The 20th annual Symposium will be held on Thursday, April 23, 2009.

Moving Expressions of a Culture: An Exploration of Music and Dance in the Caribbean
Towsley Lecture Hall/Norris 101, 2:00 PM

Ashli  Fox,   '09 31
   Major: Biology
   Hometown: Nassau, Bahamas

Sponsor(s): Heather Vaughan-Southard
Support:  

Abstract: 
This thesis aims to explore the connections between dance and music in the English-speaking Caribbean through its history and its presence in contemporary society. I’ve chosen four specific musical genres to research in an effort to represent Caribbean culture as a whole. Each of these genres, “Reggae”, “Soca”, “Dancehall” and “Rake and Scrape” has a unique history and sound that originates from different islands within the Caribbean. The main focus of this work is dance’s relationship and development with these genres. When looking at the evolution of dance in conjunction with musical development, it is obvious that music and dance are intrinsically intertwined. The characters and unique island identities of both dance and music are explored through textual and physical aspects of this work. The performance aspect of my thesis features original choreography set to a collage of these musical genres. The movement vocabulary in the pieces was generated using historical references, personal experiences and other sources. By combining these movements with musical choice, I have aimed to create a diverse collection of movement reflective of the Caribbean cultural experience. Though the certain identifying characteristics that define each genre are separate from the other, they are ultimately united under the term, “Caribbean music” and that is what I aim to represent in this work.

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