The Performance Of The Dancer s Body As An Agent - 975 Words

The performance of the sabar in Senegal, and the performance of improvised social dancing in queer clubs in New York City, exemplify the dancer’s body as an agent and protagonist in each dance form. For queer people, improvised social dancing allows them to experience an embodied confidence that is carried with them in their negotiation of life as a sexual minority. For Senegalese women, dancing in the sabar opens a gateway for them to celebrate their sexuality in a way that challenges the authority of the male gaze. In both social dances there is interaction between the dancer and the music. This interaction produces a level of agency, confidence, and power that is epitomized in their movement. The dancing of the Senegalese women in the sabar, manifests as an empowered agency over their own bodies. In the ethnography, Choreographies of African Identities, Francesca Castaldi explains that â€Å"the gathering of women in the shape of a circle literally opens up a space filled with their expectations and intent†¦[t]hus women physically take over the public space of the city, and supported by the gewels ,†¦ reconstitute it as a sabar dancing circle† (80). This emphasizes the agency of the women dancers in this space. Their physical, womanly presence is what stakes claim over and produces the intention of the space, and the music produced by the gewels is only there to support what the dancers are already doing. Women in sabar events called tannebeers, have the power to dance in aShow MoreRelatedThe Industry Can Cause A Lot Of Trouble For People1681 Words   |  7 PagesMany of the dancers who Roach interviewed were in the industry for financial reasons. 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As you watch theseRead MoreThe Sacrifice Of Equality By Kurt Vonnegut Jr.1252 Words   |  6 Pagesof â€Å"Harrison Bergeron,† called to attention what it would be like in a world that had true equality and questioned if we should really strive for this in our society.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Harrison Bergeron,† written during the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s explores a society that is truly equal, made possible through a number of handicaps and limitations. Vonnegut grabs your imagination and insights a society in your mind, like no other in this world. He shows that this society is a dystopia, and the levelRead MoreBill Bojangles Robinson4395 Words   |  18 PagesBill Bojangles Robinson Bill Bojangles Robinson, who claimed he could run backward faster than most men could go forward, was the most famous of all African American tap dancers in the twentieth century. 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