abstract: “Her Brown Body Is Glory: A Legacy of Healing Forged Through Sisterhood and Dance” fondly captures the process of creating the evening length dance project, Her Brown Body Is Glory (HBBIG). This document addresses many themes, such as liminality, rites of passage, trauma in the African American community (like the effects of Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary’s “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS) theory), and provides a perspective of healing rooted in dance, rituals, and community. This research focuses on dance being the source of intervention to create sisterhood among African American women of many shades. Throughout the creation of this dance project, the choreographer and dancers collaboratively generated experiences to cultivate a space of trust, vulnerability, sisterhood, and growth. The use of written, verbal, and movement reflection supported this creative process as the main source of ritual to check in with self, building community amongst the dancers, and generating choreography. The insertion of these sisterhood rituals into the production became the necessary element of witness for the audience to experience an authentic and moving performance of Her Brown Body Is Glory. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Dance 2020

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