The ontology of twerk: from ‘sexy’ Black movement style to Afro-Diasporic sacred dance

Pérez, Elizabeth

doi:10.1080/17528631.2015.1055650

Cited by 23 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…This type of dance has gained global attention and is performed widely among the youth. Findings from our review of online documents largely posit Twerking as a form of dance that originated in New Orleans' bounce music culture in the late 1980s (Patricka, 2021;Cudjoe, 2015;Pérez, 2015). However, the findings indicate that the dance was performed among black women.…”

Section: Twerking Dancementioning

confidence: 87%

Conceptualizing the stylistic body movements in contemporary Ghanaian dances as performance art form

Azaglo

Ebeheakey

Quarshie³

et al. 2022

JAHCA

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This paper attempts to conceptualize the stylistic body movements in contemporary Ghanaian dances through the aesthetic lenses of performance art. The expressiveness of performance art forms is frequently praised for the emotions we have toward them. These feelings are derived from the symbolic connotations and functionalities of the arts in life. Through an exploratory design of qualitative inquiry, the researchers focus on a contextual dialogue on the aesthetic visual presentations of selected contemporary Ghanaian dances as performance art forms. The critical content analysis of music videos was espoused to examine the stylistic body movements and gestures coded in some contemporary Ghanaian dances such as Azonto, Twerking, Kupe, Pilolo and Shoo as part of an empirical artistic study. Instruments for data collection were observation, document analysis and photography for the contextual visual content analyses grounded in semiotic and aesthetic theoretical discourse. This study again relied heavily on secondary data from recorded communication including music videos, books, transcripts, websites, newspaper articles, journal articles and the like to make objective inferences. The findings indicate that dance is the communication that occurs via the conduit of the dancer's body that ruptures individuals' independent existence and generates a sense of finitude. Whereas some of the dances make aggressively erotic visual statements, others are mere expressive gestural and body movements to simply entertain a targeted audience. The result further shows that, the contemporary Ghanaian dance performances transcend beyond mere entertainment but rather are an embodiment of body language emerging from the indigenous dance symbolisms. Teaching learners to perceive visual aesthetic qualities and symbolic interpretations in dance performances will deepen the appreciation of Ghanaian dance performances not just as entertainment but as another medium for expression to transmit their inherent messages. It is suggested that, these dance forms should be formalized as indigenous knowledge in a quest to blend tradition with modernity in our creative endeavours. This knowledge should be propagated through creative arts education in Ghanaian schools. Other performance art components displayed in contemporary Ghanaian dances including body painting, facial expressions, costumology and fashion accessories present another lacuna for further research by future researchers. Key words: aesthetics, dance, therapy, performance art, body, movement

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Section: Twerking Dancementioning

confidence: 87%

Conceptualizing the stylistic body movements in contemporary Ghanaian dances as performance art form

Azaglo

Ebeheakey

Quarshie³

et al. 2022

JAHCA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In keeping with contemporary scholarship on Black Atlantic religious ontologies, I seek to affirm that Banks's metaphysics has been hiding in plain sight (Matory 2009;Holbraad 2012;Beliso-De Jesús 2015;Pérez 2015). If she is nobody's idea of a public intellectual, the concept itself is at fault for calling to mind middle-aged, cisgender men from elite institutions with elbow patches, graying temples, and bylines on newspaper op-ed pages.…”

mentioning

confidence: 89%

The Black Atlantic Metaphysics of Azealia Banks: Brujx Womanism at the Kongo Crossroads

Pérez

2021

Hypatia

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Controversial Harlem-born rapper/singer, songwriter, and provocateuse Azealia Banks is the most (in)famous, vocal, and visible proponent of Black Atlantic traditions in recent times—making a critical reckoning well overdue. I begin here by tracing Banks's engagement with Afro-Diasporic religions (including Caribbean Espiritismo, Afro-Cuban Lucumí, and Dominican “21 Divisions”) as a trajectory from vamp to bruja [witch]/santera to mayombera. A review of Banks's public statements reveals her growing commitment to championing “so-called voodoo” and urging other African Americans to do so as well. I argue that the release of Beyoncé's Lemonade in 2016 catalyzed Banks's advocacy for Kongo-inspired Palo Mayombe, long overshadowed by Yorùbá-based orisha worship. I further demonstrate that Banks's espousal of Palo Mayombe has been bound up with her identity as a Womanist and dark-skinned, cisgender femme fatale. More than a political program, however, Banks's discursive constructions amount to a Black Atlantic metaphysics. Drawing on Irene Lara's formulation of “bruja positionalities,” I propose that the theoretical scaffolding for her metaphysics should be designated Brujx Womanism. Missteps notwithstanding, Banks emerges as a metaphysician, aspiring to repair Black bodies by re-membering Kongo traditions. In closing, I suggest that Banks's Brujx Womanism may contribute to the conceptualization of Conjure Feminism in four crucial respects.

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“…Her narrative takes me back to most of my youth. The way I was perceived for undulating my body unconsciously much like the ceremonial celebrations of my ancestors (Pérez, 2016). It was not until I initiated in Palo and attended my first Yimbula 9 that I understood the way my body moved as not only natural, but a foreshadowing of my ancestral reclamation and as an invocation of spirit.…”

Section: Continuementioning

confidence: 99%

Whispers of the Soul; Autohistoria-Teoría as Decolonial Knowledge Production

Arfuso

2021

Qualitative Inquiry

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The imperative for decolonial research methodology has been long discoursed in academia. However, there remains a rift between dominant colonial research practices in the academy and the needs of researchers of color. In this article, I explore autohistoria-teoría as a decolonial research methodology by weaving between personal narrative, magical thinking, and contemporary academic discourse on autoethnographical research methods. I will exemplify both the uniqueness and importance of spirit in Anzaldúa’s iteration of autohistoria-teoría. Finally, I will challenge the academy’s perception of autoethnographical research methods as navel gazing and reframe autohistoria-teoría as decolonial praxis, and as such does not need adhere to the validity paradigm of western hegemonic knowledge production.

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The ontology of twerk: from ‘sexy’ Black movement style to Afro-Diasporic sacred dance

Cited by 23 publications

References 26 publications

Conceptualizing the stylistic body movements in contemporary Ghanaian dances as performance art form

Conceptualizing the stylistic body movements in contemporary Ghanaian dances as performance art form

The Black Atlantic Metaphysics of Azealia Banks: Brujx Womanism at the Kongo Crossroads

Whispers of the Soul; Autohistoria-Teoría as Decolonial Knowledge Production

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