DANCE 124 University of SF Does it Matter Who is Doing the Dancing Essay

In the portion of the modern dance presentation in which we examined the presence of African American artists and their contributions to modern dance, I pointed to the work of Helen Tamiris, whose suite of dances entitled the Negro Spirituals, protested against discrimination of African Americans. However, when she first made these dances, she used white dancers to capture her artistic messages.

Take a look at these two performances of one of her negro spirituals, “Go Down Moses.”

This video contains background music of piano and voice. Click here for a transcript of the lyrics: PDF transcript download.

In this version, Tamiris, a Jewish woman, is dancing the solo. This clip starts at 42 minutes into this video.

This video contains background music of piano and a bass voice singing. Clik here for a transcript of the lyrics: PDF transcript download.

Watch this version of the choreography:

In the case of a dance that addresses black oppression, does it matter who is doing the dancing? Is a white woman choreographer dancing, who herself is a member of a marginalized (Jewish) community able to translate a narrative, feeling, emotion, experience of black people? What about in the case of the white man? Or would the dance be more successful if it highlighted a black body telling a black story? What do you think?