Афроамерикалық би өнерінің тарихы мен дамуы

Type of dance

African American dance is a form of dance that was created by Africans in the Diaspora, specifically the United States. It has developed within various spaces throughout African American communities in the United States, rather than studios, schools, or companies. These dances are usually centered on folk and social dance practice, though performance dance often supplies complementary aspects to this. Placing great value on improvisation, these dances are characterized by ongoing change and development. There are a number of notable African American modern dance companies using African American cultural dance as an inspiration, among these are the Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Katherine Dunham Company. Hollywood and Broadway have also provided opportunities for African American artists to share their work and for the public to support them. African American dance has had many waves of ingenuity, especially in the 20th century. The Harlem Renaissance was an especially important time for this artform and greatly influenced modern dance. The dances created in the Caribbean influenced those in North America, and contributed to the spread of anti colonial and anti racism ideas through performance.

The Greater Chesapeake area encompassing Virginia, Maryland, and much of North Carolina was the earliest and perhaps most influential location of the black white cultural interchange that produced "African American" dance. Given their cultural differences, particularly with music and dance, they most likely learned to dance together by creating brand new dances to draw on their traditions without replicating them precisely. Throughout the America, slaves blended tribal rhythms from their roots in Africa with ballroom rhythms of the US to create a distinctive African American form of dance. The tribal rhythms frequently originated from East and West Africa, as well as influences from Trinidad. The call and response dance forms that are popular among modern African American dancers can trace their roots back to these locations. The limited pictorial record indicates that the original African movements, which emphasized bending at the waist and hips, eventually faded away in favor of a more upright style, similar to European dances. However, it has been argued that this change was not an adoption of the European style, but actually reflected the African practice of carrying heavy loads on the head, which requires a straight, upright spine. The cakewalk, for example, developed on plantations as a subtle mockery of the formal, mannered dancing practiced by slaveholding whites. A 1981 article by Brooke Baldwin concludes that the cakewalk was meant "to satirize the competing culture of supposedly 'superior' whites. Slaveholders were able to dismiss its threat in their own minds by considering it as a simple performance which existed for their own pleasure". Black slaves would often dance after a day of picking cotton.

San Francisco's Bay Area was also a big contributor to the art of Hip Hop, both in the music and the dance aesthetics. As Hip Hop grew in popularity in New York, the West Coast funk movement was also thriving, and the two had influences on the style of the other. KMEL was a radio station in San Francisco that was very popular throughout the different neighborhoods in the Bay Area, and they played music that was not super mainstream. The station was one of the first to play Hip Hop music, and helped it get the outreach it needed to become popular throughout the large city. Hip Hop dance became such an integral part of these communities, that different neighborhoods in the area would each have signature styles or techniques, and one could tell where someone was from just based on their moves.

African American dance is often used as a way to combat colonialism and white supremacy. These performances can be seen as a commentary on society at present, or in the past. Oftentimes, dance is used in a way to combat stereotypes, empower the dancers by breaking free of western and Eurocentric beauty standards, and help them work through generational racial trauma. "African American Cultural Dance" was a description coined by National Dance Association author and researcher Frank R. Ross, who correctly replaced the old stereotyped "vernacular" (native or natural) definition of African American dance with its correct definition as "cultural" (sanctioned by the National Dance Association and International Dance Council). Some of the popular African American dances of today are the Detroit Ballroom and Social – Chicago Steppin & Walking, D. C. Baltimore, Hand Dance, Calypso & The NAACP Sanctioned Grand March – National Black Wedding & Reunion Dance. Popular black dance organizations are perfectly paired Gentlemen of Ballroom of Cleveland Master Dancers of Akron, OH. Dance Fusion, World Class Detroit, Majestic Gents – Chicago Smooth & Easy D. C. Tri – State – Love to dance – Sugarfoot of Baltimore, MD. The new American dance art form of African American cultural dance and music was accepted into the New York City Schools dance education curriculum. Jacqui Malone describes the relationships between tap dancers who traveled with bands in the early 20th century, describing the way tap dancers worked with the musicians to create new rhythms. Much has been written about the relationship between improvisation in jazz and improvisation in jazz dance – the two are linked by their emphasis on improvisation and creative additions to compositions while they are in process – choreography and composition on the spot, in a social context – rather than a strict division between "creation" and "performance", as in the European middle class ballet and operatic tradition. African Dance is supposed to be about a person getting connected to the ground and telling their story and struggles using dance. It also allows people to feel the vibrations of their dance beneath their feet, allowing them to dance how they please, utilizing the space that they have so they can express themselves freely. It is equally important to talk about the relationship between DJs MCs, b boys and b girls and graffiti artists in hip hop culture, and John F. Szwed and Morton Marks have discussed the development of jazz and jazz dance in America from European set dances and dance suites in relation to the development of musical artisanship. Pearl Primus (1919–1994), born in Trinidad, drew on African and Caribbean dances to create strong dramatic works characterized by large leaps. She often based her dances on the work of black writers and on racial issues, such as Langston Hughes's 1944 The Negro Speaks of Rivers, and Lewis Allan's 1945 Strange Fruit (1945). Her dance company developed into the Pearl Primus Dance Language Institute. Alvin Ailey (1931–1989) studied under Lester Horton, Bella Lewitzky, and later Martha Graham. He spent several years working in both concert and theater dance. In 1958, Ailey and a group of young African American dancers performed as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. He drew upon his "blood memories" of Texas, the blues, spirituals and gospel as inspiration. His most popular and critically acclaimed work is Revelations (1960). Eleo Pomare (1937–2008) was born in Colombia, but moved to New York as a child, and later founded the Eleo Pomare Dance Company. With Carole Johnson, Rod Rodgers, Gus Solomon and Pearl Reynolds, he co founded the Association of Black Choreographers, which was the predecessor to the Modern Organization for Dance Evolvement, or MODE. His work had a profound impact on many dancers and choreographers, including Indigenous Australians. Carole Johnson (born 1940) danced with Pomare's company, contributed to the definition of "Black Dance", and leaves a huge legacy in Australia in the form of the NAISDA Dance College and Bangarra Dance Theatre.