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Choreographing Belonging in the Black Arts Movement

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Choreographing Belonging in the Black Arts Movement DIASPORA CITATION: CHOREOGRAPHING BELONGING IN THE BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by Charmian C. Wells December 2018 Examining Committee Members: Dr. Kariamu Welsh, Advisory Chair, Department of Dance Dr. Mark Franko, Department of Dance Dr. Sherril Dodds, Department of Dance Dr. Thomas DeFrantz, Duke University Dr. Deborah Kapchan, External Member, NeW York University © Copyright 2018 by Charmian C. Wells All Rights Reserved ii ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the work of concert dance artists within the Black Arts Movement (1965-75) in order to situate the impact of their work in the present. I use a method of diaspora citation to comprehend their choreographic strategies in articulating forms and critiques of belonging that continue to resonate today. My method builds on Brent Hayes Edwards’ theorization of diaspora as an articulated, or joined, structure of belonging (Edwards, 2003). This necessitates attending to décalage, or the incommensurable gaps in experience and differentiations of power across lines of nation, class, language, gender, sexuality, etc. My development of diaspora citation departs from Edwards’ provocative concept metaphor of “articulated joints” as a way to envision diaspora—as the joint is both a place of connection and is necessarily comprises the gaps Which allow for movement. I propose that concert dance choreographers in the Black Arts Movement worked through the articulated joints of choreographic intertexts to build critiques and offer alternative structures of diasporic belonging. I define diaspora citation as a choreographic strategy that critiques the terms for belonging to the figure of the ‘human,’ conceived in Western modernity through property in the person, as White, Western, heteropatriarchal, propertied Man. Simultaneously, this choreographic strategy works to index, create and affirm alternative forms of belonging, articulated in/as diaspora, that operate on distinct terms. One Way in which the practice of diaspora citation occurs is through Signifyin’ or ‘reading,’ a strategy of indirection and critique developed in African American social contexts. Rather than conceiving of movement as a form of property (on the terms of property in the person) iii these artists are driven by a sense of connection, motivated by the forms of assembly and structures of belonging enabled by bodies in motion. In their refusals of the terms for belonging to the ‘human’ (i.e. normative subjectivity), the dance artists of the Black Arts Movement examined in this dissertation announce a queer capacity to desire differently. Half a century after the historical Black Arts Movement, this project turns to its manifestations in concert dance as a usable past. The structure of the dissertation moves from 1964 into the present in order to consider the resonances of this past today. Through oral history intervieWs, performance and archival analysis, and participant observation, this project moves betWeen historical, cultural analysis and embodied knowledge to pursue the choreographic uses of citation developed in Black Arts Movement concert dance contexts that imagined neW ways of being human (together) in the world. iv DEDICATION For dance family … v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Kariamu Welsh, Dr. Mark Franko, Dr. Thomas DeFrantz, Dr. Deborah Kapchan, and Dr. Sherril Dodds. Their teaching and work has deeply impacted my thinking, my teaching, and my life. It has been a privilege to work with Dr./Mama K., a pioneer who has laid the foundations of the field of African/diaspora/black dance studies. Her wealth of embodied knowledge from having lived this history, including as a participant on the Dancemobile, has been invaluable in shaping this dissertation. Mark’s keen insights into theoretical approaches to moving bodies in history and archival research Were of key importance as I began to develop the concept of diaspora citation in his research methods course. I am forever grateful. Tommy has written the grounding history for this ‘dance family,’ and I deeply appreciate his mentorship, warm guidance, and incisive honesty as I continue to traverse the rocky politics of my positionality within it. Deborah’s pedagogy of the senses, attuning to the importance of affect and embodied ways of knowing, has shaped the ways in which this dissertation attempts to listen for, and to feel, the priorities of its historical actors, as well as how I have come to understand my own practice in theoretical terms. Sherril’s perspective on social and popular dance, especially African diasporic practices, has influenced the way I seek to approach the cultural significance of dancing bodies beyond the context of the stage. I am beyond grateful to her for jumping in to join the committee and for her encouragement along my scholarly trajectory more broadly. I would like to thank the graduate school at Temple University for the Presidential Fellowship and the Doctoral Dissertation Completion Grant, which gave me the time necessary for thinking and writing. The scholarship of Brenda Dixon Gottschild, and the vi tWo black performance theory courses I took with Tavia Nyong’o, are in certain ways the condition of possibility for this dissertation. To Fatou, my dance sister, Whose dissertation inspired mine and who made me know that our dance family, while marginalized in myriad ways, deserves a place and a voice in the academy. To Takiyah, Whose dissertation enabled my work by providing a wealth of information on Joan Miller and Carole Johnson in her grounding history of the significant contributions of these black women artists. To Jasmine Johnson, who reminded me when I was choosing a doctoral program to consider the rigor of my practice as important as the rigor of my scholarship. To the queer, black, feminist academic activists and dance studies scholars, Whose interventions in what counts as knowledge in the academy made this dissertation possible. To my writing accountability partners, Uchenna, Danielle, Sophia, and Masi, I am eternally grateful for the regular check-ins and the emotional support. To my cohort, Amanda, Elisa, Marija (and the honorary members, Macklin and Tara), Who provided innumerable phone crisis interventions, thoughtful conversations, and writing dates. To Amy Larimer, who gave me my first opportunity to teach in the academy. For my queer/chosen family, especially Sarah, my artistic partner in crime. For Connie, who believed in my ability to do this work before I kneW it was possible. My deepest thanks to my Forces dance family: Melissa, Courtney, Nabz, Britney, Daaimah, Denica, Tricia, Mimi, Ashley, Jason, Jae “Rabbit,” Cimone, QWa, Aatifa, ’Trese, Jerijah, Vaughn, Imani, Fritz, and to my ‘older sisters,’ Johari, Oneika, Nicole, Sarae, Maia, Cat, Aimee, Lady Black, Chenoa, Natia, ShaWnee, Fatou, Eleanor, and Chiquita. To Dyane and Abdel, my dance father, who has shaped who I am as a dancer vii and as a mind. To my extended dance family, Donna, Martial, Sheila, Carl, Carole, and Bess, who welcomed me into their homes, opened their personal archives, made me breakfast, showed me videos, and shared their lived histories with me. To God, the ancestors, Meher Baba, and Murshida. To my mom and dad, who read every word of this dissertation, edited countless drafts, provided the space and time for writing retreats, supported my passion for dance, and raised me with the knowledge that the most important work in this world comes from love. It would not have been possible without you. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT …………………………………………………….………………...…......iii DEDICATION ……………………………………………………………………..…....v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………..…….vi LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………….……...x CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION: DANCE FAMILY TREES AND DIASPORIC RHIZOMES ………………………………………….………… 1 Notes……………………………………………………………………………..48 2. ELEO POMARE’S CHOREOGRAPHIC THEORY OF VITALITY “HARLEM KNOWS”: EMBODIED CITATION AS EPISTEMOLOGY IN BLUES FOR THE JUNGLE…………………………………………………........... 57 Notes………………………………………………………………………..……83 3. THE MILITANT REFUSALS OF NARCISSUS RISING AND THE VITALITY OF THE HARLEM DIDDY BOP WALK………………...88 Notes……………………………………………………………………………124 4. PASS FE WHITE AND HOMESTRETCH: JOAN MILLER’S SATIRICAL ‘READINGS,’ REFUSALS AND AFFIRMATIONS …………………………….132 Notes……………………………………………………………………………186 5. THE DANCEMOBILE: SPATIAL BELONGING AS ENSEMBLE AND CONSTRUCTING QUEER ‘DANCE FAMILY’ ………………………………196 Notes……………………………………………………………………………247 6. CITING ANCESTRAL SOURCE: ABDEL R. SALAAM’S BLACK AESTHETIC HEALING …………………...…256 Notes……………………………………………………………………………306 7. CONCLUSIONS: THE ARCHIVAL POLITICS OF CITATION AND ‘DIVINING MOVEMENT’……………………………………………………..…314 Notes……………………………………………………………………………329 REFERENCES CITED ……………………………………………………………...…330 APPENDIX (Photographs) ………………………………………………………….…355 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. My Sketch of The Dance Family Tree as Rhizome ……………………………..…. 355 2. Eleo Pomare in Narcissus Rising ………………………………………….………..356 Eleo Pomare Dance Company Archive (courtesy Glenn Conner) 3. Eleo Pomare teaching Martial Roumain Narcissus Rising ………………….…….. 356 Eleo Pomare Dance Company Archive (courtesy Glenn Conner) 4. Donna Clark in Narcissus Rising ……………………………………….…………. 357 Eleo Pomare Dance Company Archive (courtesy Glenn Conner) 5. Joan Miller’s Facial Contortion “Millerism” ……………………………………… 358 Martial Roumain Personal Archive
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