LCSEM 0109 - West African Dance History: West African Independence Struggles and the Rise of Ballets Africains

This course combines (in studio) West African dance classes with discussion-based classes on the social and cultural history of West Africa, with a particular focus on Guinea. We will explore the multiple modes of knowledge production in which the people of Guinea express their history, knowledge of place and look to dance and music as an important means of expressing a dynamic conception of history. Dance classes will be accompanied by live drumming where they will learn Guinean choreographies at their own pace. By practicing the choreography popularized by Les Ballet Africains, we will gain a sense of the embodied knowledge contained in traditional dance choreographies as well as a sense of how they are in conversation with contemporary politics. Students will watch films of performances and celebrations to become familiar with criteria for judging aesthetics. The assigned literature will include broader social histories and ethnographies of the struggles for independence as well as cultural analysis of recurring debates about what constitutes revolutionary nationalism, authenticity and processes of modernity. We will also explore critical memoirs and autobiographical films that provide a window into how West African writers and filmmakers articulate themselves as dynamic historical agents engaged with the larger forces of empire making in Greater Mali, French colonization, WWII and Guinean independence. We will discuss the ways in which dance figured into the forging of national identities during the Independence era and consider how these projects in collective self-making evolved over time as the challenges of the post-colonial era constrained and informed the possibilities for such a project. Keywords:Dance, history, African Studies, postcolonial studies, drumming

In/Justice The content of this course deals with issues of race and power Students should expect to spend 8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time