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

Title: The Effect of Kinesiotaping on Pain Threshold Alteration of Lower Limbs and Pelvis in Latin American Sport Dance Couples Objectives: The aim of this study is to monitor the alteration of the pain threshold in predilective points of lower limbs and pelvis during loaded regime and to compare these changes with the control group with no kinesio tape. Methods: This experimental study employs intervention of kinesio tape applied to inhibit m. gastrocnemius medialis et lateralis and for mechanical correction of hallux valgus. There were five couples in experimental group and five couples in control group. The pain threshold change was objectivised by pressure algometer. Results: The measured data showed that the kinesiotaping has a positive influence on pain threshold in sport dance couples. In most dancers (9 out of 10) kinesio tape contributed to increasing or smaller decreasing of pain threshold with respect to the other lower limb. In comparison with the control group, pain threshold of dancers in the experimental group increased or decreased less even despite acute or subacute injury of the taped lower limb. One more finding is that the postural function has an influence on the pain threshold change after load. Pain threshold had a downward tendency in investigated persons with a worse...

[pt] O artista norte-americano Robert Morris é conhecido sobretudo como escultor, mas sua obra abrange uma diversidade de meios, procedimentos e materiais, dentre os quais a dança. Morris esteve diretamente envolvido com grupos de dança entre o final da década de 1950 e meados da década de 1960, período em que participou do que foram talvez os dois mais importantes focos de pesquisa em dança, nos Estados Unidos, para a sua geração: as atividades que se desenvolveram em São Francisco, ao redor da professora e dançarina Ann Halprin, e as atividades que, em Nova York, resultaram da formação do grupo Judson Dance Theater. Nesse período, além de atuar como dançarino em trabalhos de outros artistas, Morris criou um pequeno mas significativo conjunto de trabalhos de dança. A tese toma esse conjunto como base para um estudo da obra do artista e procura vê- la, em grande parte, como desdobramento de experiências e questões surgidas no âmbito da dança, em diálogo com o seu concomitante envolvimento na pintura, no desenho e na escultura. Discutindo alguns dos pontos principais desse diálogo - como o reducionismo minimalista, os procedimentos de tarefa e instruções, a ênfase na temporalidade e na literalidade da ação corporal - e alguns de seus conceitos centrais - como estado de dança, forma vazia e anti-forma - , a tese se propõe a ampliar as possibilidades de análise e compreensão de um momento crucial não só para a formação e o curso subseqüente da obra de Morris, mas também para a constituição do campo ampliado da arte contemporânea. / [en] The North American artist Robert Morris is known mostly as a sculptor, but his work encloses a diversity of means, procedures and materials among which dance. Morris was directly involved with dance groups between the end of the decade of 1950 until mid 1960, period in which he participated in what were maybe the two most important focuses of research in dance, in the United States, for his generation: the activities that were developed in San Francisco related to the professor and dancer Ann Halprin, and activities in New York City resulting from the formation of the group Judson Dance Theater. In this period, aside of acting as dancer in works from other artists, Morris created a small but significant set of dance works. The thesis considers this set as the basis for the study of the artist work and strives to see it, mainly, as a deployment of the experiences and questions arisen in the scope of dance, in dialogue with his concomitant involvement in painting, drawing and sculpture. Discussing some of the main points in this dialogue - as the minimalist reductionism, the procedures of tasks and instructions, the emphasis in the temporality and in the literality of the corporal action - and some of its central concepts - such as dance state, blank form and anti form - the thesis intends to extend the possibilities of analysis and comprehension of a crucial moment not only for the formation and the subsequent course of Morris work but also for the constitution of the expanded field of contemporary art.

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.