Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation analyzes the intellectual and political contributions of choreographer Katherine Dunham (1909-2006). As an African American woman, Dunham broke several barriers of race and gender, first as an anthropologist conducting ethnographic fieldwork in the Caribbean in the 1930s, and second as the artistic director of a major dance company that toured the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Australia from the 1930s through the 1960s. She also wrote several scholarly books and articles, opened multiple schools, and served on the boards of numerous arts organizations. Although Dunham's contributions to anthropology and dance are vitally important, "Choreographing a New World" emphasizes her political engagement. Through actions both onstage and off, she helped strengthen the transnational ties of black social movements from the New Negro Movement to the Black Power Movement. In particular, the dissertation contends that Dunham made dance one of the primary forces in the creation and perpetuation of the African diaspora. She herself attempted to live diaspora by forging personal connections across racial, linguistic, national, class, and cultural borders. In order to shift the focus to Dunham's intellectual and political engagement, "Choreographing a New World" turns to previously untapped archival sources. This dissertation is the first scholarly work on Dunham to examine archives from the U.S. State Department, Office of Economic Opportunity, Bernard Berenson Papers, Rockefeller Foundation Records, Langston Hughes Papers, and Rosenwald Foundation Papers, among other archives. It combines insights from these archives with choreographic analysis, interviews with Dunham's former dancers and students, and embodied participant-observation research at the annual International Katherine Dunham Technique Seminars from 2010 to 2013. Overall, "Choreographing a New World" not only provides a new perspective on Dunham, but also raises important questions about dance as an intellectual and political activity, especially within an African diasporic context.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--University of California, Irvine, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-89).

Thesis (M.A.)--Florida State University, 2005. / Advisor: Dr. John O. Perpener III, Florida State University, School of Visual Arts and Dance, Dept. of Dance. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 8, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 87 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--University of California, Irvine, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-89). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

This study investigates the expressive youth movement hip hop, a predominately black male subculture defined through participation in the competitive activities of graffiti writing, rapping and breakdancing. The general objective is to determine what is being communicated through these expressive forms, to whom, how, and finally to suggest why it is being communicated. The extent to which the encoded messages are consistent with reports of the subculture's goals is then discussed. It is asserted that hip hop operates as an alternative identity management and problem-solving mechanism within the black American ghetto. Drawing on traditional aspects of black cultural identity and expressiveness, hip hop creates a distinct way of life, reflecting a constructive and optimistic philosophy, to challenge the existing roles of the street hustler and gang member. Developed in the inner city boroughs of New York City in the late 1960's and early 1970's, hip hop functioned as a non-violent means of projecting a self-image and of measuring self-worth. It continues to be used to confront fundamental issues in a fight to overcome the restrictions of ghetto living, providing an expression of both an aesthetic and a cultural style based on the pursuit of excellence. The focus of the study is a form and content analysis of a selection of recorded raps, which parallels an interpretation of the messages conveyed in the musical form with assertions made by insiders regarding the functioning of hip hop. The thesis explores the hip hop male persona and worldview, his social relations and his role in the community, as they are articulated in the raps. The results of this analysis are then applied to a discussion of hip hop graffiti and breakdancing symbolism. The study concludes that the three expressive forms are communicating the cultural agenda of its members as well as providing the means through which to achieve their goals. It is contended that within hip hop, members empower themselves through aggressive self-glorifying imagery and role-playing, and that they apply this sense of greatness to motivating their community, outlining a strategy for coping with their existence by re-energizing it and transforming it into a positive experience. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, a trailblazing cohort of African American choreographers, dancers, and teachers innovated the aesthetics of their art while also using dance performance as a tool for civic education and community engagement. This group, which included figures like Alvin Ailey, Eleo Pomare, Rod Rodgers, Carole Johnson, and Mozel Spriggs, harnessed the creative potential of the ongoing “dance boom” to intervene in cultural, political, and social debates in American life. They advanced a multistylistic definition of “Black dance,” embracing both Western and Africanist artistic elements. By translating their ideas about pressing sociopolitical topics into the embodied language of movement, they used their choreography to offer explicit commentary on the world around them. Placing a particular emphasis on community engagement, they brought this work to new spaces and contexts, performing in public parks, city streets, college auditoriums, and on broadcast television. Supported by an institutional infrastructure of publications and administrative alliances dedicated to Black dance, they built a national, multiracial audience for their art. Together, these dancemakers functioned as a cohort of public intellectuals, contributing to broader discourse on race, cultural identity, citizenship, and activism within the context of the ongoing Civil Rights and Black Arts Movements. This dissertation marks the first comprehensive study of this innovative generation of Black dance artists. Combining methods from intellectual history, cultural history, and dance studies, it examines their intervention in American life during a period of urban unrest, cultural revolution, and political transformation. Drawing on a wide range of archival materials, including government and foundation records, lesson plans, choreographic notes, personal papers, critical reviews, programs, correspondence, oral histories, video, and photography, this analysis reconstructs choreographers’ embodied ideas and contextualizes audience reception. In their choreography, creative practice, and pedagogy, these dancemakers elevated the beauty and strength of the Black body in motion and emphasized the universality of African American stories. This dissertation likewise argues that Black modern dance offers a new way of thinking about art and its real-world implications, advancing our understanding of the body’s capacity to communicate ideas, educate audiences, and intervene in public life.