Morgan-Lee, Ayisha
(2020)
What is Black Dance.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
This dissertation explores and analyzes What is Black dance and the role that Black dance plays in the professional development of teaching artists in Black arts’ educational organizations preparing Black dancers for careers on the concert stage. What is Black Dance has evoked controversy among dancers, scholars and critics since the 1960s. Defining Black dance is complicated by the racial origins of Black dance and the racialization that Black dance has encountered and continues to encounter. In this study teaching artists working in urban arts academies demonstrate their knowledge in pedagogy, choreographic works, rehearsals, and performances. Teaching Black dance history, culture and choreographic processes creates and utilizes Black cultural aesthetics, informed by Black people’s culture, identity, history, and experiences to debunk racialized myths about Black dance as an art form. I use qualitative Focused Ethnography and data collection methods of focus groups, Apajo, an African cultural gathering, and individual interviews to engage participants in the examination of research questions. This dissertation through a focused ethnography approach reveals the ways in which professional teaching artists understand Black dance as an art form that uses the aesthetics of Africa, the Diaspora and Black America when developing pedagogy and choreography to prepare Black dancers for careers on the concert stage.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
| Title | Member | Email Address | Pitt Username | ORCID |
|---|
| Committee Chair | Akiva, Thomas | | | | | Committee Member | Russell, Jennifer | | | | | Committee Member | Zoucha, Richard | | | | | Committee Member | Sherrod, Gaynell | | | |
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| Date: |
7 July 2020 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
15 May 2020 |
| Approval Date: |
7 July 2020 |
| Submission Date: |
26 June 2020 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
111 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
School of Education > Instruction and Learning |
| Degree: |
EdD - Doctor of Education |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
aesthetics, dance, choreography, focused ethnography, teaching artists, Black |
| Date Deposited: |
07 Jul 2020 19:23 |
| Last Modified: |
07 Jul 2020 19:23 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/39286 |
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