Dance Black America Dance Analysis

The movie Dance Black America showcases many different styles of dance in an effort to document a festival that celebrates the evolution of black dance. There are a wide range of dances from contemporary to more rhythmic traditional African dances. With all of the dances performed, two stood out to me. These were “Ostrich” performed by Charles Moore and “Junkie” performed by Eleo Pomare.
“Ostrich” starts off with the dancer coming on stage only wearing a feather skirt to an African style drum beat and flute accompaniment. The dance continues with the performer who seems to embody a powerful ostrich who is roaming the African savanna. He uses large, slow arm movements to signify the flapping of his wings. The dancer rolls his bare torso in a water like fashion to show the audience his long, strong neck. These elements add to the overall concept of a powerful warrior who embodies a strong dinosaur like bird.
“Junkie” is a more of a jazz piece that explores the realm of black culture as well as drugs. The choreography tells us a story of how a drugs have taken over the life of a man and turned him into a junkie. The rigid and spastic movements show us his compulsive habits of an addict. Over the course of the dance, we see the performer imitate the use of cocaine, heroin and other harmful hallucinegentives. The dancer uses
“Junkie” eludes a more jazzy and modern vibe while “Ostrich” seems to be more traditional and have clear roots. There are very large contrasting overall ideas of the dances that give them their uniqueness from each other. The choreography all though similar, is also very unlike. “Ostrich” is a more elegant and fluid while “Junkie” is choppy and has irregular movement. These dances also have very different rhythms that convey the theme of the dance. Overall, even though these two dances are very different, the connection to black culture remains in both