Dancing Bahia

Description

Dancing Bahia is an edited collection that draws together the work of leading scholars, artists and dance activists from Brazil, Canada and the United States to examine the particular ways in which dance has responded to sociopolitical notions of race and community, resisting stereotypes, and redefining African Diaspora and Afro-Brazilian traditions.

Using the Brazilian city of Salvador da Bahia as its focal point, this volume brings to the fore questions of citizenship, human rights and community building. The essays within are informed by both theory and practice, as well as black activism that inspires and grounds the research, teaching and creative output of dance professionals from, or deeply connected to, Bahia.

Introduction

Part I: Bahian Dance in Action

Chapter 1: Afro-Brazilian Dance as Black Activism

Amélia Conrado

Chapter 2: Dance Artistry and Bahian Forms of Citizenship: Isaura Oliveira and Malinké

Yvonne Daniel

Part II: Memory, Resistance, and Survival through Dance Education

Chapter 3: Pedagogies of the Body within African Matrix Education of Salvador, Brazil: Perspectives and Challenges of an Emancipatory Project

Pilar Echeverry Zambrano

Chapter 4: African Matrix Dance: Repertoire Options for Approaching Race and Ethnic Relations in Brazilian Schools

Piedade Lino Videira

Chapter 5: After-School Samba: Cultural Memory and Ownership in the Wake of UNESCO Recognition as Intangible Heritage of Humanity

Danielle Robinson and Jeff Packman

Part III: Reflections: Paths of Courage and Connections

Chapter 6: Why Not Me? Reflections on Afro-Dance and Law No. 10.639

Nadir Nóbrega Oliveira



Chapter 7: Dancing into the Politics of Race: From Bahia to Kingston

Deborah A. Thomas

Part IV: Defying Erasure through Dance

Chapter 8: Negotiations: Afro-Bahian Memory, Storytelling, and Dance

Lucía M. Suárez

Sujets

• Hispanic American Studies
• Ethnic Studies
• Human Rights
• Social Science
• Performing Arts
• EDUCATION
• Sociologie, société et politique
• América
• Sociology of race and ethnic relations
• Community Building
• General officer
• School
• Politics
• Citizenship
• Anthropology
• Community
• Dance
• Storytelling
• General
• Brazil
• American
• Cultural Studies
• Samba
• École
• Race

Informations

• Publié par: Intellect Books
• Date de parution: 15 septembre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783208814
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

First published in the UK in 2018 by
Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK
First published in the USA in 2018 by
Intellect, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street,
Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Copyright © 2018 Intellect Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover image: Photograph by and courtesy of Leonardo Pastor; from “Encruzilhada” performed by Igor Costa, in Maria Meia Noite , choreographed by Amélia Conrado, Bahia, Brazil, 2014.
Inside front cover image: Photograph by and courtesy of Leonardo Pastor; dancer, Lucimar Cerqueira Souza, in Maria Meia Noite , choreographed by Amélia Conrado, Bahia, Brazil, 2014.
Inside back cover image: Photograph by Ivan Kashinsky, courtesy of Viver Brasil; Revealed , choreographed by Shelby Williams-Gonzalez, dancer, Rachel Hernandez.
Copy-editor: MPS Technologies
Cover designer: Aleksandra Szumlas
Production manager: Naomi Curston
Typesetting: Contentra Technologies
Print ISBN: 978-1-78320-880-7
ePDF ISBN: 978-1-78320-882-1
ePub ISBN: 978-1-78320-881-4
Printed and bound by TJ International, UK
Contents
List of Illustrations
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: Bahian Dance in Action
Chapter 1: Afro-Brazilian Dance as Black Activism
Amélia Conrado
Chapter 2: Dance Artistry and Bahian Forms of Citizenship: Isaura Oliveira and Malinké
Yvonne Daniel
Part II: Memory, Resistance, and Survival through Dance Education
Chapter 3: Pedagogies of the Body within African Matrix Education of Salvador, Brazil: Perspectives and Challenges of an Emancipatory Project
Pilar Echeverry Zambrano
Chapter 4: African Matrix Dance: Repertoire Options for Approaching Race and Ethnic Relations in Brazilian Schools
Piedade Lino Videira
Chapter 5: After-School Samba : Cultural Memory and Ownership in the Wake of UNESCO Recognition as Intangible Heritage of Humanity
Danielle Robinson and Jeff Packman
Part III: Reflections: Paths of Courage and Connections
Chapter 6: Why Not Me? Reflections on Afro-Dance and Law No. 10.639
Nadir Nóbrega Oliveira
Chapter 7: Dancing into the Politics of Race: From Bahia to Kingston
Deborah A. Thomas
Part IV: Defying Erasure through Dance
Chapter 8: Negotiations: Afro-Bahian Memory, Storytelling, and Dance
Lucía M. Suárez
Notes on Contributors
Index
List of Illustrations
Figure 1: MAP: Map of Brazil.
Figure 2: MAP: Map of the State of Bahia.
Figure 3: PHOTO: Malinke Woman Isaura . Courtesy of Aristides Alves, A Tarde newspaper, August 24, 1988.
Figure 4: PHOTO: Black Woman, Looking for Her Space. Courtesy of Vera Godin.
Figure 5: DIAGRAM: “Intersections,” Pilar Echeverry Zambrano.
Figure 6: PHOTO: Nadir Nóbrega Oliveira. Courtesy of Nadir Nóbrega Oliveira.
Figure 7: PHOTO: Dona Cici, Organizing Pierre Verger’s Photos. Photograph by Christian Cravo, courtesy of Lucía M. Suárez archive.
Figure 8: PHOTO: Dona Cici. Photograph by Christian Cravo, courtesy of Lucía M. Suárez archive.
Figure 9: PHOTO: Negrizú. Photograph by Christian Cravo, courtesy of Lucía M. Suárez archive.
Figure 10: PHOTO: Dance class at escola de dança, FUNCEB. Photograph by Christian Cravo, courtesy of Lucía M. Suárez archive.
Figure 11: PHOTO: Lagoa de Abaeté (lavadeiras/washer-women), Luiz Badaró. Photograph by and courtesy of Jorge Vismara.
Figure 12: PHOTO: Dona Cici and Linda Yudin. Photograph by Christian Cravo, courtesy of Lucía M. Suárez archive.
Figure 13: PHOTO: Revealed, Shelby Williams-Gonzalez. Photograph by and courtesy of Ivan Kashinsky.
Foreword
I could barely contain the thrill and excitement, but also a niggling apprehension, as I waited for the bus that would take me to my first bloco afro rehearsal, this time not as a spectator as I had been previously, but as an actual participant! My dear friend and gifted dancer Sel Guanaes was already inside the bus waving smilingly at me through the window as it halted making its usual hissing sound. We had agreed to catch the same buzu (the Bahian slang for buses) since Sel lived in Brotas and thus several stops before Luis Anselmo, where I would hop on and join her. It was about 6 p.m. on a January weekday and the streets were packed with people making their way home from work as the day’s heat gave way to the evening breeze. Enjoying our break from college, we could indulge in making that summer of our lives revolve around the preparation for carnaval . We had “jumped carnaval ” many times before in our home city of Salvador, always as “ foliãs pipocas ,” the “popcorn revelers” that hop freely from trio to trio and from bloco to bloco , no strings attached, no rehearsals needed. The year of 1992 would be different, though, as we were given the opportunity to participate as dancers in none other than the bloco afro Muzenza, attending the rehearsals led by none greater than the revered choreographer Augusto de Omolú!
Located in the neighborhood of Liberdade, Muzenza is one of the several blocos afro that emerged in Salvador in the 1970s with the goal of carving out spaces for the recognition and acceptance of blackness in the racist and classist sphere of Bahian carnaval . Muzenza itself was founded in 1981, strongly inspired by the philosophy and aesthetics of Rastafarianism, and contributing, in turn, to reinventing Bahia’s blackness by exploring diasporic routes while revisiting African roots. This resignification of blackness as positive and beautiful, which promoted, among other processes, the blackening of the body through movement and aesthetics, relied on Afro-Bahian dance as one of its central pillars. Dance and music have powerfully produced pleasure, pride, dignity, and the sense of belongingness to something bigger. During those rehearsal evenings, as our sweaty bodies swayed in unison responding to the call of the drums, my initial unease as to whether I would be able to follow the dance movements that I so deeply appreciated morphed into a collective exhilaration that set in motion all the senses of our bodies and souls.
Yet, Afro-Bahian dance makes itself present way beyond the time period or designated spaces of carnaval . And although in some locations of Salvador it might be more markedly visible in specific seasons of the year, in other parts of the city it is practiced all year round, and by people of different ages, genders, and racial and class backgrounds. Like other dance forms, Afro-Bahian dance defies containment within rigid boundaries as it is constantly taking on new forms and redefining itself, but without letting go of its links to its multiple African origins, the transatlantic slave past and the contemporary Brazilian present. And whether it is danced in Bahia or elsewhere around the globe, Afro-Bahian dance is necessarily associated with some version of baianidade , or Bahianness . This might mean the stereotypical images of the joyful, colorful, and tropical location, so often disseminated by the tourism industry. But it may also entail a means of expressing black pride, love for one’s body, support for one’s community, and the still necessary claim that “Black Lives Matter” in this city whose public image paradoxically revolves around black bodies dancing, performing, and playing capoeira . Bahia is, after all, Brazil’s most African state. Not only does it “export” black culture to other regions of the country; it is globally recognized as one of the centers of the Black Atlantic.
Afro-Bahian dance is a central component of the lives of many people in Bahia and beyond, thus my enthusiasm for this beautifully organized and well thought out book. This is the first edited volume to focus on Afro-Bahian dance. The authors represent a multiplicity of voices: they are scholars, dancers, activists, and educators from across the Americas, including the United States, Canada, Colombia, and different cities of Brazil. The essays enmesh theory and practical and personal experience in a finely balanced dose, while also including historical overviews and proposing new paradigms for the study of dance. This collection engages with the multifaceted meanings and dimensions of Afro-Bahian dance, examining it as a source of history, memory, and tradition, but also assessing its dynamic role in creating social and cultural change. Afro-Bahian dance has increasingly been deployed as an educational resource and political tool, and it has been a central element in processes of self-esteem elevation and racial consciousness raising. This book shows that, while grounded on a past that it is constantly reinventing, Afro-Bahian dance transforms the present and creates new possibilities for the future.
The topics examined in this book cover a wide range of important issues, including the deployment of Afro-Bahian dance in black activism; the uses of old and new technologies for the teaching of dance, from the more conventional classes in studios to the use of YouTube videos; the establishment of samba de roda as intangible heritage; the complex relations between tourism and Afro-Bahian culture; and the role of dancers as cultural and political agents. Some essays highlight the important and often overlooked work of Afro-Bahian dancers, choreographers, and educators who have significantly contributed to the promotion, validation, and recognition of Afro-Bahian dance as well as black culture more broadly. Other essays analyze the inclusion of Afro-Bahian dance in the enactment of relatively recent laws that mandate the inclusion of “Afro-Brazilian history and culture” in the school curriculum. Many teachers have approached these laws as opportunities for a deeper engagement of the body in their (non-dance) classes and academic teaching