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“D”-CYPHERING THE JIT: DANCING DETROIT HISTORY AND CULTURE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE TEXAS WOMAN’S UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF DANCE COLLEGE OF ART AND SCIENCES BY MELANIE ANASTACIA VAN ALLEN, M.A., M.F.A. DENTON, TEXAS MAY 2019 Copyright © 2019 by Melanie AnaStacIa Van Allen DEDICATION For my loving parentS Dr. CharleS and Bridget BlosSer. What I learned from my mother: “There iS value in learning—no one can ever take an educatIon away from you.” What I learned from my father: “DIScIplIne and hard work always pay off” and “during the proceSS of writIng keep your prioritIeS StraIght, always eat deSSert before the maIn course because waSted tIme equalS unproductIVIty—excellence requireS sacrificeS.” ThiS diSSertatIon iS dedicated to the memory of my late father whose diScIplIned spirit helped me write every day and to my mother who always encouraged me to belIeve in my abilItIeS and pursue my dreamS In dance. II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CompletIng thiS diSSertatIon waS a collaboratIve effort and there are many people I would lIke to thank. I am deeply indebted and grateful to my commIttee chaIr and my mentor, Dr. Rosemary Candelario, for her support and extensIve knowledge guiding my courSework, qualIfying examS, fieldwork, and the proceSS of writIng the diSSertatIon. I thank her for her enthusIaSm and inveStment in thiS reSearch, aS well aS her abilIty to Impart academIc rigor wIth a sense of humor, which kept me grounded while elevatIng the calIber of my work. Dr. Candelario haS taught me more than I could properly give her credit for here—aS an emerging dance scholar, I aSpire to be lIke her. I am extremely grateful to Dr. Matthew Henley for hiS invaluable insIght on thiS project and I extend my SIncere thanks and gratItude to Dr. Priya ThomaS for gracIously acceptIng to be part of my commIttee at thiS later stage of the diSSertatIon proceSS. SpecIal thanks to the late Dr. LInda Caldwell, whose wISdom and quirky spirit I Sorely mISSed while writIng thiS diSSertatIon and my deepeSt thanks to my colleagueS in the 2014 cohort: Robin Conrad, Mara MandradjIeff, MIla Thigpen, Addie TSaI, and Lyn WIlShire for theIr friendship and contInual support. I must give extra specIal thanks to my “diSSertatIng-partner-in-crime,” Robin Conrad, a dear friend who waS a contInual source of inspiratIon and comIc relIef throughout thiS doctoral journey. III I would alSo lIke to extend my deepeSt gratItude to Dr. Barbara Browning and ProfeSSor Karen FInley at New York UniversIty’s TISch School of the ArtS for theIr mentorship and guidance on the early StageS of thiS reSearch. Thank you to Dr. Browning, for sharing her unparalleled knowledge and the myriad of ways to write the dancIng body Into beIng and ProfeSSor FInley, for showIng Such kindneSS and compaSSIon during a difficult tIme of losS, while revealIng how performance and theory, together, can be effectIvely incorporated into the higher learning claSSroom. I want to expreSS my deepeSt heartfelt thanks to the JIt community and my partIcIpantS/JIttIng friends: Eric Broadnax, JameS Broxton Jr., Eryk “DJ Arch-E-Tect” ChriStIan, Ronald Ford Jr., TriStan Hackney, WIllIe “Sonic” Hull, Lily Karunanayake, MIke Manson, Johnny McGhee, Tracey McGhee, John Nance, Haleem “Stringz” RaSul, Gabby SmIth, MIchael SmIth, Reggie “Munch” Turner, and Kenya “Standing OVatIon” Sutton. Thank you for belIeVIng In thiS project; the completIon of thiS diSSertatIon would not have been posSIble wIthout your knowledge and friendship—I am deeply grateful to all of you. I am alSo profoundly thankful to my BolIVIan famIly: Carmen (“Meme”), Ricardo, CecIlIa, Claudia, Annie, ElISa, MIa, IgnacIo, MatIaS, Shane, and Danny for always supportIng me from afar. Gracias a todos por apoyarme. I alSo want to give heartfelt thanks to my North American famIly: Tracy, Sandy, Cleo, Morna, StacIe, Dave, AlIce, EllIe, Lance, Jennifer, Ian, LaShall, Larry, Howard, Arlene, Cabby, Tara, Ammon, DaVId, Ruthie, Max, and Sadie, who have always supported my academIc endeavors. Thank you to my late grandparentS: Grammy Sally, who iS deeply mISSed every day and IV to my Grandpa ClInton, whose decadeS of hard work at Chrysler Engine are a source of Intrigue and inspiratIon for thiS reSearch. Los amo a todos. My deepeSt thanks to my dear sISter Amber, for beIng a source of contInual Support and encouragement during thiS project—her nurturing spirit and curiosIty of the JIt waS a source of unrelentIng comfort. Thank you for dancIng wIth me on thiS journey. To my mother, I am extremely grateful for her unconditIonal love and the numerous late- night counselIng seSSIons, offering me invaluable advice while expreSSIng her belIef in my abilIty to see thiS project into fruitIon. FInally, the completIon of thiS diSSertatIon would not have been posSIble wIthout the unwavering support, cariños, and encouragement from my loving husband Alvaro, and hiS profound belIef in my abilIty to reach beyond the estrellas—muchas gracias, mi amor. V ABSTRACT MELANIE ANASTACIA VAN ALLEN “D”-CYPHERING THE JIT: DANCING DETROIT HISTORY AND CULTURE MAY 2019 ThiS diSSertatIon maps the development of a largely unknown Detroit cultural product, the Street dance Jit, which emerged at the same time Detroit was losIng its champion auto Industry In the early 1970s. The Scope of thiS hiStory begins with the dance collectIve the JItterbugs and theIr InventIon of the original Jit and traceS other Subsequent dance groups, Such as the Funkateers, and the Infamous Street gang the Errol Flynns, who are credited for InfluencIng the contemporary Style Jit, created by the Mad Dancers in the early 1980s. Throughout theSe danced hiStorieS thiS diSSertatIon demonstrateS how Detroit, its manufacturing methods, and cultural productIon are Inextricably IntertwIned, producIng the cIty’s diStInctIve IdentIty. ThiS diSSertatIon comeS out of ethnographic reSearch at a partIcular practIce cypher in Detroit, focusIng on people who are contInuing the Jit culture in the city and beyond. The theoretIcal framework of thiS diSSertatIon drawS on the work of Cynthia Novack and her method of ethnohiStory, providing a means to addreSS the Interrelated nature between JIt’s culture and hiStory, consIdering its hiStory aS of a way of lIfe and a technique of dancIng as part of a culture. VI I also utIlIze ClIfford Geertz’s concept of culture and webs of SIgnificance, Keith Jenkins’ notIon that hiStory IS a SocIal diScourse that IS always partIal due to Inherent gaps in knowledge, and DeIdre Sklar’s consIderatIon of dance as a form of cultural knowledge. Over the course of one year, I conducted fieldwork in Detroit, beginning in February 2018. Primary data-collectIon methods Included conductIng InterviewS with dancers and music producers/DJS from the Jit community, partIcIpant observatIon Including learning how to Jit, choreographic analysIS of VIdeo recordings of the Jit, and the examInatIon of archival materialS and Scant lIterature on the Jit, revealIng a SubstantIal gap in the Scholarly lIterature. WIthin thiS small amount of Scholarship, the cultural and hiStorical contextS Surrounding the emergence of the Jit have largely been Ignored. ThiS reSearch fillS a gap in the dance StudieS lIterature on Street dance and contributeS to a growIng body of lIterature on Detroit’s cultural productIonS. VII TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION .................................................................................................................... II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... III ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... VI TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................. VIII Chapter I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 Prologue: DriVIng Detroit ................................................................................................... 1 How I Got to the JIt ............................................................................................................. 4 Who iS in the JIttIng Community? What iS JIt Culture? PartIcIpantS Speak ....................... 8 Culture: (JIttIng) Webs of SIgnificance ............................................................................ 13 ConstructIng JIt HIStory .................................................................................................... 16 EthnohiStory ...................................................................................................................... 18 Chapter Overview ............................................................................................................. 19 II. LOOKING IN THE REARVIEW: DETROIT HISTORY SEEN THROUGH INDUSTRY AND CULTURAL PRODUCTION............................................................ 23 Made in Detroit ................................................................................................................. 23 FordiSm, ModerniSm, and the ArtS ................................................................................... 26 Post-FordiSm, PostmoderniSm, and a Culture of DeIndustrialIzatIon ............................... 35 Post-Bankruptcy: JIttIng in/and the “Ruins” ..................................................................... 44 III.

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