Journal #4 (4A)

In “Embodying Rhythm: Improvisation as Agency in African Dance” by Abby Carlozzo the idea is that improvisation isn’t spontaneous and must be backed up by some knowledge of the origins of the dance in order to complement the dance traditions and not completely go against it. Carlozzo emphasizes that “to speak of an improvised dancer’s spontaneity is to recognize the dancer’s mastery of impulse and moment-to-moment decision-making’ (215). Improvisation is intentional as it comes from a knowledgeable and conscious dancer that understands how they can shift the original dances to support the history. In the article, Carlozzo references the Ghanaian popular dance called azonto while seeing random people on the side of the road engaging in a dance party. In order for this dance party to have occurred, there must’ve been mutual knowledge among all participants regarding the details of the dance such as the rhythm which allowed them to utilize it and put a spin to it. The relationship between Carlozzo’s idea that improvisation isn’t spontaneous and requires some knowledge and the reference to a moment where an azonto dance party broke out shows how this knowledge is found with the culture and how influential the culture is for the collective because it allows for improvisation to occur and not take away from the popular dance itself.

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