Fire Under My Feet

Fire Under My Feet seeks to expose the diverse, significant, and often under-researched historical and developmental phenomena revealed by studies in the dance systems of the African Diaspora.

Ofosuwa M. Abiola is an Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Howard University. She is the author of History Dances: Chronicling the History of Traditional Mandinka Dance (2019) and is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Evoke: A Historical, Theoretical, and Cultural Analysis of Africana Dance and Theatre.

Part I Politicizing Black Bodies and the Appropriation of Identity 1 The Gaze of Power, Rebel Bodies and the Specter of Savagery: African and African Descents Dances in the Narrative Eye of the Beholders in Puerto Rico during the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Part II Choreographing the African Diaspora in the Public Space 2 Rooting Across Generations: Establishing British Caribbean Diasporic Identity through Dance 3 Visualizing African Diaspora Dance through the African American Dance Company and Visual Art 4 The Ruses of Memory in the Cinematic Choreographies of Delia Zapata Olivella: Dancing to Build Gender in the Public Spaces Part III Dance, Spirituality, and the Embodiment of Cultural Continuity 5 Dance, Rhythm, and Ritual: Afro-Venezuelans in Resistance 6 Dancing African-ness: The Transnational Identity of Siddi Dammal 7 Dance: A Catalyst for Spiritual Transcendence