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Details for article 9 of 10 found articles
| Title: |
Reforming the circle: fragments of the social history of a vernacular African dance form |
| Author: |
James, Wendy |
| Appeared in: |
Journal of African cultural studies |
| Paging: | Volume 13 (2000) nr. 1 pages 140-152 |
| Year: |
2000-06-01 |
| Contents: |
A common dance-pattern in Africa takes the form of a wide, sweeping circle around a group of musicians in the middle. This pattern has proved very durable through periods of historical change, even when there have been official attempts to control the people by breaking up the circle or co-opting its musicians into other forms. T.O. Ranger's book on Dance and Society in East Africa (1975) showed how a focus on dance forms could be woven into mainstream history, especially a history of political dominance and cultural response. This paper takes its starting point from this insight, and considers some of the symbolism and experiential meaning of the moving circle, which defines an inner space for the dancers and invites interpretation as a celebration of their distinctiveness. It is a form whose trajectory can be traced even through periods of political subjugation and great social change. After offering a brief comparison with aspects of dance history on the slave plantations of the New World, this paper focuses in some detail on the Sudanese and Ethiopian region of the upper Blue Nile, where the circle-dance formation has proved equally robust. A particular case-study traces the way in which the Sudanese Uduk-speaking people have revived various forms of circledancing in a modern refugee scheme in Ethiopia. |
| Publisher: |
Routledge |
| Source file: |
Elektronische Wetenschappelijke Tijdschriften |
Details for article 9 of 10 found articles
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