ANGEL Guidelines for Project One and EC Paper

1. AADH Thursday - Jan 18Sacred and Secular danceVoodoo Early Plantation dancesNew Orleans and Congo Square ANGEL Guidelines for Project One and EC Paper Quiz # 1 – open from after class to Friday at 6 PM Project One - model paper Questions from Tuesday

2. Black Dance of the Caribbean, 1518-1900 Caribbean circumstances French and Spanish Catholics - more liberal than Protestants in US. Church wanted to save the slave’s souls - Let them enjoy their dances Drum critical to this history - Rhythm is essential – variety of percussive instruments

3. The importance of the drum and consequences of it’s loss

4. Drums and Percussion Variuos sizes - played with hands, sticks and feet Bonjour or Banjo - a box with four strings (horsehair), played by fingers - percussive style Rattle - calabash, a gourd filled with pebbles on a sticks Drum - banned in some places as early as 1700 (believed to cause rebellion)

5. The importance of the drum and consequences of it’s loss

6. Primary Caribbean Dances Calenda - a favorite from Guinea. Banned by 1724, considered immodest and a fear of large groups of slaves gathering Two lines, male and female. Slap the thighs together. Couples in a clapping ring - advance and retreat Lead singer improvised song with a chorus refrain. Drum tells them when to advance and retreat. Men and women both spin, arms are raised, elbows in close Rigorous meter, dancers replace one another when tired. Bodies twist on their axis/ advance toe and heel

7. Primary Caribbean Dances Chica/Bamboula Woman alone - immobile upper body, pelvis gyrations, then a man joins in the rhythm and displays his agility. Whites see this as lustful and debauchery Rotation of the hips, quiet upper body, women tease, men pursue

8. Primary Caribbean Dances Juba- a distinct dance of competition and skill Performed in a ring, solo vs solo, exchange of the dancer who loses or is fatigued first. Slapping of thighs “ patting juba” is part of accompaniment Congo- a circle dance to a song, solo

9. Patting Juba - “Juba dis and Juba dat”

10. Primary Caribbean Dances John Canoe - Jonkonnu Leaders were best male dancers, chosen for agility Bearded masks with ox horns and boars tusks at the mouth, costume made of rags with goat horns hanging off of it. Men followed by red and blue women sets Dancing as if possessed (embodied) by the devil (a god/spirit)

11. Jonkonnu Festival Paste board house worn on the head filled with puppets - taken to cemetary to be filled with spirits of ancestors.

12. Primary Caribbean Dances A dance of Social commentary at Christmas a time of greatest license among slaves, whites and blacks drank and socialized together, short period of equality. Whites conscious of the potential for violence and rebellion Whites hoped the good humor would prepare slaves for a long year of slave labor. More than a dance

13. Primary Caribbean Dances Funeral dances Dead spirit honored and entertained so it will leave earth - be a positive force for the descendants Dance also serves as emotional release for grief Night funeral dances - slaves had to work till sundown - became wild and ultimately banned Dancing serves to reaffirm community solidarity after dance.

14. Primary Caribbean Dances Crop Over dances When last crop is in - a time of celebration and the slaves mingled with whites. White dance forms predominate. Scotch reels/ country dances with fiddle. Dancing here is possible origin of the cakewalk so big in US

15. Sacred Dancing – Voodoo Dance - a vehicle to communicate with the gods - personal, concentrated, embodied, physical more than mental Religion part of everyday life - not a once a week obligation Religious practice included rituals both set and improvised Rituals based in song and dance - the supreme experience is possession. A god choose you to speak through Syncretic blend of African beliefs/rituals and Catholic dogma evolved into voodoo

16. Sacred Dancing – Voodoo Voodoo is Dahomean term for deity Vaudou, Vodu, Voodoo - ancestor spirit to be worshipped Standardized in Haiti between 1750 and 1790 Loa - gods chief loa = Damballa = serpent god Snake is all powerful- an earth goddess - Adam succumbed to the snake, all depend on the earth Loas had counterpoint in Catholic saints - St. Patrick associated with Damballa

17. Sacred Dancing – Voodoo Three divisions (pantheons) of Voodoo Rada Dahomey - deities from Dahomean kingdom of W Africa - benevolent, paternal. Largest group of loa. Petro - patrons of aggressive action. Born of rage against circumstances of enslavement. Various divisions of Congo Each division has particular drums, songs and loa. 1000’s of loa - Each dead ancestor can become one. The loa have the tastes, morality and ambitions of modern man.

18. Sacred Dancing – Voodoo Possession by the loa is to be “mounted” or ridden as the “horse” for the loa. The possessed person expresses the personality of the loa. Potemta - center pole around which dances circle, the entry way of the loa Priestess (mambo) Priest (harensi, hamga) often become possessed Dances and Loa - the loa is revealed by the possessed person’s dance. Also specific drum rhythms call certain loa. Yanvalou done for Damballa and Agwe Yonvalu - undulation - snakelike sideways steps, writhing, twist, slither Loas come to instruct and bless participants. Each loa has a drum rhythm and distinctive dances.

19. Sacred Dancing – Voodoo Primary Loas 1) Legba - guardian of the crossroads - a limping dance / or one legged acrobatic twirling 2) Agwe - undulations wavelike motion down arms and spine from shoulders, water 3) Erzulie - dance an attitude, feminine grace – in arms and wrists (Virgin Mother) 4) Asaka - mountain and field – god of agriculture bending low as if planting or hoeing, 5) Guede - brisk like rhythm frankly obscene, high kicks pelvis in front, figure of life and death – keeper of the cemetery. Also sexuality. Women bump their pelvis to him for positive fertility.

20. Livings gods of Haiti

21. Sacred Dancing – Ring Shout Ring Shout- this retained much of the African character of sacred dance- fit within the restrictions of Protestant Church Crossing the feet forbidden - a side to side shuffle Drumming - also forbidden after mid 18th century - caused emphasis on hand clapping and foot stamping. Hand clapping and foot stamping, most African survival – allowed under above rules. Dance went in a counter clockwise direction - in Africa directed to the ancestors/gods - turn back time.

22. Ring Shout

23. Dance on the Plantations Changes in US In US more significant changes - Africanisms diminish Drums become outlawed, new forms develop New African slaves continue to renew traditions and rhythms Slave trade abolished around 1800 - West Indian slave infusions re-invigorate the US African slave revolution

24. Dance on the Plantations Changes in US Cato conspiracy or Stono insurrection 1739 South Carolina What were the implications of the Stono insurrection? Drums used to sustain the march of the escaping slaves to Florida. Thereafter drums were banned and also assembly of slaves prohibiting socializing during their infrequent holidays

25. Dance on the Plantations Slaves would gather to dance on own plantation or with a pass go to a dance at a nearby plantation Buck, Buck and Wing Pigeon wing Jig - based on Irish jigs, a competitive and solo dance Cakewalk - used banjos Buzzard Lope Juba- African origin Djouba (sacred) in US, secular

26. The Cakewalk

27. The Cakewalk

31. Dance in New Orleans Special circumstances - founded by French and remains culturally French (1762-1800 officially Spanish) returned to France, sold to US in 1804 Catholic more tolerant Regular influx and contact with authentic African sources, especially after Haiti Rebellion 1804 Code Noir - any drop of white blood gives you privileges over all black, people of color a clear a mid level class. Jim Crow laws will change this to any drop of black blood denied your rights. Cannot marry white or black, women therefore mainly became mistresses of white men

33. Dance in New Orleans Quadroon Balls-1/4 black, octaroon- 1/8 black Formal balls held to introduce women of color to white males of high society, quadroon mothers attended and bargained for the official keeping of their daughters. Men of color, out of luck, few women to marry Dances were strictly white fashion, mimicked Paris waltzes, etc. Gens de colour rejected all that was black culture White society women were also upset because their men were pre- occupied with the very beautiful quadroon women

38. Dance in New Orleans Congo Square Congo plains area NW of city, designated as a place for African slaves to dance on Sundays until sundown Under surveillance of authorities, yet allowed to regularly congregate in large numbers Drums allowed, gombay mentioned, baboula Started around 1805 until mid 1880’s began with infusion of West Indian slaves and owners from Haiti, ended with Northern migration of blacks to factories in cities (1817 official pronouncement, after Louisiana purchase)

40. Dance in New Orleans Congo Square West Indian forms predominate, Calenda, Chica, Congo, Bamboula At first, public derision of this spectacle, uncivilized and lascivious to white and religious observers Later becomes predominant, many concentric circles of dancers. descriptions of frenzied leaps, rhythmic upper body movements, large group improvisation around central dancer