BlackART Roots: Free To Dance: Steps Of The Gods 60 mins
Produced by Madison Davis Lacy
Price: $3.99
Katherine Dunham's year in the Caribbean, during the 1930s was both an anthropological field trip and a journey in search of her own roots. She experienced dance that was a powerful echo of African culture and an integral part of spiritual and secular life. After completing her master's thesis, "The Dances of Haiti," Dunham turned to the concert stage -- a bold move at a time when black dancers were confined to roles as sensual exotica in cabaret chorus lines or comic relief in minstrel shows and vaudeville.
To accomplish her mission, Dunham had to mold dancers who could perform what she called "the steps of the Gods." She crafted a movement system that fused the isolations and polyrhythmic syncopations of African-derived dance from the Caribbean with European ballet. The Dunham Technique, along with those created by Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, and Jose Limon, was one of modern dance's seminal movement systems. Showcased in "L'Ag'Ya," a piece based on dances she studied in Martinique, and in a class taught by former Dunham dancer Walter Nicks, it is also visible in Dunham's performance in the motion picture version of the Broadway musical on which she collaborated with New York City Ballet's George Balanchine, "Cabin in the Sky."
Comments | hide
What does it mean to be a man? The Masculinity Project will gather multi-generational voices to explore...
Tales of the Diaspora are many and here a global cross section will be selected to give life to contemporary...
Here are titles, which through the exploration of sometimes-controversial themes and characters highlight...
The language of media production and distribution is one that has often written its own script. The artist...
Leslie Fields-Cruz discusses Open Call
Leslie Fields-Cruz discusses the open call process via web chat.
Voters’ Rights Seized due to Incarceration
Once behind bars, most prisoners lose the right to vote and even after they are released they don’t...
PRX Talent Quest ~ State of Reunion 50mins
The Public Radio Exchange's Talent Quest offers up this brilliantly produced potential series for national radio distribution.
PRX Talent Quest ~ State of Reunion 50mins
The Public Radio Exchange's Talent Quest offers up this brilliantly produced potential series for national radio distribution.
NMI 2007 ~ Sojuke 2mins
A poem by poet Bryonn Bain, accompanying the 2007 NMI project Juke Joint Live.
Black Filmmakers On Film: Byron Hurt 23mins 34secs
Filmmaker Noland walker interviews other black media makers on past and present projects.
Voters’ Rights Seized due to Incarceration
Once behind bars, most prisoners lose the right to vote and even after they are released they don’t...
NMI 2006 ~ The Other Side 3mins 16secs
Ever wondered what would happen if you kept throwing a tennis ball at a wall?
NMI 2006 ~Black Hole 2 mins
A video-textural exploration of the physics of well-being as it relates to blackness.
NMI 2007 ~ Blues People 2mins 07secs
As part of NBPC's 2007 New Media Institute, producers around the nation convened in Jackson Mississippi to document the blues through new media.
Ruff N' Tumble In Nigeria 9mins 33secs
Decade-long CNN journalist Carol Pineau profiles a successful entrepreneur in Lagos, Nigeria.
Pictoons: Animated In Senegal 6min 48secs
A professional animation house in Dakar, Senegal survives and creates amidst a still evolving landscape.
NMI 2007 ~ Remixing The Blues 1min 34secs
As part of NBPC's 2007 New Media Institute, producers around the nation convened in Jackson Mississippi to document the blues through new media.
From Black Power To Black Monday 11mins 51secs
Produced by Howard University students for NBPC's Eyes On The Prize New Media Competition