Gyrating Hips
Gyrating hips, fast feet, high stepping, and magnificent moves, are characteristics that belong to the great African-American dancers of history’s past. Famu’s Black Archives Museum has a vast collection of African-American artifacts including a variety of pictures of dazzling African-American dancers. These dancers Katherine Dunham, Martha Graham, and Bill “Bo jangles” Robinson exemplify black beauty, style, and grace.
Katherine Dunham was born in Glen Ellyn, Illinois on June 22, 1909, to Albert and Fanny Dunham. Katherine was a great dance teacher. Later in her career she was able to get together her own dance company. In February 1940 the Katherine Dunham Dance Company opened at the Windsor Theatre, west 48th Street, with Dunham’s own Tropics and Le Jazz Hot. The show was a phenomenal success. Following that show many newspaper companies were amazed and wanted to inter view Mrs. Dunham. Katherine Dunham was indeed on her way to the top. From that night her name and her dances took her behind the footlights of the world’s greatest stages. Her unique and stylistic perfection were the forces that propelled her toward that magic moment when the dance, dancers, and cultural story became one. Soon after the success, and offer came to the Dunham’s Dance Company to take part in an all-Negro musical entitled Cabin in the Sky. The salary offered of three thousand dollars a week was an amount this company never dreamed of making. Dunham’s ro...
As the first African-American to create a multicultural, international concert dance company, Alvin Ailey’s dance company has been dubbed the “cultural ambassador of the world” (Gorman 36). Through his Alvin Ailey Dance Company, he addressed the racism and injustice faced by ethnic minorities across the globe. Ailey clearly revolutionized African American participation in 20th century concert dance as well as revived interest in modern dance. As an extremely talented dancer and choreographer, Ailey’s success is attributed to his dedication and passion for expression through dance, but what is often overlooked is his resilience to the hardships he faced, the mentors he had, and the opportunities
At eleven years old, she was discovered by Gus Edwards and performed in a dinner show called the Vaudeville Kiddie Revue. In her teenage years she could often be found dancing in clubs. Then, she started auditioning for Broadway shows. The reason she started tap dancing was because the fact that every audition she went to, she was asked to tap dance. So, she enrolled in the Jack Donahue School in New York. After her first class, she didn’t want to come back because she felt so behind. Jack called her and told her to come back, so she did. By her seventh lesson, she was finally getting good.
Music nurtured the African American tradition and their struggle towards equality in the same century.... ... middle of paper ... ... Greensboro, N.C.: Morgan Reynolds Pub. Carter, D. (2009).
Many studies that explore effects of treatment intensity on aphasia recovery do so by looking at a specific type of intensive therapy known as Constraint-Induced Language Therapy (CILT). Pulvermuller et al. (2001) was the first to examine how constraints placed on a person with aphasia so as to limit them to only a verbal means of communication might improve verbal output. The idea stemmed from evidence in the physical therapy field that large motor improvements are possible when the lesser affected limb is constrained and intensive therapy is provided to the more severely affected limb (Taub, Uswatte, Pidikiti, 1999).
Expressive Apahasia (non-fluent): The person knows what he or she wants to say yet has difficulty communicating it to others. It doesn't matter what the person is trying to say or write what he or she is trying to communicate. Receptive Aphasia (fluent): The person can hear a voice or read the print, but may not understand the meaning of the message. Someone with Receptive Aphasia take language litterally. Their own speech may be disturbed because they don't understand their own language. The most severe type of Aphasia is Global Aphasia: Global Aphasia is often seen right after someone has a stroke. The person has difficulty speaking and understanding words. In addition the person is unable to read or write. (www.webmd.com)
According to Albert Murray, the African-American musical tradition is “fundamentally stoical yet affirmative in spirit” (Star 3). Through the medium of the blues, African-Americans expressed a resilience of spirit which refused to be crippled by either poverty or racism. It is through music that the energies and dexterities of black American life are sounded and expressed (39). For the black culture in this country, the music of Basie or Ellington expressed a “wideawake, forward-tending” rhythm that one can not only dance to but live by (Star 39).
Throughout history, Black Americans have fought to reclaim their bodies and redefine ideas of Blackness. Much of this struggle can be attributed to the fact that Black people have not owned their own bodies for the vast majority of American history. The Black struggle to escape white labels and the fight for self-determination, Black narration, and the presentation of Black beauty are evident in dance and its evolution throughout history. In his article, "Simmering Passivity: The Black Male Body In Concert Dance," Thomas DeFrantz uses the career and choreography of Alvin Ailey to show how Black dancers in America have historically been forced to conform to White stereotypes. Conversely, Jason King and Ananya Chatterjea show in their articles “Which way is down? Improvisations on black mobility” and “Subversive Dancing: The Playful
The painting “Sugar Shack” depicts how African Americans relieve physical tension through dance and movement. This painting suggests that Ernie Barnes shows how his culture expresses themselves through dance. In fact, one of the reasons Sugar Shack is popular is because of the way Barnes captured physical strain and dynamic movement through the extension of arms and legs and the swaying of hips. We see the figures as men and women who are dancing in pairs, physically relating to one another and to other couples. This creates a sense of unity among all the figures in the piece, including the band. Barnes said, “Sugar Shack is a recall of a childhood experience. It was the first time my innocence met with the sins of dance.” The painting is supposed to make a person feel the rhythm while viewing it to show that African Americans use rhythm as
According to Katherine, “A creative person has to create. It doesn’t really matter what they create. If such a dance wanted to go out and build the cactus gardens where he could, in Mexico, let him do that, but something that is creative has to go on. (Katherine, Dunham, Dancing a life, 2002)”. It has been said that an idol is someone whom everyone looks up to because of the great things they accomplished throughout their life span. Acknowledged as an African American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, civil activist and writer. Katherine Dunham, not only normally known for the generous acts of kindness but also for the huge impact she had in incorporating different dance styles and creating them into her very own ballet pieces. An influential woman who supported African American culture and believed there shouldn’t be any divisions between people. Not completely another mother of modern dance but a women who greatly influenced modern dance to enhance it in many ways. Katherine is and was famous for her anthropology movement in the world of dance, her creativity and dedication.
By the end of World War I, Black Americans were facing their lowest point in history since slavery. Most of the blacks migrated to the northern states such as New York and Chicago. It was in New York where the “Harlem Renaissance” was born. This movement with jazz was used to rid of the restraints held against African Americans. One of the main reasons that jazz was so popular was that it allowed the performer to create the rhythm. With This in Mind performers realized that there could no...
Alcoholism is a disease in which a person has an overwhelming desire to drink alcoholic beverages. A person who has this desire is called an alcoholic because he/she feels forced to drink. Alcoholism is considered one of the most serious problems in the world. Alcohol creates many problems in our society and people's personal lives. A large number of people in the world die from different diseases caused by alcohol. According to the Maclean's magazine, " In 1993, 3,062 people died from diseases directly related to alcohol consumption such as cirrhosis. Alcohol was also involved in almost 16,000 other deaths in fires, motor vehicle accidents, acts of violence and other incidents." (37) Many people think that alcoholism in an incurable disease, but they are wrong. An alcoholic can be treated in many ways, but of course, he/she has to recognize that he/she is an alcoholic and wish to be cured. Some ways of treatment, such as Alcoholics Anonymous(AA) and psychotherapy are possible solutions of alcoholism. Also government should take some acts to solve this problem.
When thinking of the word optogenetics, the word optimistic comes to mind, and that is exactly what optogenetics is. This new technology is optimistic to opening new doors to help save lives step by step, find cures, and a way for doctors to find underlying causes of life-threatening diseases. The idea was first brought up by Francis Crick, who also helped discover the double helix in DNA. “Crick’s idea was that light, with its unparalleled speed and precision, could be the ideal tool for controlling neurons and mapping the brain,” (Barth 3). Optogenetics is the technique of using different colored lights and proteins to activate neurons in the brain to change the way it functions (Dougherty 1). Optogenetics has the potential to achieve medical breakthroughs which can be beneficial to the health of humans and especially people who are affected by diseases of the brain like depression, Parkinson’s disease, and schizophrenia (Callaway 1). He believes that over time, this technique will be able to target the underlying causes and symptoms of life-threatening diseases such as: Parkinson’s disease, blindness, drug addiction, and many more. This innovation should only bring positive effects over society, as it could be a potential life saver to many. As of now this technology is only being tested in animals, but all of the experiments have been successful. With more studies and testing over time, it could soon be used in humans in less than a decade. With optogenetics already having success with the minds of animals, who knows what wonders this new technology could accomplish in the minds of humans.
Over the next few years she danced at men’s and women’s clubs, fairs, and various other gatherings in southeastern Kansas.At ten years old she was already a serious dancer and very much interested in it. In 1920, Brook’s family moved to Wichita, Kansas, and at 13 years old she began studying dance (pandorasbox/chron). Louise Brooks had a typical education and family life. She was very interested in reading and the arts, so in 1922 she traveled to New York City and joined the Denishawn Dance Company. This was the leading modern dance company in America at the time.
Steve Paxton: Speaking of Dance – Conversations with Contemporary Masters of American Modern Dance. Academic Internet Video. Directed by Douglas Rosenberg. Oregon: Alexander Street Press, 1996.
. There are many reasons why people start consuming alcohol, such as to increase self-confidence, escape from personal problems, relieve stress, overcome a poor self-image or to overcome shyness. Alcohol is defined as the use of alcohol interfering with social, academic, physical, or economic functioning. There are many stages on how alcohol affects a person. The first stage of alcoholism involves the use of alcoholism as a way to deal with other problems. The abuser will drink more than the average amount and is usually preoccupied with for example, partying or going out socially to drink. The abuser will also drink to cope with personal problems, have trouble stopping after one drink, and they’ll feel guilty about drinking so much. The drinker