Scholarly Article

In this scholarly article, the author touches base on African dance and how it was looked down upon and was considered unimportant. The author talks about why African dance was rarely studied as well. People were very uneducated and unaware of African dance and traditions during this time. 

African American Dance Studies

X-Factor

This video I chose talks about the importance of African dance and how it keeps cultural traditions alive. She talks about how these dances have influenced our history and contains the past. This video is what Dafora lived for, and I feel can relate to his reasonings of why urged to create drama-dance and make it artistic. 

History of African American Dance

Personal Opinion

Asadata Dafora has become a person who is meaningful to me for many reasons. The way he felt about African dance and culture, and how bad he wanted recognition and study for it by others, really showed his love for these people and their traditions. He wanted to educate others and take this culture to a serious level, rather than it being playful and fun to look at. I was very inspired by the drive he had to show the world African dance, during a time where modern dance was mainly focused on European dance. People out there in the world look past talent, and you will always have your disbelievers, but Dafora had a voice and motivational drive like no other to show the world something they had never seen before.
Dafora

Historical Context

Dafora's career as a dancer, choreographer, director and writer went on from the 1930s to the 1960s. his contribution to modern dance was based mainly on him creation of dance-drama as an art form. He proved that African dance wasn't just a fun, colorful, rhythmic dance, but actually consisted of complicated, complex dance techniques, which he felt needed some type of recognition and study. This talented artist settled in Harlem who in the late 1920s set out to create dances of african folk on the proscenium stage. He combined African dances with western staging that no one had ever seen before. Dafora's African dance, the Ostrich Dance, was the first dance seen in America that was staged as a concert dance.

https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/asadata-dafora/shagola-dances-of-west-africa/

Critical Review

"..And an Ostrich That Spreads Its Wings"
A woman named Siobhan Burke wrote a review on Asadata Dafora's Ostrich dance, performed by a man named Alvin Ailey. She goes on by saying that the "Ostrich" dance performed speaks to an important time in history when black choreographer for the first time were gaining respect as artists. She states that, "The more you see this dance, the more it reveals". She went on to say that this dance was performed spectacularly, even though it was recreated and restaged.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/arts/dance/alvin-ailey-company-offers-asadata-dafora-work-from-1932.html?mcubz=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwwqA4iCV60 

Background

Asadata Dafora was considered one of the pioneers in black dance. His significance in modern dance was based solely on his development of dance-drama as an art form. Dafora was one of the first African Americans to introduce drumming music to the United States in the 1930s. Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1890, he was known as a multidisciplinary musician, dancer, choreographer, director, and writer. African and European influences addded to Dafora's education. He trained in Sierra and toured Endgland, France, Germany in "L'Africanne" and "Aida" circa 1912. This tour affected his next decisions in life and his career. He is known for his first dance-drama Kykunkor, which he wrote, choreographed, and directed.

Choreography