...Professor Lindo African American Arts May 5, 2010 Exploring African Influence on the West Indian/Caribbean Culture It is rather interesting that in a “progressive” society, our behavior and practices are firmly rooted in our past. It is ever possible to wrest ourselves from the harsh realities of slavery and its ensuing impact upon Caribbean way of life? Probably to do so may mean rewriting history (our-story) or maybe knowledge of where we are coming from is what we need to help us embrace those parts of our history that must be held on to and celebrated and relinquish the undesirable parts: our acceptance of being powerless; our antagonistic propensities. The impact of West Indian slavery on the cultural landscape of the Caribbean cannot be under estimated or taken for granted. In the entire discourse on West Indian slavery, it is often taken for granted that the discussion centers solely on enslaved Africans. However, slavery brought to the region not only African but Europeans (Spaniards, French and British) and consequent to its abolition, there was the advent of the east Indians. We see the impact of their influence in the names of places; the foods we eat; our music and dance; our arts and craft, gender and sexuality. As these and other anecdotal evidences are examined and the academic contributions of others are analysed, Caribbean culture will be clearly defined and its origin established. Slavery and its attending impact upon Caribbean culture have been both positive...
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...Analysis of how and where the influence of bass culture has occurred in the United Kingdom Name Institution Introduction Bass culture began as one of the key musical paradigm shift of the rave and breakbeat hardcore in the United Kingdom in the early years of the 1990. Since its introduction in the 1980’'s, bass culture has undergone significant transformation in terms of style and incorporating dance elements from different music genres such as dancehall, hip hop, funk, and electro music among other music genres. Some of the pioneers considered having brought the bass to the UK between the years 1980-1990 include Joey Beltram, CJ Bolland, L.A. Style, and Richie Hawtin. However, historical analysis shows the period 1898 to 1992 as the period of “cross pollination” of the bass culture. This period saw the incorporation of the UK hard-core sound into the bass culture. The process included incorporating hard-core sounds from different countries such as the Belgium, Germany, and the Holland. Therefore, this essay discusses the ways in which the bass culture had developed in the UK and period when it witnessed greatest significant influence on the culture. How the Bass Culture occurred in the United Kingdom over the Last 6 Decades The bass culture was introduced in the UK by the influx of the Jamaican reggae musicians in the early ages of the 1950’s. However, it did not emerge as expected due to constraints such as violence...
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...Africa and the West Indies. The article examines the resistance and spiritual survival of African Culture among the black Diaspora in the United States. While at the same timeexpounding the scope and the significance of African culture by providing a fertile concept of Africanism that reflects the unique manner in which each black individual of the Diaspora envisions African Cultural retention. Herskovits in his writing posits that the retention of the African cultural has been long lost in the American Culture; however this observation is not the same in the Caribbean/West Indian context. The West Indian retention of the African Culture is evident in many of the religious practices that are still being done in the Caribbean, some of which are Revivalism, Pucho, Voodoo (Vodun), Keele, Santeria, Shouter Baptist and Komfa (Cumfa). These are some of the ways in which West Indians have retained many of the cultural practices of their African ancestors. In his writing Herskovits argued that “for the negro to appreciate his past he has to endow confidence in his own position in his country and by extension the world. He must have scientific facts concerning the ancestral cultures of Africa and the survivals of Africanisms in the New World. In the article Herskovits argued that the survival of African Cultural forms was not present in the American culture as it is in the West Indian culture. He is of the belief that the slaves that arrived in the United States of America came with an...
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...their influences with one another, rather than praising each other their animosity is not only present in their island but also in America too with first and second generation Haitian and Dominicans Americans. Why one island praises their African roots while the other tries to eliminate and hide it? Growing up in a predominate Haitian household you are opened to the culture, the cuisine, the music and the history, and this is for the same for a Dominican household, but imagine being of both ethnicities and wanting both. In some instances, the families allows both cultures to influence...
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...Art and Culture Paper Bryce Barbee ART/125 March 14, 2016 Jamie Welch Art and Culture Paper This paper will contain information about the Feminist Art Movement and how their art work help then towards the goal of women have equal rights as to men. This will also include the ethnic minorities and how their influence affected the art works. There will be a Section of this paper that will take about the influence of art and how it affected the culture of 20th century. Then this paper will so contain information about how the culture of 20th century influences the arts of the 20th century. Feminist Art Movement Well the Feminist Art Movement started in 1969 because there was a group of women artists in revolution (WAR). This group decided to split off from the Art Workers’ Coalition (AWC) the reason the split from the AWC because it was Male-dominated. This group would not help the women artists. Then in 1971 the women artists had started to strike out of the Corcoran Biennial in Washington D.C. because they had excluded the women artists. The women artists started to protest against gallery owners because they would not show off their work here. Judy Chicago is the first woman that acted on and to help the Feminist Art movement. Her role was the most prominent and the earliest activists in the movement because she had established the feminist art program for women to paint freely without having the rejections from the outside world. The place of the program...
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...Retiring Outside of the United States The service that I have chosen to discuss is the process of assisting people who are preparing for retirement to do so outside of the United States. What I will essentially be marketing is the countries themselves as a retirement destination for Americans that wish to retire outside of the United States. This service would have a primary location in the United States with satellite offices located in the capital cities of each country. This idea was inspired when I when I came across an article on Costa Rica and how it used to be a destination for retirees. Costa Rica was the first country to make a concerted effort to attract foreign retirees with a program of special benefits. Its pensionado program was responsible for bringing tens of thousands of foreign retirees, mostly Americans, to the country in the 1980s and 1990s. While the pensionado visa is still available in Costa Rica, many of the tax breaks and other special perks it once offerened have been discontinued. Costa Rica has also become expensive, both as a place to live and a place to own a home. For these reasons, while Costa Rica is perhaps the world’s best-known overseas retirement haven, it no longer qualifies as one of the best. This led me to search for countries that would fit the needs of those looking to retire outside of the United States. I am happy to report that I found the three countries of Belize, Panama, and Malaysia which more than fit the requirements...
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...which shares with the Republic of Haiti. The country is the second-largest island in the Caribbean, with a surface area of 48,198 square kilometers. It is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and to the south by the Caribbean Sea. The Dominican Republic has a breathtaking topography. Mountains, valleys and beaches make up the diverse photogenic land. Three large mountain ranges run through the island, including the nearly two-mile high peak of Antilles. Nearly half of the island is taken up by the large mountain rages that run through it. The Dominican Republic also has the lowest point in the Caribbean, Lake Enriquillo. It is one of many lakes, lagoons and rivers that accompany the Dominican Republic’s 1,000 miles of beautiful Caribbean beaches. There is plenty to explore. Since temperatures range between 93F and 66 F, the weather will always be ready for an adventure. Culture: There’s no place quite like the Dominican Republic. That’s because its history is the result of an unlikely mixture of influences; nowhere else will you find a blending of European, African, and native Taino Indian cultures. There distinct cultures still drive the social identity f the people today. Every aspect of their food, music, art, sports and religion provides a unique insight into the development of their country. In a single day you can experience both ancient and modern cultures from around the globe…In addition to their rich culinary history, Dominicans also demonstrate...
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...Candice Payne English 102 Research paper on carnival Mardi gras Just the name Mardi gras conjures up images of drunken, bead-wearing revelers dancing through the streets of New Orleans. But how, and when, did this huge mid-winter party get started? Here's a look at the history of Mardi gras throughout the ages and across the nations. Herman states, Historians tell us that the ancient Romans probably kicked off the Mardi gras celebrations. (pg. 115)Their mid-February festival known as Lupercalia honored the god Lupercus, alternately known as the god of fertility and the god of agriculture and pastoral shepherds. In either case, his party definitely had Mardi Gras-like qualities, including days of feasting and drinking. And a little enjoying the "pleasures of the flesh", probably, too -- in fact, the term Carnival, often synonymous with Mardi gras, is derived from the Latin expression meaning "farewell to the flesh." Like most of the ancient Roman and Greek festivals, Lupercalia was adopted and adapted by the Church as a way of subtly converting the local pagans to Christianity. The carnival-like celebration of Lupercalia thus morphed into a last "fling" before the beginning of the Lenten period. Lent refers to the 40 days of pertinence and purification celebrated between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. During Lent, the religiously faithful refrain from a number of indulgences of the "flesh", including eating meat. (pg. 220) What began as a Roman-based...
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...purpose of this paper is to reflect on a multicultural experience. This assignment is to focus on a culture that’s different from my own. It will provide a brief background/history, when and where the event took place, the setting, other observations and my overall reflection. The paper will conclude with how this experience affects my view of diversity in K-20 education. Multicultural Immersion Experience Salsa dancing is an internationally known dance style which originated in Cuba. When African drum rhythms came to the new world through slave trade, the blend of drum rhythms mixed with official Cuban music emerged a variety of sounds and dance moves. A style known as the Cuban son gained a lot of popularity and played a central part of Afro-Cuban music. Radio Broadcasting came to Cuba in 1922 along with Americans seeking to escape prohibition laws. This exposed a large population of westerners to Cuban son and for the first time, Afro-Caribbean music became popular in America. Renamed the Rumba, the music and dancing begin to appear in American salons in the 1930s and is still a popular style today among ballroom dancers. The Rumba in many ways looks like a slower version of salsa. It's got some of the footwork elements, the Cuban hip motion, and arm styling (Articlesbase, 2009). In short, Africans were brought over to Cuba as a result of the slave trade. Their music blended with that of the Cubans and a union between the clave and African drums was now formed. Mambo...
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...Culture and Evolution of Hip-Hop Even though rap is more widely accepted today in the United States, it remains an undermined style of music. Nonetheless, rap still gains momentum making its way overseas, and infiltrating the farthest reaches of the world. Hip-hop is considered the culture that is lived, and rap has been considered one of the four elements making up the hip-hop lifestyle which also include breakdancing, DJing, and graffiti. The two words are commonly used colloquially, both reffering to the music genre that encompases the rapping and lifestyle. While breakdancing and graffiti are no longer prevalent, the shared cultural experiences, gang violence, drug use, money, and womanization makes up most of the current hip-hop lifestyle....
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...Around the 1900s some American dancers started to rebel against the strict and confining style of Classical Ballet. Modern dance is very vivid, ever changing and full of expression. Dancer’s like Alvin Ailey helped upgrade modern dance as we now see it. Alvin Ailey was born January 5, 1931. He spent the first twelve years of his life in various Texas small towns with only his mother to provide for the family since his father abandoned them when Alvin was only six moths old. Ailey grew up in the stereotypical black, impoverished south, constantly surrounded by religion. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, his professional dance company, and his audiences. African American art, in any form, is the combination of a variety of influences, which Ailey viewed as American culture. African American dance itself is a combination of movement and cultural influences from West African culture, Afro-Caribbean culture, and Euro-American culture 1958: First Performance of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater 1960: Alvin Ailey's Masterpiece Revelations Is Born 1962: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Goes On International Tour 1965: Judith Jamison's First Performance With Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater 1966: Ailey Performs in Inaugural Arts Festival in Senegal 1971: Alvin Ailey Choreographs Cry 1972: Judith Jamison Receives Dance Magazine Award 1974: Ailey Leaps From the Stage to the Screen 1974: Ailey Performs at the Duke Ellington Festival ...
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...symbolicvalue, and is acknowledged as dance by performers and observers within a particular culture.[nb 1] Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements, or by its historical period orplace of origin. An important distinction is to be drawn between the contexts of theatrical andparticipatory dance,[4] although these two categories are not always completely separate; both may have special functions, whether social,ceremonial, competitive, erotic, martial, or sacred/liturgical. Others disciplines of human movement are sometimes said to have a dance-like quality, including martial arts, gymnastics, figure skating, synchronized swimming and many other forms of athletics. 2. What are the types/kinds of dances? Types of Dance - Categories Here are some of the most popular dance categories and types: Ballroom Dances These dances started appearing first in Italy, during the early years of Renaissance. Popularity of this kind of entertainment quickly swept over the Europe, United States and the World. Although many other simpler and more easily preformed types of dances caused the ballroom dances to lose some of their influence, modern worldwide dancing audience started resurrecting these immortal dances in ever increasing pace. • Waltz - This graceful and slow two person dance was first introduced in mid-19th century and was greatly popularized by the music of the famous composer Johann Strauss. Today this dance represents gold standard and...
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...to explore and share the culture of other countries. She began doing so in college, when she was working on research as she was studying anthropology. Dunham always tried to find ways of connecting dance to what she was studying because dance was her passion. She traveled to third world countries such as Haiti, Martinique, Africa, Cuba, and she toured many other places as well with her dance company. Her purpose was to look further into the meaning behind dances, the purpose, the technique, and the cultural significance. What she did was she created something new rather than trying to perfect something long-standing, turning away from traditional...
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...theme of hip-hop culture prevalent within the film, foretelling the potential viewer that the film may include forms of expression like breaking, DJing, graffiti work, and MCing. A film like Straight Outta Compton is a perfect example of a “hip-hop...
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...Jamaica 1 Running Head: JAMAICA Jamaica: Course Project for Diversity in American Society The University of Akron- Wayne College Jamaica: Course Project for Diversity in American Society Jamaica is a beautiful island nation that is rich with a unique and spirited people. The nation has seen its share of hardship that somewhat continues even today. Despite a struggling economy, as well as mass emigration, those that remain have kept many rich traditions alive. In this project, I’d like to introduce you to the nation of Jamaica. It is a very unique nation with an extensive history. However, I will summarize some of the broad facts and information surrounding this country to at least present a rounded image of what Jamaica provides to our world. I’ll begin with a general outline of the demographics, history, and culture. Following, I’d like to approach a few topics that I found to be interesting and also relevant to our course. Localization Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, 145 miles in length and as much as 50 miles in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. It is about 90 miles south of Cuba and 120 miles west of the island of Hispaniola, on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are situated. It has an area of 4,244 square miles, which is roughly the size of Connecticut. Population The population of Jamaica in 2003 was estimated by the United Nations at 2,651,000, which placed it as number...
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