Immigration, Fusion and Confiscation - Essay Example

Dance Response to Question 3 The immigration of people from different cultures into America led to the evolution of various traditions, cultures, and ethnicities in America during and after the immigration period. Quite notable is the fact that social forces in America derived other traditions or challenged the survival of the immigrants’ traditions. As Gerald Jonas observes, certain social forces like "fusion" challenged the survival of traditions. As such, “fusion” opposed the conservation of traditions especially in the music and dance industries. However, other social forces sought to integrate African traditions with American traditions thus conserving such traditions in the in the music and dance industries. Indeed, the term “confiscation” as used in Lesson 1 sought to integrate African dance traditions into the American culture. The terms “fusion” and “confiscation” are very significant in the American culture especially with reference to the American dance and society since they play a huge role in creating a new American dance form. The term fusion refers to the aspect of creating a singular and original, high quality show, which blends dance, fashion, and music to establish a high-end performance (“York Media” 1). Fusion brings a diverse collection of best dancers, models, musicians, artists, fashion designers, hairdressers, and make-up artists to create an original and unique music and dance performance in America (“York University” 1). In terms of dance and society, confiscation refers to the adoption of techniques and effects from native cultures into the American dance and society (Rogers 10). With reference to cultures and dance, confiscation integrates the conflicting association between the African dance traditions and the American culture. The Ghost dance is a dance practice that exemplifies "confiscation" of dance forms to "create" a new American dance form. From the Ghost Dance, we can indeed derive the fact that there was a confiscation of techniques and effects from native cultures into the American dance and society. The immigration of Indians and the integration of Wodziwobs teachings with the American traditions led to the confiscation (“United States History” 1). Notably, the American belief systems adopted the religious attributes of Ghost Dance movement. This is clear where the dancers performed the dance with a belief of getting cure for their illness. This related to the ritual intentions as depicted by Wodziwob who started the dance. They disregarded the ritual beliefs and adopted the religious beliefs that related to the dance. The American dance and society confiscated the techniques of round dances at night. Indeed, the American dance and society adopted the technique of joining hands and sidestepping leftward in a frenetic circle dance. Wodziwob had initiated the technique of performing round dances at night. Numerous American belief systems adopted the religious attributes of Ghost Dance movement. Notably, in 1870, a native Indian, Wodziwob started the original Ghost Dance in Nevada (“United States History” 1). Wodziwob started the dance practice as a way of performing rituals that would enable Indians to establish a new residence after the eminent Indian renaissance. As such, Indians had to perform round dances at night to achieve their mission of reinstating the tribal Indian life where the ancestors would resurrect and the Indian traditional animals like the buffalo would resurface (“United States History” 1). Indeed, this dance practice would reunite the living with the spirits of the dead to foster peace, prosperity, and unity to native peoples throughout the region. The Ghost Dance movement demonstrated the Indians’ fear, anger, and hope with reference to the oppression on white invaders (“United States History” 1). Both men and women participated in the dance that includes the joining of hands and sidestepping leftward around a circle, following the course of the sun, while singing special restoration songs with no musical instruments (“United States History” 1). The Ghost Dance spread to America where Indians in Oregon and California adopted Wodziwobs teachings and integrated the ritual with the American traditions (“United States History” 1). Indeed, as the dance evolved in America, Native American tribes synthesized specific aspects of the ritual with their own beliefs thus changing the rituals and the integrating society. This created a new American dance form. Indeed, the new American dance form, Lakota version entailed the use of invocations, prayers, and exhortations in the opening (“United States History” 1). Then the dancers joined hands and began a frenetic circle dance with a hope of getting cure for their illness. As the dance spread to the Lakota, it alarmed the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) agents who thought it had a militaristic approach that aimed at frightening the white settlers (“United States History” 1). It is however clear that the artists sought to eliminate fear among the American Natives as they faced numerous challenges in America. The Revelation by Alvin Ailey (Friedman 1) is a modern dance practice that exemplifies "fusion" of dance forms to "create" a new American dance form. The Revelation dance emanate from a famous modern dance choreographer, Alvin Ailey in 1958 (Friedman 1). The modern dance depicts how Alvin created a singular and original, high quality show, which blends dance, fashion, and music to establish a high-end performance. Indeed, the Revelation is resoundingly one of the modern high-end performances across the globe especially in America as it can offer the perfect dance technique to the American audience. The technique in the Revelation is an interesting inspiration that emanated from Ailey’s memory of the black church in South America (“Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation” 1). In the Revelation, Ailey uses the black church choiring singing as its music and combines the music with the dancing movements to develop the Revelation. It is quite clear that the Revelation is a captivating technique in performance that attracts the attention of the audience. The Revelation depicts a man and a woman moving together in slow motion using the ballet as their basic dance (Friedman 64-67). To the enjoyment of the audience, the dancers incorporate the modern strong dancing movements into the ballet technique (“Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation” 1). This amounts to high-end performance where Ailey succeeds in manifesting the black culture in South America. The audience would identify with this technique as it satisfies their expectations through the motions in the modern performance. Indeed, Ailey fused some techniques from the black cultures and the ballet technique. The dancers in the Revelation stretch their body in large scale depicting the basic movements in a ballet technique (“Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation” 1). The combination of the ballet and the black culture in the modern dance is a reflection of a unique technique in the modern society. The main aim of the Revelation was to present the black culture to the audience. This included the black tradition dancing movements. However, in doing this, Ailey fused the black tradition dancing movements and modern dance to appease the audience as seen in the Revelation. In the Revelation, Ailey presents different dancing movements as portrayed in two people’s dancing and the group dancing. The slow pace, gentle movement, flexibility, and unity in the bodies of the two people dancing, depicts integration of the dancers, and derives strong feelings to the public (“Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation” 1). The Revelation is also unique in that it reflects unity of nations as the group dancers come from different races and nations (Friedman 24). As such, the Revelation advocates for integration in dancing groups. Indeed, the group dancers come together to show their strength and derive strong emotional relationships. The performance of this dance is very encouraging in that it takes a short time that is convenient for both the audience and the dancers (“Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation” 1). The Ghost Dance and the Revelation are very different in that they represent "confiscation" and “fusion” respectively. The two dance practices have a significant historical representation on the American experience. While, the Revelation involves the use of black tradition dancing movements and the ballet technique, the Ghost dance involves the use of Indian circular dance. The two dances do not entail the use of instruments. However, both dance practices involve the use of music and hence influence American music. Both dances originated from American natives like Indians and the original cultural dance is different from the new American dance in both dance practices. While the Ghost dance evolves from one cultural dance, the Revelation evolved two different dance styles. The two dances represented the American experience in that they traced the cultures and traditions of Native Americans. The Ghost dance represents the rituals and traditional beliefs of the Native Americans while the Revelation represents the improvised group dancing styles in America like the ballet. As such, the two dances can relevantly address American dance and culture. Works Cited Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation. About Revelations. Web. 7 March 2014. Friedman, Lise. Alvin Ailey dance moves!: a new way to exercise. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2003. Print. Rogers, Richard. A Dialogics of Rhythm: Dance and the Performance of Cultural Conflict. Web. 7 February 2014. < http://www2.nau.edu/~rar/papers/RogersHJC1998.pdf> United States History. The Ghost Dance. Web. 7 February 2014. York Media. Society profile: Fusion. 22 September 2013. Web. 7 February 2014. < http://theyorker.co.uk/freshers/societies/14289-society-profile-fusion> York University. Fusion York. Web. 7 February 2014. Read More