Josephine Baker and Mercedes Baptista: cases of the representations of Black women in dance

Abstract

Based on the analysis of the trajectory of two dancers, Josephine Baker and Mercedes Baptista, this article proposes a reflection on the concept of stereotypes as per Stuart Hall. Being Black women, categories were applied to their movements without further depth: for Josephine, there was the identification with primitive dances; for Mercedes, the lack of recognition of a Black body in a leading role in classical dance. The ways in which they dealt with stereotypes and became agents of their bodies, and the marks they left in the western society will be the objects of analysis.