the minstrel stage, jazz, vaudeville, Gangsta Rap, the 19th-century 'Hottentot Venus' (the pejoratively named African woman who was brought to England and displayed as a freak), performance criticism, and Native American powwow. A freewheeling writer, Gottschild often segues into a general discussion of racism and its impact on the performing arts in pointing out the locations of African influence in American performance....[a] welcome addition to a burgeoning literature on African American performance. Recommended for all academic collections.-Choice
Brenda Dixon Gottschild's brilliant Digging the Africanist Presence in American Literature walks a line between anecdotal revelation and researched historical postulation as it traces cultural trends in dance and performance....Gottschild packs loads of inventive theorizing into this slim offering....[A] major accomplishment.-DCA News
"Excellent work....Helps us understand the role of "stealin' steps" in the process of perpetuating the traditions of African American vernacular and choreographed dance and how stealing steps has obscured the importance of African American dance for all of American culture. Like all original and creative works, ...Gottschild increases our knowledge and provides leads for other scholars to follow."-American Quarterly
"This book takes on the interesting subject of how the African American culture has made a difference to art in America--what this difference is and how it is manifest. Gottschild's subject is the saturation of America with the African....Gottschild focuses on dance but includes the minstrel stage, jazz, vaudeville, Gangsta Rap, the 19th-century 'Hottentot Venus' (the pejoratively named African woman who was brought to England and displayed as a freak), performance criticism, and Native American powwow. A freewheeling writer, Gottschild often segues into a general discussion of racism and its impact on the performing arts in pointing out the locations of African influence in American performance....a welcome addition to a burgeoning literature on African American performance. Recommended for all academic collections."-Choice
"[E]xcellent work....[H]elps us understand the role of "stealin' steps" in the process of perpetuating the traditions of African American vernacular and choreographed dance and how stealing steps has obscured the importance of African American dance for all of American culture. Like all original and creative works, ...Gottschild increase[s] our knowledge and provide[s] leads for other scholars to follow."-American Quarterly
"[This book] takes on the interesting subject of how the African American culture has made a difference to art in America--what this difference is and how it is manifest. Gottschild's subject is the saturation of America with the African....Gottschild focuses on dance but includes the minstrel stage, jazz, vaudeville, Gangsta Rap, the 19th-century 'Hottentot Venus' (the pejoratively named African woman who was brought to England and displayed as a freak), performance criticism, and Native American powwow. A freewheeling writer, Gottschild often segues into a general discussion of racism and its impact on the performing arts in pointing out the locations of African influence in American performance....[a] welcome addition to a burgeoning literature on African American performance. Recommended for all academic collections."-Choice

Author Bio

BRENDA DIXON GOTTSCHILD is Professor Emerita of Dance at Temple University. Formerly a professional dancer and actress, she is the Philadelphia critic for Dancemagazine and has published articles in The Drama Review, Dance Research Journal, Design for Arts in Education, and The Black American Literature Forum. She is coauthor of the third and most recent edition of The History of Dance in Art and Education.