Body Percussion, Choreography and the Concert Stage: Developing Diasporic Literacy Among American Audiences

Abstract

modern dance by researching body percussion specifically. This is not to say that body percussion is a part of American modern dance. Rather, I am interested in incorporating elements of body percussion within a modern dance work in order to draw out Africanist aesthetics that can be found in both body percussion and modern dance today. Through an analysis of such aesthetics found in body percussion, my goal is to trace how these characteristics are woven into American modern dance and serve as foundational aesthetics to the Europeanist art form. My research will also investigate African diaspora during the postmodern era to shed more light on the idea of intertextuality in twenty-first century modern dance. To fulfill the creative portion of my thesis requirement, I will create a work that blends body percussion, full-bodied movement and the rhythmic musicality that interests me as a modern dancer. By incorporating elements of body percussion with modern dance, my artistic research is preceded by a dissecting of movement to identify its Africanist influences. Proceeding this step, my work attempts to visually illustrate how the amalgamation of both showcases the inherent roots of Africanisms in European American modern dance and, how this can lead to greater acknowledgement of the Africanist aesthetic.