Blackness, Performance, Freedom
The love song “All the King’s Horses” by Aretha Franklin that is referenced in Jason King’s “Which way is down?” encompasses the metaphor of falling as well as acts as an example of the black female singer’s desire to be heard. King’s article uses the metaphor of the act of falling and climbing a ladder…
Reflection on Content Describe a few of the connections you see between your different entries? As you reflect on your entries, do you find any contradictions between one entry and another? Or even within one entry? Compare your first entry and your latest entry. Are their similarities to the types of questions and topics you’re…
You may email me your responses directly as a Word document, but I encourage you to post your project check-ins to the class site.* Doing so facilitates the feedback loop and also allows you to get a sense of how other groups are tackling similar or related issues. TOPIC FOCUS (Central Objective) What key idea,…
Beyoncé’s 2016 “Formation” music video includes a montage of scenes invoking both modern and historical settings. One image I’d like to pay particular attention to and which I discussed in an earlier journal entry is the parlor scene in which Beyoncé and several other women dance in the hallway of a 19th century southern home wearing…
Plays are not meant to be read, but to be staged. Of course, in the process of staging a play, or studying text for academic analysis, the play must be read. This reading provides a different, clearer understanding of the playwright’s intentions. Instead of wondering about the director’s or designer’s work, we as readers are…
Last week, I enacted the scene in Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo on pages 74-75, where Sassafrass cooks dinner. I made a variation of the fish with red sauce and a vegetable side. Like Sassafrass, I did breathing exercises while preparing the ingredients and relevés while waiting for the fish to broil—embodying her physical state and…
Listen to first minute and a half AND from 5:40 on. “Max Roach & Abbey Lincoln perform Tears for Johannesburg & Tryptic (Prayer, Protest).” Posted by thepostarchive. YouTube.com. October 20, 2018 (Accessed 9/30/20).
The film Guava Island embellishes and create new meaning for Childish Gambino’s music. In its essence, Guava Island is a musical. It was intentional to not have Glover’s music as a soundtrack, but rather embedded into the text. We hear full performances from Glover as Deni. They include background dancers and surrealist effects just like…
In one of my journal assignments, I performed a healing ritual from Ntozake Shange’s Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo titled “Suitors with the Moon’s Blessing” and discovered the importance of learning about the world through many types of mediums. For this post, I want to look at a different healing ritual found on page 25; I…
Misty Copeland “This Week’ Sunday Spotlight: Misty Copeland.” YouTube.com. Posted by ABC News. Apr 6, 2014 (Accessed 9/25/20). “Misty Copeland Dances Romeo + Juliet, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux & White Swan at Vail Dance 2015” YouTube.com. Posted by Nel Shelby Productions. August 19, 2015. (Accessed 9/25/20). “Watch an Exclusive Clip of Misty Copeland’s ”A Ballerina’s…