Digging the Africanist presence in American performance
Subtitle: dance and other contexts
By: Brenda Dixon Gottschild.
Series: Contributions in Afro-American and African studies,; no. 179
Publisher: Greenwood Press
Published: 1996
Place of publication: Westport, Conn
Language: eng
Number of pages: 189
Subjects: African Americans in the performing arts; African American dance
Description: This ground-breaking work brings dance into current discussions of the African presence in American culture. Dixon Gottschild argues that the Africanist aesthetic has been "invisibilized" by the pervasive force of racism. The book provides evidence to correct and balance the record, investigating the Africanist presence as a conditioning factor in shaping American performance, onstage and in everyday life.

She examines the Africanist presence in American dance forms particularly in George Balanchine's Americanized style of ballet, (post)modern dance, and blackface minstrelsy. Hip hop culture and rap are related to contemporary performance, showing how a disenfranchised culture affects the culture in power.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [171]-178) and index.