Myth Performance in the African Diasporas: Ritual, History, and Dance

Diaspora studies continue to expand in range and scope and remain fertile terrain for investigating multiple techniques of myth creation in dance performance, history as performance, dramatic narrative, and staged rituals in the field. Similarly, research in postcoloniality, gender/sexuality, intercultural, and literary studies, among others, all engage and feature core components of performance and myth in articulating and understanding their fields. This sharing of similar components also demonstrates the interrelatedness of these fields.

In Myth Performance in the African Diasporas: Ritual, Theatre, and Dance, the authors contend that performance traditions across artistic disciplines reveal a shared―if sometimes varied―journey among diasporic artists to reconnect with their African ancestors. The volume begins with a historical and aesthetic overview of how dramatists, choreographers, and performance artists have approached the task of interpreting African myth. The individual chapters reveal how specific artists, dramatists, and choreographers have interpreted African myth and what performative approaches and traditions they have used. Focusing on theatre practitioners from the nineteenth century through the present, the authors examine performative traditions from Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

Drawing upon research in theatre, dance, and literary texts, Myth Performance in the African Diasporas will be crucial to academics interested in African performance viewed through the prism of myth making and spiritual/ritualistic stagings. Besides those interested in diasporic studies, this book will also be useful to scholars and students of history, drama, theatre, and dance.

Benita Brown is professor in African dance and performance at Virginia State University.

Dannabang Kuwabong is professor of Caribbean literature in the Department of English at University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan.

Christopher Olsen is associate professor of drama in the English department at University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan. He is the author of Off-Off Broadway: The Second Wave, 1968–1980 (2011).