Date of Award
5-12-2017
Degree Type
Capstone Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies (BA)
Department
Cultural Studies
First Advisor
Douglas Reichert Powell
Second Advisor
Robert E. Watkins
Third Advisor
Kenneth Daley
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate liturgical dance in the black church tradition as a gendered space. I argue that black girls perform their sexuality as ascribed to hetero-patriarchal ideology—as preached within the black church—through liturgical dance. This ideology akin to politics of respectability separates the sacred from the secular which causes a tension. This tension shows up in the hyper-ness of liturgical dancing. This study discusses this by contextualizing liturgical dance within a history of black concert dance and embodied practices of resistance. This study frames liturgical dance within the black dance tradition, black feminist studies, and womanist theology drawing parallels between the excessive and exuberant expressions within the black worship experience and sexual repression. This study also employs E. Patrick Johnson’s methodology of critical performance ethnography in an interview with the dance ministry leader at Living Word Christian Center as well as an observation of a rehearsal and Sunday morning ministry.
Recommended Citation
Heath, Brianna, "Bodies as Living, Twirling Sacrifices: Performing Black Girlhood, Liturgical Dance, and the Black Church Tradition" (2017). Cultural Studies Capstone Papers. 16.
https://digitalcommons.colum.edu/cultural_studies/16
Included in
Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Cultural History Commons, Dance Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Religion Commons