Schedule

September 25, 2024 · Brynn Shiovitz on Revitalizing Black Dance and Visibility in 1930s Hollywood

• How and why was outdated racial content—and specifically blackface minstrelsy—not only permitted, but in fact allowed to thrive during the 1930s and 1940s despite the rigid motion picture censorship laws which were enforced during this time? In her new book Behind the Screen, published by Oxford University Press, Brynn Shiovitz introduces a new theory of covert minstrelsy, and illuminates Hollywood's practice of capitalizing on the Africanist aesthetic at the expense of Black lived experience. Shiovitz discusses the dance artists whose names Hollywood omitted from the credits, including the Three Chocolateers trio, showing rare footage of one of its members Albert "Gip" Gibson, along with video clips of the Peters Sisters and Jeni Le Gon.

October 30, 2024 · Sekou McMiller on Mambo Dance

• Choreographer, educator, and curator Sekou McMiller,  one of today’s most influential Afro Latin dance artists, takes a look at the Palladium Ballroom and its impact on the creation and proliferation of the Afro Latin dance the “Mambo” aka “Salsa on2.”  Joined by elders from the Palladium Era, he revisits the famed ballroom which opened 1946–1966, known for its dancers as well as its music, fueled by weekly dance competitions and band battles.  It was New York’s first integrated music and dance space in Midtown, and was the catalyst for a worldwide Afro Latin dance phenomenon.

November 20, 2024 · Carlota Santana & K. Meira Goldberg on Spanish Dance to Flamenco 1894-2024

• Spanish dancer Carmen Dauset "Carmencita" arrived in New York in 1889 and quickly became a sensation in New York society. She was painted by both William Merritt Chase and John Singer Sargeant, and in 1894, she became the first woman and the first dancer to be filmed by Thomas Edison. By the early decades of the 20th century great Spanish and flamenco dancers were performing in the U.S., and some, such as the Cansinos and Aurora Arriaza, settled in the U.S. as teachers and performers. For this Dance Historian Is In, Carlota Santana and K. Meira Goldberg present images and video footage surveying the early years of Spanish dance through the present day.

All of these sessions take place at 11:00 a.m. and will be streamed from the Sharwan Smith Center Theatre, 161. If you have any questions, please contact Prof. Danielle Lydia Sheather at daniellesheather@suu.edu.

About the Lecture Series

For more than 10 years, The Dance Historian Is In at the Library for the Performing Arts has highlighted a diverse range of dancers and choreographers across history. This series began when archivist and historian David Vaughan started volunteering at the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. Vaughan began a monthly program showing his favorite dance films from the Division's extensive collection, through which he unearthed many treasures, and helped acquire even more. Vaughan continued the series until the end of his life. Today, we honor his memory and work by inviting dance historians from all over the world each month to carry on the tradition of highlighting dance history through the Dance Division's moving image collection.