The very first term of the article “History of Black Dance: 20 Century Black American Dance” bothered me a bit because it was not well-defined to me. What is Black Culture? In Africa, I’m sure each region had its own culture. In America, all African-Americans were bonded by the struggles resulting from their skin color and the gospel hymns sung over a century, from the time of the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement. With freedom to express themselves, Black Culture spawned the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s with dances like the Charleston, Jitterbug, and Lindyhop.
Now, Black Dance seems to refer to more racial diversity in a typically white dance world. “All black musicals disappeared from Broadway in the 1920s when white musicals started to employ more black performers and black dance was incorporated into their programme.” Stars like Josephine Baker, Florence Mills, Buddy Bradley and Arthur Mitchell broke the racial barrier by performing in previously all white arts (musicals, Broadway, American Ballet). This is a step toward including a more accurate representation of a racially-rich America in art.
Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus elevated black dance to be revered as much as white dance. But to do this, they traced black dance to its roots and traditions. This seems to show that Black Dance stems from Africa.
Should art be a melting pot where all cultures mix together or a salad bowl where each style maintains its identity as separate? On one hand, we can make all art racially mixed. On the other hand, we can respect and revere the art of other cultures the same as we do to white American art while preserving the cultural origins and identity. Both approaches are sound. Which one do you think will be most fair? Do we preserve Black Culture, or assimilate it?
I never thought about how the implications of a “melting pot” and “salad bowl” could vary so distinctly. America was initially referred to as a “melting pot”, where cultures from all over come together to create American culture. However, in more recent times we have come to acknowledge American culture as a “salad bowl”, where instead of blending cultures together, they coexist with one another. I never thought about which analogy does the most justice to the cultures within American society. Black culture, including black dance, has been a pivotal influence on American history, and is not something that should be ignored or assimilated, but revered. Therefore, perhaps the American salad bowl would be the best way to preserve the value behind such culture.