'Community' is a multivalent concept, subject to a plurality of contexts and constructs that can alter and shift its meaning. As a dance artist, I have encountered myriad understandings and manifestations of 'community' through dance practice, and perceive an intrinsic relationship between dance and 'community.' A 'West African' dance class in Philadelphia — designated as a 'community-based' class by the instructor — provides a rich opportunity to excavate this relationship. The class, one of several offered throughout the city, is located in West Philadelphia. It is an intergenerational class attended by a diverse demographic of participants (race/ethnicity, gender, profession, class, age, ability, etc.) with an array of motivations and goals for participating in class (as made evident through conversations and interviews). All are welcome to attend, regardless of previous experience or skill level in 'West African' dance. My dissertation is a qualitative research study that examines participant experiences and interpretations of 'community,' with attention paid to the socio-cultural/political context of 'West African' dance in the United States, specifically in Philadelphia. Methodologically, this study is situated in sensory ethnography, philosophically oriented in community based participatory research, and draws from phenomenological strategies towards gathering lived experience data. Lived experiences of 'community' are placed in conversation with literature concerned with theories and constructions of 'community' from a range of disciplines, as well as texts that interrogate the historical, sociocultural and political contexts which frame 'West African' dance within the United States. As a member of this particular 'West African' dance class, I situate my own experiences within that of the collective, migrating inward and outward between personal reflection and participant narratives. As such this investigation lies at the intersection of subjective, intersubjective, and cultural knowledge. / Dance

This dissertation positions Germaine Acogny’s Modern African Dance Technique (“the Technique”) as a mode of knowledge that reveals insight into nationalism, Négritude, modernism and perspectives on modernity during the early years of Senegal’s independence. By investigating the Technique in relationship to its historical context, this study aims to identify how cultural and political values, which comprise the Technique’s embodied knowledge, are evident in its aesthetic design and philosophical underpinnings. A hybrid methodological approach is employed that merges theoretical analysis with autoethnography. Fieldwork in Senegal, archival research, interviews and embodied practice informed this study. A new theoretical frame, Wòrándá, is introduced that contributes to existing theories on embodiment in African and Diasporic dance techniques and performance. The findings of this dissertation conclude that the Technique sits at the junction of African and Euro-American cultural templates, which coalesce in the production of a codified movement technique that both embodies and confronts constructivist influences. Correlations are suggested between the Technique, Africentric perspectives and cultural nationalism. The Technique also fulfills Léopold Sedar Senghor’s vision of métissage (cultural blending) and cultural progress. Each of these ideological influences underscores the Technique’s significance as a modernist intervention on the genre of neo-traditional African concert dance, as its progenitor seeks to challenge dominant expectations of the African body in dance. / Dance

Depression is a disabling mental disorder that has huge impacts on one’s life and is therefore considered a global health concern. Efforts to find the most effective treatments have led to the development of antidepressants and cognitive therapy treatments. However, exercise as a form of treatment for depression has been growing in popularity. Recently, Dance Movement Therapy has gained exposure as a possible form of exercise treatment. Therefore, in the current study, West African dance was studied in order to determine its effects on depression. It was hypothesized that West African dance would target and alleviate symptoms of depression as outlined on the Beck Depression Inventory. Participants were already enrolled in the dance class and the Beck Depression Inventory was administered to the participants. Results indicated that West African dance had a significant positive impact on depression by lowering overall depression scores and psychological depression scores. This study contributes to current literature by offering a unique form of dance with rhythmic drum beats that has not been studied before. Future research should be aimed at further establishing the efficacy of West African dance and the long-term effects it has on depression.

abstract: ABSTRACT Moving beyond Form: Communicating Identity through Dance chronicles the journey of investigating my personal creative process in dance. This was a search for strategies to empower myself creatively, enabling me to move beyond the limitations of a prescribed form or style of dance and communicate ideas that were relevant to me. But on a deeper level, it was an exploration of my capacity to self-define through movement. The challenge led me to graduate school, international study with world-renowned choreographers and to the development of a holistic creative practice, Movement to Meaning. The aim of this creative practice is to express internal awareness through movement, thereby enabling the mover to dance from an internal reference point. In my research, I utilized Movement to Meaning to re-contextualize Sandia, a traditional-based dance that is indigenous to various Mande subgroups in West Africa. This project culminated in a choreographic presentation, Ten For Every Thousand, which was performed in October 2010 at the Nelson Fine Arts Center at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.F.A. Dance 2010

Inaugurated by Kariamu Welsh in 1970, Umfundalai is an evolving contemporary African dance technique that draws movements from African and Diasporan dances. As one of the first of thirteen men to study and perform the technique, Umfundalai reified a North American African male identity, empowering me to navigate American and African American social scripts that posit dancing as a non-masculine activity. This study employs an autoethnographic lens to illuminate men's constructions of gender in Umfundalai. Specifically, the research explores maleness, an experienced gendered agency, among eight male practitioners, including the researcher. Brothers of the Bah Yáh is framed as a multi-layered inquiry that applies phenomenological values and procedures to forward an auto-ethnographic intention. The study's qualitative methodology draws on Max van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenology and Anselm Strauss's applied grounded theory, as well as historical description and dance analysis. Sources of data include interviews with seven Umfundalai men, Umfundalai's progenitor and first dance master; an in-depth research journal recording my own lived experience descriptions and memories of dancing Umfundalai; and videos of selected Umfundalai repertory. The study is informed by the literature of masculine studies, highlighting the social function of masculinities as scripted and learned ideals. There is a dearth of resources theorizing the African American presence in African dance on the American concert stage. Drawing on primary sources, the empirical findings of the study are framed in a historical analysis of the emergence of a male presence in Umfundalai since 1993, including male-inspired developments in the technique. Analysis of in-depth interviews reveal that performing Umfundalai choreography affords men an opportunity to dance a self-determined construction of gender performance and that Umfundalai studio practice can be a site for men's affirmation of their `dancer' identities as well as friction with gender performance. Further, while Kariamu Welsh's approach to developing Umfundalai's movement system may be described as gender-neutral, the continuance of Umfundalai by its dance masters substantiated a gendered Umfundalai in which movement and performance were aligned with scripted conventional masculine tropes. The Brothers of the Bah Yáh: The Pursuit of Maleness in the Umfundalai Tradition of African Dance reveals that `the pursuit of maleness' was a unique construction experienced only by the researcher. Contradicting my initial presumption, the other men in this study found their gendered agency outside of Umfundalai. Moreover, a large majority of men in this study draw significantly on conventional masculinities, namely strength and power, to feel their maleness. Further, a spirituality of solidarity was uncovered - an embodied masculinity that can arise while dancing Umfundalai choreography and observing other men dancing at the same time. The dissertation concludes that expressions of maleness as described by Umfundalai's dancing men have currency in sports and in the larger American and African American communities out of which Umfundalai's dance culture emerges. Strength, power, and spiritual transformation situated in similitude represent commonalities of male experiences. At the same time, Umfundalai choreography can house multiple masculinities. Dances like Kariamu Welsh's Raaahmonaaah! (1989) and my Genesis: The Royal Dance of Kings (1996) serve as portals for masculinities that dismantle the hegemony that erodes the community in which it exists. Further research is needed to understand how dancing men can be a force that dismantles racism, sexism, and homophobia. / Dance

Ce mémoire traite de l’enseignement de la danse africaine en France et au Canada. Cette recherche a débuté en 2007, lorsque l’auteur a participé à un échange étudiant. À la fin de cette expérience, l’auteur en était arrivé à la conclusion que la danse africaine au Québec était abordée comme un bien de consommation et/ou une production socioculturelle relevant de l’imaginaire. La présente analyse explore les avantages et les limites de l’approche méthodologique adoptée par l’anthropologue (qui est, dans ce cas-ci, une ancienne danseuse classique), et les conditions de la rencontre entre les Africains et les occidentaux par la danse. Tandis qu’il reste à démontrer que les critiques postmodernes de l’art de masse s’appliquent dans ce cas-ci, l’analyse montre ici clairement que l’on trouve dans les cours de danse africaine au Québec une forme de conscience professionnelle. Les critiques de la danse et de d’autres formes de démocratisations artistiques tendent à se confondre dans la peur du discours populaire. L’objectif principal de cette recherche est par conséquent d’établir les limites du fétichisme par rapport à la danse africaine et d’explorer en détail les implications de la « hantise du Troisième Homme » communiquée par la recherche ethnographique et l’analyse anthropologique / This thesis deals with the teaching of African dance in France and in Canada. The research for this thesis began in 2007, when the author took part in a student exchange and ended with a consideration of African dance in Quebec as a consumer good and/or an imaginary sociocultural production. The analysis explores the benefits and the limits of the methodological approach embraced by the anthropologist (who is, in this case, a former dancer with training in classical dance), and the terms of the encounter between Africans and Westerners through dance. While it remains to be shown that the post-modernist critiques of mass art apply to this context, the analysis here points to the presence of a professional consciousness in African dance lessons in Quebec. Critiques of dance and other arts as democratization tend to get lost in the fear of popular discourse. The main objective of this research is therefore to establish the limits of the fetishism associated with African dance and to discuss in further detail the « hantise du Troisième Homme », communicated by ethnographic research and anthropological analysis

Ce mémoire traite de l’enseignement de la danse africaine en France et au Canada. Cette recherche a débuté en 2007, lorsque l’auteur a participé à un échange étudiant. À la fin de cette expérience, l’auteur en était arrivé à la conclusion que la danse africaine au Québec était abordée comme un bien de consommation et/ou une production socioculturelle relevant de l’imaginaire. La présente analyse explore les avantages et les limites de l’approche méthodologique adoptée par l’anthropologue (qui est, dans ce cas-ci, une ancienne danseuse classique), et les conditions de la rencontre entre les Africains et les occidentaux par la danse. Tandis qu’il reste à démontrer que les critiques postmodernes de l’art de masse s’appliquent dans ce cas-ci, l’analyse montre ici clairement que l’on trouve dans les cours de danse africaine au Québec une forme de conscience professionnelle. Les critiques de la danse et de d’autres formes de démocratisations artistiques tendent à se confondre dans la peur du discours populaire. L’objectif principal de cette recherche est par conséquent d’établir les limites du fétichisme par rapport à la danse africaine et d’explorer en détail les implications de la « hantise du Troisième Homme » communiquée par la recherche ethnographique et l’analyse anthropologique / This thesis deals with the teaching of African dance in France and in Canada. The research for this thesis began in 2007, when the author took part in a student exchange and ended with a consideration of African dance in Quebec as a consumer good and/or an imaginary sociocultural production. The analysis explores the benefits and the limits of the methodological approach embraced by the anthropologist (who is, in this case, a former dancer with training in classical dance), and the terms of the encounter between Africans and Westerners through dance. While it remains to be shown that the post-modernist critiques of mass art apply to this context, the analysis here points to the presence of a professional consciousness in African dance lessons in Quebec. Critiques of dance and other arts as democratization tend to get lost in the fear of popular discourse. The main objective of this research is therefore to establish the limits of the fetishism associated with African dance and to discuss in further detail the « hantise du Troisième Homme », communicated by ethnographic research and anthropological analysis

This thesis questions what it was like for pre-service teachers registered in a Bachelor of Education program to experience Kpanlogo, a West African dance from Ghana. Over a period of two years, the primary researcher introduced this dance to her peers first as a pre-service teacher, and then as a graduate student in a variety of ways: 1) practicing it for a performance at a community building talent show on campus, 2) learning it through a professional development workshop, and 3) teaching it to intermediate students at a local school, on two different occasions. Five pre-service teachers responded to an invitation to participate in a phenomenological study about their experiences. The two research questions which guided the interviews were: 1) What was it like to experience Kpanlogo, a West African dance, as a pre-service teacher? 2) What was it like as a pre-service teacher to teach students Kpanlogo? The conceptual framework of Sankofa Cyclical Waves, situated in a collectivist African Worldview orients us to the philosophy of Ubuntu, which posits that humanness is found and cultivated within community. Sankofa, a Ghanaian proverb which encourages its people to go back, physically or spiritually, to retrieve what was once lost or forgotten was used as a particular path to analyze the lived experiences of the pre-service teachers. In this thesis the Sankofa Cyclical Waves provided a structure to identify their various levels of understanding Ubuntu. Experiences analyzed as being novice in nature were awkward at the start, then as the dancer moves towards the end of the continuum, towards Ubuntu, the dancer moves through a series of waves as they become more familiar with rhythms, movements, African dance attire, and becoming a part of the whole; the Other‘s community.

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