Stories of West African and House Dance Pedagogies: 4E Cognition Meet Rhythmic Virtuosity
Journal of Dance Education July 3, 2021 Ojeya Cruz Banks 4 citations
Rhythmic virtuosity—moving with percussive attack—is a hallmark of Black/African dance. Musicality reveals a dynamic system of intersubjective communal creativity: drumming provides percussive sensory information that guides a dancer's somatic and choreographic choices. Cognitive scientists study the intersubjectivity of learning. This article examines how thinking, creativity, and artistry are enacted in two ethnographic vignettes of African diaspora dance—Guinea and House dance—showing that they are intersubjective processes. The focus is on how rhythmic virtuosity is taught and achieved, and what insights emerge about how a dancer's thinking is situated, extended, and energized by music.