Full Description
Senegal has played a central role in contemporary dance due to its rich performing traditions, as well as strong state patronage of the arts, first under French colonialism and later in the postcolonial era. In the 1980s, when the Senegalese economy was in decline and state funding withdrawn, European agencies used the performing arts as a tool in cultural diplomacy. This had a profound impact on choreographic production and arts markets throughout Africa. In Senegal, choreographic performers have taken to contemporary dance, while continuing to engage with neo-traditional performance, regional genres like the sabar, and the popular dances they grew up with. A historically informed ethnography of creativity, agency, and the fashioning of selves through the different life stages in urban Senegal, this book explores the significance of this multiple engagement with dance in a context of economic uncertainty and rising concerns over morality in the public space.
Contents
List of illustrations List of abbreviations Chapter 1. The Shifting Faces of Dance Chapter 2. Cosmopolitan Performing Arts in Twentieth-Century Senegal Chapter 3. A City Across Waters Chapter 4. Drums, Sand and Persons Chapter 5. Images of a Mobile Youth Chapter 6. The Politics of Neo-Traditional Performance Chapter 7. Senegalese 'Contemporary Dance' and Global Arts Circuits Chapter 8. Contemporary Trajectories Chapter 9. Movement, Imagination, and Self-Fashioning Bibliography
