AFRICA ART Since the beginning Africa Art has played in integral part in American history. ... Meanwhile, masks were used as a symbol during celebrations, initiations, war preparation, peace and trouble times, and masks are worn by a chosen or initiated dancer. ... The dancer wearer the mask go into deep trance, and during this state of mind he "communicate" with his ancestors. ... The dancer brings forth messages of wisdom from his ancestors. ... Rituals are always accompanied with song, dance and music, played with traditional African musical instruments. ...

• Word Count: 1298
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Vocal music is very traditional to South Africa and it was common, it also had dances involved and social gathers and had complex call-and-response patterns. The film also documented instrumental music where you can see the drum or the flute; It also featured mbaqanga which is a famous South African dance combined with traditional elements of chanting and drumming and the film also featured a lot of maskanda also known as Zulu folk music. ... The film also explored how the music industry works in South Africa and it revealed how Zulu workers practiced their secret war dance rituals against whi...

• Word Count: 834
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The Africans were captured in West Africa and forced to board ships, stripped naked with no belongings from their previous life. ... The most important areas of this cultural legacy are those of art, medicine, music/dance, religion, beliefs, folktales and language. ... European instruments were then integrated in the music and dance such as the violin and mandolin. ... This was the suppression of the African culture. However, the slaves continued singing and dancing, the Kumina dance in particular was popular and has been preserved. ...

• Word Count: 2280
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Would you agree that African culture survived more strongly in the Caribbean colonies than in North America? In 1562 John Hawkins, the first English slave-trader arrived in Africa with a fleet of three ships. Into these ships he put the three hundred black Africans he had abducted from Sierra Leone. ... African "promiscuity" was seen as proof that family life did not exist in Africa as Europeans knew it. ... LEISURE (MUSIC AND DANCE) "Slaves often sang when at work in the fields or factory, measuring out via songs the pattern of work, the rhythm of labour; a refrain and choral response w...

• Word Count: 2095
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

She studied drama and dance at night and was a scholar at the California Labor School. ... She later met the renowned African American dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey with whom she formed the unsuccessful dance team ˜Al and Rita'. After her divorce in 1954 Angelou worked as a stage performer in clubs where she sang and danced calypso music and garnered a reputation for pushing the boundaries for what was accepted as the norm. ... While in Ghana, Angelou also secured jobs as a writer for "The Ghanaian Times", a feature editor for "The African Review", and as a freelance writer...

• Word Count: 884
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Before going to this performance, I didn't know a lot about the plot of the play except that it was based off ancient west African history; but I later discovered that it covered the controversy of the life events of heretic Pharaoh, Akhenaten, husband of Queen Nefertiti and the father of Tutankhamun. I didn't research what the part of African history it covered before so I didn't recognize any of the names of the characters or know the complete story while watching. ... Other than the aspect of the plot being confusing, I thought the dancers and actors did a job well done. ... ...

• Word Count: 537
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Africa is one of the largest continents in the world comprised of 52 countries. The country of Nigeria is known as one of the largest countries in Africa consisting of 36 states. ... African food production is firmly rooted in Africa's tradition and gender division of labor. ... A variety of African traditions such as tribal dances, drumming, and in some churches, the practice of polygamy is still recognized. ... Not only in Nigeria, but in many other areas of Africa, women have integrated western song and dance with elements of traditional African music. ...

• Word Count: 1726
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Before the slave trade, there were many different African religions that were being practiced at the time. However there were still common African religions that a majority of people would follow. ... They also created dances and songs to not only complement their beliefs and practices but strengthen the morale of the people. ... Haitian voodoo was derived from western African voodoo. ... Missionaries also scornfully looked down on African religious practices such as their dancing and practice of polygamy. ...

• Word Count: 850
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

By imitating dances and songs which were especially inspired by black people working on Southern plantations and their typical African-American vernacular, white minstrel performers thus portrayed African-American people on stage until William Henry Lane – an African-American artist – became popular as being one of the first black performers in the United States. ... Rice made blackface minstrelsy even more popular with his song and simultaneously dance "Jump Jim Crow" and minstrel shows could fill a whole evening's entertainment program – Rice can be seen as ...

• Word Count: 969
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The Harlem Renaissance showed the unique culture of African Americans and redefined African American expression. It began in the early 1920's where African American literature, art, music, and dance began to flourish in Harlem, a neighboorhood in New York City. ... For African Americans, writing was an escape. ... Then let's sing it, dance it, write it, paint it. ... Countee Cullen used both African and European images to explore the African roots of black American life. ...

• Word Count: 1369
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Jazz music was a blend of West African and Latin rhythms, African American spirituals and blues, and European harmonies. ... As this happened, white musicians began incorporating jazz into their music, while big bands, both black and white popularized it for dancing. Quite possibly the greatest cultural changes came about with the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement in Harlem, New York, of African American actors, artists, writers, and musicians. ... The Harlem Renaissance was above all a literary movement, when famous novelists such as Claude McKay, and Langston Hughes produced work ...

• Word Count: 335
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Battle Royal, is mainly a description of the African American struggle for equality and identity. The narrator of the story is an above average youth of the African American community. ... Then the young black men are "forced" to watch this attractive white woman dance in the middle of the ring, this in a time when being sexually attracted to a white woman is a taboo in the racist world. ...

• Word Count: 769
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

African-Americans have a strong work ethic within our families. ... The church is used as an escape for African-Americans. ... Church is an emotional release for African-Americans. We sing, dance, shout, and cry during our service. ... The African-American community is a smart people. ...

• Word Count: 1387
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Walcott has both African and European roots; his grandmothers were both black, and both grandfathers were white. ... Poem Summary The first three lines depict the poem's setting on the African plain, or veldt. ... What seems an idyllic portrayal of the African plain quickly shifts; the Kikuyu are compared to flies (buzzing around the "animal" of Africa) who are feeding on blood, which is present in large enough amounts to create streams. ... Lines 11-14 Walcott shifts gears in these lines and returns to images of Africa's wildlife, in a reminder that the ibises (long-bill...

• Word Count: 4862
• Approx Pages: 19
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In the early 1900s, particularly in the 1920s, African-American literature, art, music, dance, and social commentary began to flourish in Harlem, a section of New York City. ... More than a literary movement, the Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. ... African-Americans was encouraged to celebrate their heritage. ... Thematic content included Africa as a source of inspiration, African-American history, folk idioms, including music and religion of the South, and social injustice. ... Never before had so many Americans rea...

• Word Count: 783
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In the early 1900s, particularly in the 1920s, African-American literature, art, music, dance, and social commentary began to flourish in Harlem, a section of New York City. ... More than a literary movement, the Harlem Renaissance elevated the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. African-Americans were encouraged to celebrate their heritage. ... It was an African-American company, but it only performed plays written by whites because plays written by African-Americans were not yet allowed. It was a unique experience for African-Americans to see Africa...

• Word Count: 824
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Social interaction was more important to the events that focused on eating, drinking, and dancing. ... Demographic Differences There is a large audience difference in all areas of culture such as contemporary dance. ... Another important finding during the Sheffield study was the existence of prior dance experience. 54 percent of respondents participated in ballet or tap previously. This may also determine why most audience members were women since they are more likely to have participated in dance throughout their life. ... Media ad income is increasing for performances such as dance...

• Word Count: 1904
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Since the time of slavery, African American women have endured many hardships. ... The historical and social experiences of African women since slavery resulted in numerous images that defined African American women as deviant. For centuries, African American women have been contrasted with white women. ... As African American women, they realized that they could not demand such protection. ... They have assumed a prominent place in the culture of our times both in the United States and abroad, contributing great literature, journalism, music, dance, theater, science. ...

• Word Count: 1267
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Alan Paton uses Pieter's downfall and personal tragedy to show a larger cultural tragedy that eventually encompasses South Africa. ... Sophie preaches mercy and forgiveness but distributes them unequally as many things are in South Africa. ... Sophie gives a description of a small incident that occurs in connection with Jakob van Vlaanderen's birthday party in which she shows the class structure of South Africa. ... This is a clear example of the power struggle that existed in South Africa. ... She dances when she walks down the street. ...

• Word Count: 1438
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The Commission provided the men with an array of wholesome leisure activities ranging from sports to theater to well-regulated dances and library books that were censored for their benefits. ... The camps included a large percentage of working class men, African Americans, and immigrants. ... " The relationship between progressivism and the African American community had always been complexed and troubled." The Draft act of 1917 called for the registration of black and white men alike, allowing African Americans to serve in the First World War. ... The CTCA was up against opposition ...

• Word Count: 1179
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Slavery has existed all through the United State at the moment in time and by 1760 there were about 325,800 African slaves in North America. ... Africans were the perfect choice of slave to farm in colonial American, because slavery had already existed in Africa. African natives were all of ages and sexes. ... They had to obey a number of harsh rules; for example: they could not gather for a harmful dance. ...

• Word Count: 1499
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In the 1950s she became a nightclub performer and began careers as a singer, dancer, actor, playwright, poet, novelist, and civil rights activist. When Angelou returned to the United States after a performances in Ghana while acting, she wrote several screenplays and became the first African-American woman to have a feature film adapted from one of her own stories. ...

• Word Count: 548
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Things Fall Apart To be a man in the Ibo culture of Africa in the 1800s meant to live with honor above all. ... In the novel Things Fall Apart, like many cultures during the 1800's, European or African, the African Ibo tribe placed religion as a form of both a source of spiritual devotion and a law establishing committee. ... The European missionaries came to the African villages, including and surrounding the Ibo tribe, after they had set up base in Umuru on the bank of the Great River. ... Sacraficing sheep to the gods or holding sacred dances in which elite members would dance in...

• Word Count: 2116
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Things Fall Apart To be a man in the Ibo culture of Africa in the 1800s meant to live with honor above all. ... In the novel Things Fall Apart, like many cultures during the 1800's, European or African, the African Ibo tribe placed religion as a form of both a source of spiritual devotion and a law establishing committee. ... The European missionaries came to the African villages, including and surrounding the Ibo tribe, after they had set up base in Umuru on the bank of the Great River. ... Sacraficing sheep to the gods or holding sacred dances in which elite members would dance in m...

• Word Count: 2116
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The influence of African culture into the southern colonies was very strong due to the large amount of African slaves. With their free labor, they brought music, dance and language to the America's, making it the most diverse region in the world at the time. ... It is said that millions of black men and women were kidnapped from their homes in Africa, often by local tribal leaders, and were brought to the Americas by aristocrats profiteering from their vulnerability. ...

• Word Count: 1247
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate