https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site Ushindi Niwetu Thesis Thu, 22 Jul 2021 11:52:13 +0000 https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site en https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/Re-membering-Bamboula-Embodying-Home Fri, 16 Apr 2021 15:14:59 +0000 Ushindi Niwetu Thesis https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/Re-membering-Bamboula-Embodying-Home Re/membering Bamboula | &nbsp;Embodying Home rapélé bamboula mô koté, mô kòr location house home room place space sacred and social race the location of home its location in the body inside my body home in my body home is my body body is home home is body memory cultural memory lives in my body the place is outside and inside the memory is here and there the dance is here embodied in my body regardless of place location arrived emerged indigenous continuous Where is Bamboula? What is Bamboula?&nbsp; Who dance(d/s) Bamboula? genealogies and mappings reveal these answers To Bomba To Bamboula to Bamboula TO DANSE CODAN To Juré to lala To Zydeco To Dance To Houston To Louisiana to St. Croix To Puerto Rico through Yemaya To Africa(s) “Bomba to Bamboula” relates to the process and texture of Afro-Louisiana and Afro-Puerto Rican dance. I chose ten words that I’ve been in conversation with throughout my practice. These words are both verb and noun. I chose to include the verbs and convert the nouns into actions. I drew a map of the places I’m in conversation with for my research and practice and mapped these words on their respective regions. I recorded myself throughout this process. Lately I’ve been interested in “dancing” in ways that I haven’t typically danced, and with this, I decided to allow my hands to do the dancing by mapping and writing. This has allowed me to interpret the texts I’m reading on Afro-Louisiana and Afro-Puerto Rican dance. In order to learn the Bamboula dance for example, I’ve accessed the primary sources that were written about the dance, and literally danced out the descriptions. This openness in the interpretation of dance has allowed me to not be as stifled in understanding what my ancestors were doing. It has also allowed me to imagine new ways in which the Africans in Louisiana and Puerto Rico maintained their dances and also learned new ones. A Memory of Continuity <img width="543" height="154" width_o="543" height_o="154" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/110f50394b00db6d02e72a55d674e28bac9a2d7e32c9d1c154e49351057aaf04/Dunham-MoD-1.PNG" data-mid="114676682" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/543/i/110f50394b00db6d02e72a55d674e28bac9a2d7e32c9d1c154e49351057aaf04/Dunham-MoD-1.PNG" /> <img width="575" height="162" width_o="575" height_o="162" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fac88e6429d64eedbf06d93fe024284b2a642bca350db7b6abfd721c4c8ca7c9/Dunham-MoD-2.PNG" data-mid="114676683" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/575/i/fac88e6429d64eedbf06d93fe024284b2a642bca350db7b6abfd721c4c8ca7c9/Dunham-MoD-2.PNG" /> <img width="789" height="1024" width_o="789" height_o="1024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e14290f27a89ffd05b9d02ab5505d25031a562ce725aa0aa83791ff79570beab/KD.jpg" data-mid="114677335" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/789/i/e14290f27a89ffd05b9d02ab5505d25031a562ce725aa0aa83791ff79570beab/KD.jpg" /> <img width="533" height="223" width_o="533" height_o="223" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/02973e73fba39ba2e173ced8f566cbcff714b4845690d9a795d91aeed115f5dc/Dunham-MoD-3.PNG" data-mid="114676684" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/533/i/02973e73fba39ba2e173ced8f566cbcff714b4845690d9a795d91aeed115f5dc/Dunham-MoD-3.PNG" /> Inspired by Katherine Dunham’s Theory of Memory of Difference, this research seeks to apply a memory of continuity in re/membering Louisiana Bamboula. It seems that where difference presents itself, so does continuity, as it relates to African/Black dance. Louisiana Bamboula is an Afro-Louisiana dance, musical form, and gathering which was popular during the colonial period. The rhythm and musical form are still known but some argue that the dance isn’t. Through utilizing memory of continuity, this research explores how the people of colonial Louisiana indeed remembered the rhythms and dances of Africa, and how due to cultural continuity, this dance still exists somewhere, in places, in bodies, in memories.&nbsp; Where is Bamboula situated within this? What did the dance look like? How did it feel? What did it mean? How did Africans arriving from different places share their dances and learn others? What emerged? What continues to emerge? How can genealogies of Bamboula’s ancestors and descendents, and relatives in other places, answer these questions? I want to dance the dances of my dancestors. Am I doing it already? Isn’t it funny that Bamboula means memory? Continue the journey... &nbsp;&nbsp; https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/Genealogy Fri, 16 Apr 2021 15:15:05 +0000 Ushindi Niwetu Thesis https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/Genealogy Genealogy Great Great Great Grandmother(s): Africa(s) Great Great Grandmother: Yemaya Great Grandmother 1: Puerto Rican Bomba Great Grandmother 2: St. Croix Bamboula Great Grandmother 3: Louisiana Bamboula Great Grandmother 4: Danse Codan Grandmother: Jure Mother: La La Daughter: Zydeco Granddaughter: intergenerational MUSIC DANCE GATHERING dancestors I need to print out the photographs. Black and white. And then frame them. Paul. Josephine. Herman Sr. Annabelle. Their parents, sisters, and brothers. Their parents, sisters, and brothers. And their parents, sisters, and brothers. I don’t want to add sage, but something else. Less endangered. Frankincense. Myrrh. Indigenous. African. More connected. The something else. Something to burn. White candles. The foods they like. Love. Really. Rice. Lots of rice. Gumbo. Courtbouillon. Turtle soup. Sweets. Ice cream. Sugar cane? Kush kush kaye. Cous Cous. Crystals too, maybe. Amethyst. Rose Quartz. Pyrite. Selenite. Black Tourmaline. Celestite. Moon stone. Turquoise. Malachite. Azurite. Labradorite. Pearl. Plants that are named after them. Anna. Jo. Bea. Some water. Libation. “An Afrikan Ritual of Heritage in the Circle of Life.” Pouring. Flooding. Draw a circle. In. A white cloth, atop a really nice table. A big one so they can all fit. 4 grandparents. 8 great-grandparents. 16 great great-grandparents. 32 great great great-grandparents. 64 great great great great-grandparents. 128 great great great great great-grandparents. 1,048,576 great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great-grandparents. Great parents. And their parents, sisters, and brothers. And their children and children’s children and their children. Some shells too. Cowrie. Currency. Sacred. Shell(s). Sea shells. Ocean. Yemaya swim through. We swam too. Danced too. and to. Continue the journey... https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/Africa-s Thu, 22 Jul 2021 08:42:03 +0000 Ushindi Niwetu Thesis https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/Africa-s Africa(s)Great Great Great Grandmother(s)&nbsp; What dances were our great great great grandmothers doing in Africa? In Kongo? In Senegambia? In Benin? In Mali? The locations of our Bamboula dancestors What were their gatherings and rhythms that gave birth to Bamboula? Was Bamboula already being done on the African continent? What does the term Bamboula mean? memory in Kinkongo bula meaning drum Bam ban ma: those who would not be colonized&nbsp; Bamako Bambara Bamana mbula meaning rain in Lingala bambula plural of mbula huge rain a dance for rain? WE BROUGHT OUR DANCES Bawu NaanInterview with Pape Ibrahima “Kaolack” Ndiaye Continue the journey... https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/On-the-Ocean Tue, 13 Jul 2021 19:24:51 +0000 Ushindi Niwetu Thesis https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/On-the-Ocean On the Ocean/Yemaya Great Great Grandmother They’re calling me My dancestors are To come home They welcome me with open arms and the ever-lingering sounds of drum beats With tender smiles and anxious hands With the sweet smell of okra and fufu, the natural smells of earth engraved into every ounce of their perfect, perfect bodies So do I do I’m led by the masquerade so tall and colorful and vibrant Masked ancestor Eggun Across the waters Perfect, perfect bodies For days we travel His fringe, her fringe, just escaping ruin, soaked and blended with seaweed Her DNA, his DNA melting into the waves My toes wrinkled But when we arrive, I know I am finally home The drum beats I heard in my dreams were not from the radio&nbsp; The people I saw were not my neighbors But my ancestors calling me home I’m glad I came The masquerade told me I’d be happy Truth in Liberation This creature, this figure, this warrior so brave to travel on her own, his own DareNot&nbsp; For this reason so seemingly frightening to the enemy ushindi ni wetu And that ivory That ivory tusk Atop its home so beautiful, perhaps even innocent But in hands so ferocious, fear-invoking, frightening&nbsp; But with the humblest and most honest of all intentions With its mysterious patterning repeating, repeating Giving breath to the dead with its sharpness Light to the darkest cave with its beauty&nbsp; The thing she and he so carved could stop anything Anything Except them Until I saw it enclosed in the clearest of glass In the corner, near the trees, a different climate, centuries later, but the same They joy I felt I feel&nbsp; When I remember that day, the day of our reunion In my eyes, before my feet and hands The masquerade reminded me of the promise To bring me home&nbsp; Take me to the water masquerading waters the great d connec the&nbsp; Yemaya is the guide an ances tor water is con stantly re plenish ed y is folds the our orisha ances tor of mother hood too water it of remem bers Atlantic ocean be comes mother and child the in are move ment of the spirit ances tors across place to place souls our and is soles into in and our around bodies like water the Louisi ana swamp Diaspor a Goree shore Carib bean sea the colors of the ocean change depending on the depth but the ocean is still the ocean Who’s in your ocean? Where do your dancestors reside? Continue the journey... https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/Puerto-Rican-Bomba Thu, 22 Jul 2021 08:33:29 +0000 Ushindi Niwetu Thesis https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/Puerto-Rican-Bomba Puerto Rican BombaGreat Grandmother ~Mar Cruz performing Bomba in Puerto Rico~ Bomba Lexicon Bomba bula maraca piquete bombasa primo paseo saludo sicá yubá seis corrido corvé bambule Afro-Puerto Rican dance form low-pitch drum played with constant beat Taino-influenced percussion instrument dance step bomba gathering high-pitch, improvising drum dancer’s entrance reverence to the drum one of the most popular Bomba rhythms a two-step rhythm originally for funerals very fast rhythm war-like rhythm rhythm adapted for congas Bomba and Bamboula (Gottschalk) Rhythms Bomba Rhythms Sicá, Cuembé, Holandé, Seis Corrido, Yubá Roman Percussion <img width="515" height="689" width_o="515" height_o="689" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a2ccbbdd611b62948bb4ce82adbbad14dd6736f45cf6d1613f231df2bb883325/IMG_2156.jpg" data-mid="115127464" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/515/i/a2ccbbdd611b62948bb4ce82adbbad14dd6736f45cf6d1613f231df2bb883325/IMG_2156.jpg" /> <img width="651" height="460" width_o="651" height_o="460" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/09dbf215e24fc8ca2a916aef73f9464a58350141db0a7e86856b58d3c75670e4/Bomba-Bamboula.PNG" data-mid="114969279" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/651/i/09dbf215e24fc8ca2a916aef73f9464a58350141db0a7e86856b58d3c75670e4/Bomba-Bamboula.PNG" /> Continue the journey... https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/St-Croix-Bamboula Thu, 22 Jul 2021 08:34:12 +0000 Ushindi Niwetu Thesis https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/St-Croix-Bamboula St. Croix BamboulaGreat Grandmother ~Dr. Chenzira Davis-Kahina of St. Croix~ Bamboula Dance by J. Antonio Jarvis Can I in pride mock sad buffoons Who ape ancestral circumstance? My fathers, too, these thousand moons Cavorted in some tribal dance. I still can feel, when drumbeats call, The pulsing blood new rhythms take; As garment-like refinements fall Unconscious longings spring awake! My honored sire now would say, For all his solemn high degrees, That drums recall Nigerian play And drown out later dignities. Few naked tribesmen yet remain To dance the sacred dance for rain! Reimagined Bamboula I by Ushindi Niwetu Can I in pride mock sad buffoons Who ignore ancestral circumstance? My mothers, too, these thousand moons Cavorted in this indigenous dance. I still can feel, when drumbeats call, The pulsing blood new rhythms take; As colonized refinements fall Unconscious longings spring awake! My honored daughter now would say, For all her solemn high degrees, That drums recall our African way And drown out imposing perplexities. Many of us do remain To dance the sacred dance for rain! Reimagined Bamboula II by Ushindi Niwetu No pride, these sad buffoons Who ignore ancestral circumstance. My mothers and fathers, too, these thousand suns and moons Cavorted in this familiar dance. I still can feel, when drums yell, The pulsing blood new rhythms take; As colonized refinements fail Conscious longings stay woke. My honored daughter and son now would say, For all their solemn high decrees, That drums recall our African way And bury imposing perplexities. Many of us do remain To dance this sacred dance, no suffering or pain! <img width="515" height="254" width_o="515" height_o="254" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f3bfd740d1aa2191c1ec612d9916777dde4ac1015b5a7c73a1fcb32029fc8f25/Bamboula-1.PNG" data-mid="114984044" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/515/i/f3bfd740d1aa2191c1ec612d9916777dde4ac1015b5a7c73a1fcb32029fc8f25/Bamboula-1.PNG" /> <img width="502" height="223" width_o="502" height_o="223" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/703733a78d662a2f1c9230e888a592d2164ada1853650cc43633179ef031b214/Bamboula-2.PNG" data-mid="114984045" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/502/i/703733a78d662a2f1c9230e888a592d2164ada1853650cc43633179ef031b214/Bamboula-2.PNG" /> <img width="508" height="274" width_o="508" height_o="274" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bd1e731f08850588f5a1d4a672741930819a42dc31260a332babdfe03976f455/Bamboula-3.PNG" data-mid="114984046" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/508/i/bd1e731f08850588f5a1d4a672741930819a42dc31260a332babdfe03976f455/Bamboula-3.PNG" /> <img width="509" height="220" width_o="509" height_o="220" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2c061587c1b62a13435672ad25a0edbc3f538bfc4781cd204fafcf1740e26a60/Bamboula-4.PNG" data-mid="114984047" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/509/i/2c061587c1b62a13435672ad25a0edbc3f538bfc4781cd204fafcf1740e26a60/Bamboula-4.PNG" /> <img width="503" height="199" width_o="503" height_o="199" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6fe6e7e4737e4d6618a181794c2ef28efe401ee578e59f60241966f86e489e69/Bamboula-5.PNG" data-mid="114984048" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/503/i/6fe6e7e4737e4d6618a181794c2ef28efe401ee578e59f60241966f86e489e69/Bamboula-5.PNG" /> <img width="504" height="227" width_o="504" height_o="227" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a02e9865f9861a0c3e31d1d8067309ce04a33502eae6b7a560a894d919369ea4/Bamboula-6.PNG" data-mid="114984049" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/504/i/a02e9865f9861a0c3e31d1d8067309ce04a33502eae6b7a560a894d919369ea4/Bamboula-6.PNG" /> <img width="506" height="278" width_o="506" height_o="278" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/57dcf37cdebf1aed87188fbd514cd5dd6834601054da3951ac37a0b52e261c37/Bamboula-7.PNG" data-mid="114984050" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/506/i/57dcf37cdebf1aed87188fbd514cd5dd6834601054da3951ac37a0b52e261c37/Bamboula-7.PNG" /> <img width="508" height="224" width_o="508" height_o="224" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/69fc973fc890d150c8a54cd1ab0bae1b15c53d1705d43b5229c49b480741d100/Bamboula-8.PNG" data-mid="114984051" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/508/i/69fc973fc890d150c8a54cd1ab0bae1b15c53d1705d43b5229c49b480741d100/Bamboula-8.PNG" /> <img width="510" height="250" width_o="510" height_o="250" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c23d6d3139220a93b679cc89619d763e3f7e785c95fc6df91355586dc45c5538/Bamboula-9.PNG" data-mid="114984052" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/510/i/c23d6d3139220a93b679cc89619d763e3f7e785c95fc6df91355586dc45c5538/Bamboula-9.PNG" /> <img width="505" height="276" width_o="505" height_o="276" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d6c2f2ea35bb181d1a991fab7bc96d8682e06b6604e5e72eede6548f0c45df9a/Bamboula-10.PNG" data-mid="114984053" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/505/i/d6c2f2ea35bb181d1a991fab7bc96d8682e06b6604e5e72eede6548f0c45df9a/Bamboula-10.PNG" /> <img width="519" height="281" width_o="519" height_o="281" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/874d86fea5f43aae516e08cb193a9a3c21cc27a56aa2284e4d1af56b6ad41148/Bamboula-11.PNG" data-mid="114984054" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/519/i/874d86fea5f43aae516e08cb193a9a3c21cc27a56aa2284e4d1af56b6ad41148/Bamboula-11.PNG" /> ~Olasee Davis on Bamboula Dance, St. Croix~ Continue the journey... https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/Louisiana-Bamboula Thu, 22 Jul 2021 08:32:56 +0000 Ushindi Niwetu Thesis https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/Louisiana-Bamboula Louisiana BamboulaGreat Grandmother WE BROUGHT OUR DANCESfrom rain from body from oceans from land from memory WE SHAREDin dungeons on ships in Congo Square in swamps on plantationsin the bayou on shores in oceans WE MADE NEW DANCE-MANIFESTATIONS the same as the ones from yesterday the same as the ones from today the same as the ones from tomorrowyet different parts of one ocean, one genealogy, one map&nbsp; Primary and Secondary Sources on Louisiana Bamboula “According to Cable, the orchestra that could be seen on Congo Square consisted of a drum set composed of long and smaller drums, the latter being called bamboula, gourds filled with pebbles or grains of corn, triangles, Jew’s harps, jawbones with teeth that were rattled with a key...the bamboula was not just the name of a drum but also that of a dance, which he imagined to be a furious dance between men and women of different African origin.” (17) A “Congo dance” performed on a plantation: “...chiefly a sort of shuffle, and a violent agitation of all the muscles of the body.” (14) Performed in a New Orleans house:&nbsp; “...two females whose ‘ambition seemed to be to move their feet rapidly but still with the leas possible visible motion.’” (15)“He called the dance he had witnessed on Congo Square a ‘bamboula’ and compared its ‘ludicrous contortions and gyrations’ to ‘the equally famous Voudou dance.’” (17)Singing: Danse Calinda, bou doum, bou doum and Eh eh! Bomba, hen, hen! Canga bafio te, Canga moune de le, Canga do ki la Canga li. (17) --From the Kingdom of Kongo to Congo Square in conversation with Cable’s Creole Slave Dances Research As Action: Performing an Embodied Re-Enactment exploring how these dances, music, and gatherings were: brought shared manifested Bamboula as memory. Dance as history. It’s inside of us. We are our&nbsp; dancestors. Journey complete. Acknowledgements and Bibliography&nbsp; About Ushindi Niwetu https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/Danse-Codan Thu, 22 Jul 2021 11:52:13 +0000 Ushindi Niwetu Thesis https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/Danse-Codan Danse CodanGreat Grandmother An Afro-Louisiana dance and music tradition, like Louisiana Bamboula, which was also performed at Congo Square in New Orleans. Step 1: Listen to “Danse Codan” by Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes&nbsp; Step 2: Find the words below that describe Danse Codan.&nbsp; <img width="616" height="607" width_o="616" height_o="607" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5b81e887e7649de1ba430c29babca3dd059054f7590d4dd088be6dea9e27d36d/Danse-Codan-2.PNG" data-mid="115061538" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/616/i/5b81e887e7649de1ba430c29babca3dd059054f7590d4dd088be6dea9e27d36d/Danse-Codan-2.PNG" /> Continue the journey.... https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/Jure Fri, 16 Apr 2021 15:15:00 +0000 Ushindi Niwetu Thesis https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/Jure JureGrandmother Jure Interview with Mrs. Virginia Broussard Ballard Broussard Sisters of Opelousas, Louisiana ~The Broussard sisters of Opelousas, Louisiana performing Jure~ Not only did many of our dances emerge from the spiritual, but the spiritual is intertwined with the social. The spirit comes everywhere. It’s at the funeral. It’s at the house. It’s at the la la. It cannot be separated. Jure is to testify. Jure music followed Bamboula. From Jure, came Zydeco (originally Lala). Jure music is comparable to Spirituals, but sung primarily in Kouri Vini (Louisiana “Creole”). They were often sung at funerals in the home, and involved call and response, dancing, stomps, and claps. People would also go from house to house performing Jure during the Lenten season.&nbsp; “Jure is a genre of Louisiana Creole music that is Zydeco’s immediate ancestor, both as a sacred idiom and later as its secular music and dance cousin called Lala.” --Greer Mendy author of Black Dance in Louisiana: Guardian of a Culture Continue the journey... https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/La-La Thu, 22 Jul 2021 08:34:54 +0000 Ushindi Niwetu Thesis https://ushindiniwetuthesis.cargo.site/La-La La LaMother house party bayou triangle washboard New Iberia pans pots African bamboo fiddle chants accordion Continue the journey...