This Teacher Guide is a convenient source of background information, mini-lessons, and
activities that coordinate with the performance and the Student Guide to encourage
learning across the curriculum. Most activities can be easily adapted to suit different age
groups. This guide supports the “Blueprint for Teaching & Learning in the Arts,” and
includes City and State Learning Standards.
About the Company
Dance Theatre of Harlem was founded in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and the late Karel Shook.
Mitchell, the first African American dancer to become a principle dancer with a major U. S.
ballet company (New York City Ballet) turned his despair at the assassination of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. into hope by establishing a school and later a company to bring new opportunity
to the lives of the young people in the Harlem neighborhood in which he grew up. He believed
in the power of training in a classical art form to bring discipline and focus to a challenged
community. Dance Theatre of Harlem’s unprecedented success is built on creating innovative
and bold new forms of artistic expression. Through varied artistic interactions, Dance Theatre of
Harlem has inspired countless people in New York City, across the country and around the
world.
THEME:
Empowerment through self-discovery; understanding one’s roots.
GOAL:
To give the young people who experience IWARI! the tools to build a better
future:
Strategy, Structure and Self-Knowledge.
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Strategy is when you make a plan to achieve a goal, such as when you
decide to make a dream come true.
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Structure is the way things fit together. Structure helps you understand
the way things work and helps you learn and build.
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Self-Knowledge is knowing one’s purpose in life. The exploration of one’s
passion is a process that can transform a person for the better.
BEFORE SLAVERY
Africa, the second largest continent on earth, is often referred to as “the cradle of
civilization.” Some of the earliest human fossils have come from Africa and date back 130,000
years. Modern Africa has 54 countries in which over 1, 000 different languages are spoken
and over 1 billion people live there. Africa’s history is rich and dates back thousands of years.
The Nile Valley gave birth to two great African civilizations—Ancient Nubia to the south and
Egypt to the north. Nubia and Egypt each developed distinctive writing systems, art,
architecture, philosophies, astronomy and religions that have influenced many people and
cultures around the world. Kings from sub-Saharan Africa colonized and conquered territories
in Spain and Portugal where they made important contributions to Islamic law, architecture
and the decorative arts in the 11th century. Rich natural resources such as diamonds, coal and
oil made Africa attractive to people from other nations. Despite the cultural turmoil of
colonization, community and family remained important to Africans. The strong sense of
family values and community involvement allowed history to be passed down from
generation to generation making Africa strong and prosperous.
DIASPORA—IDENTITY AND DISPLACEMENT
The term, “diaspora,” originates from the Greek, and means “a dispersion or scattering.” The
American story contains many Diasporas. The United States is a melting pot of people who
came or were brought to North America from different places around the world. We will
explore aspects of the African Diaspora that came about when thousands of Africans were
brought to this country to become slaves. Despite the hardships the displaced Africans
endured, their descendants made a tremendous contribution to building America.
Lesson A
QUESTIONS TO STIMULATE DISCUSSION:
1. Where are you from?
2. What ideas or experiences from the place you were born influence who you are?
3. Where are your ancestors (parents and grandparents from)?
4. What other diasporas can you name?
ACTIVITY:
1. In groups of 4-5, discuss where each person in the group comes from.
2. Create a gesture that represents who you are.
2. As a class, form a circle and use your gesture to introduce yourself to the person
opposite you. Can your gestures be combined into a phrase?
SLAVERY (See Student Guide)
Lesson B
QUESTIONS TO STIMULATE DISCUSSION:
1. What does it mean to be a slave?
2. How did the slaves survive the harsh conditions they were forced to live with?
3. What is the connection between diaspora and slavery?
4. Does slavery still exist?
ACTIVITY:
1. In groups of 4-5, each person shares his/her gesture from Lesson A.
2. Each group creates/choreographs a 16-count movement phrase using the group’s gestures
from Lesson 1. The phrase should include levels: low, medium and high.
3. Each group shares/presents their 16-count movement phrase. Music suggestion: “Wade in
the Water” (Sweet Honey in the Rock)
EMANCIPATION AND GREAT MIGRATION
Emancipation
The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863,
as a move towards ending the American Civil War. The Civil War had been fueled in part by
the dispute over slavery—in particular whether new states entering the union would be “free”
or slave states—but in general over the legality of slavery as an institution. The Proclamation
freed slaves in the southern states that had seceded. The Thirteenth Amendment (1865) freed
all slaves.
Great Migration
The Great Migration (1915-1970) was a leaderless movement in which over 6 million blacks
left the south to find new opportunities as free men and women. They sought housing and
new opportunities in small and large cities in the north and far west such as Los Angeles, New
York, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Syracuse, Milwaukee and Newark.
After the Civil War, the Thirteenth and
Fifteenth Amendments guaranteed rights for
the newly freed slaves. The economic
conditions in the south were dire with
sharecropping failing due to insect infestations.
In the north, where factory workers had been
deployed for World War I, factories were
desperate for employees and recruiters began
to entice African Americans to come north and
along with recruiters from the west for the
factory jobs that were available. There were
also opportunities to work on the railroad and
as domestics.
Former slaves began to migrate to northern cities in large numbers to get out of the south
and avoid the laws passed by the Supreme Court in 1896 that declared racial segregation
legal. The laws of this system of segregation were referred to as “Jim Crow” laws that were to
provide “separate but equal” conditions in housing, opportunity and education. During this
time blacks were denied the right to vote and were subjected to various types of violent acts
by white Southerners.
The thousands who left the south during the Great Migration had a past they wanted to
forget, but they were moving into a future that was unknown.
Lesson C
QUESTIONS TO STIMULATE DISCUSSION:
1. What does emancipation mean?
2. What does it mean to migrate?
3. What is the difference between “migration” and “diaspora?”
4. Has your family or anyone close to you migrated from elsewhere?
ACTIVITY:
1. Create a word wall with words associated with “emancipation” and “migration.”
2. Create/choreograph a movement phrase that shows what migration can look like in the
body.
3. As a class, use that phrase to travel from one part of the room to another. What do
you need to travel?
Music suggestions: “Times Getting Hard,” (Willie Ford & Lucious Curtis)
“Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round,” (Sweet Honey in the Rock)
HARLEM RENAISSANCE
New York and the community of Harlem became a destination for many African Americans
who left the south during the Great Migration. Harlem, in northern Manhattan, became the
home of some of the most outstanding visual artists, writers, performers, inventors and
thinkers in our nation, giving birth to a cultural revolution which became known as the
Harlem Renaissance (1910-1935). The contribution to America of these black artists and
intellectuals would be felt for generations to come. Gathering in salons to share ideas, they
addressed socio-cultural issues such as civil rights and the quest for equality.
With the increase in employment and educational opportunities, came the birth of the first
black middle class. As African Americans were finding jobs, buying property, and discovering a
new kind of life outside of the confines of “Jim Crow,” organizations such as the NAACP,
founded by W.E.B. Du Bois, and Marcus Garvey’s UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement
Association) and ACL (African Communities League) began to form to address some of the
social needs.
As more African American artists began to be pulled into the spotlight they used their fame
as an opportunity to delve into the themes they found problematic in American culture. Du
Bois introduced the concept of “double consciousness,” the necessity of conforming to the
expectations of society at large, while holding on to one’s true identity. He asserted that
since American blacks have lived in a society that has historically repressed and devalued
them that it has become difficult for them to unify their black identity with their American
identity.
Lesson D
QUESTIONS TO STIMULATE DISCUSSION:
1. What does “renaissance” mean?
2. Name another renaissance.
3. What do renaissances have in common?
4. Can you find the roots of the Harlem Renaissance in the Emancipation Proclamation?
ACTIVITY:
(As more African Americans migrated from the South to the North they moved from rural,
open spaces to smaller urban spaces, with more people living close together.)
1. Each group from Lesson B uses their 16 count movement phrase to move to the center of
the room.
What happens when the entire class is in the center of the room?
Music suggestions: “Take the ‘A’ Train” (Duke Ellington)
“It Don’t Mean A Thing” (Duke Ellington)
CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM, AND MOTOWN (See student guide)
Lesson E
QUESTIONS TO STIMULATE DISCUSSION:
1. What do you think of when you hear the word “civil?”
2. What are rights?
3. What responsibilities are linked to Civil Rights?
4. How did the Harlem Renaissance lead to the Civil Rights Movement?
ACTIVITY:
1. Create a word wall under the headings “civil,” “rights” and “movement.”
2. Students make a big circle and choose a word from the word wall under any of the 3
headings.
3. Each student in the circle creates a movement based on the word they have chosen
from the word wall. Each person shows his/her movement.
4. Each student in the circle and does his/her movement to James Brown’s “Say It Loud, I‘m
Black and I‘m Proud.”
Music suggestion: “Say It Loud I’m Black and I’m Proud” (James Brown)
BLACK POWER MOVEMENT
The Black Power Movement (1966-1975), arose out of the Civil Rights Movement and was led
by young, militant activists who saw their struggle as a liberation movement. Along with civil
rights, they demanded economic, political and cultural change, if not revolution. While the
Civil Rights Movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was committed to the use of
nonviolence as a form of civil disobedience, some involved with the Civil Rights Movement
began to question the effectiveness of nonviolence. Speaking for the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in June 1966, Stokely Carmichael introduced the new slogan
“Black Power.” Inspired by the writings of Frantz Fanon (1925-61), whose book, The Wretched
Earth, was used as the blueprint for revolution in America. And across the ocean, civil rights
pioneers in Africa Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah and Amilcar Cabral also influenced the
ideology of the movement. The Black Panther Party and SNCC challenged a new generation of
leadership to realize self-determination, self-respect, and self-defense.
The Black Power Movement also marked a basic shift in content and direction from civil
rights to national liberation and community empowerment. It was articulated in the cultural,
political, and economic programs proposed and developed through organizations like SNCC,
the Black Panther Party, the Nation of Islam, Organization of Afro-American Unity. An
outgrowth of this time, the Black Arts Movement, led by LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka) and
Larry Neale, left a lasting legacy with the establishment of over 800 black theaters and
cultural organizations in the United States. Along with Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture),
other leaders of the Black Power Movement include Huey Newton, Bobby Seale and Angela
Davis.
Lesson F
QUESTIONS TO STIMULATE DISCUSSION:
1. What was the Black Power Movement?
2. Why was the slogan, “Black is beautiful” so significant during the time of the Black Power
Movement?
3. What was the difference between the Civil Right s Movement and the Black Power
Movement?
ACTIVITY:
Music was an important component of the Black Power Movement. Music by African
American artists was featured on the nationally syndicated music and dance show, “Soul
Train,” created by Don Cornelius. Each week on the show was an opportunity for the dancers
to showcase the latest popular dances. The first ‘Soul Train line’ aired Oct. 30, 1971 and
would become a mainstay on the show and a part of American culture. ”Soul Train” was one
of the first shows produced by an African American to be syndicated.
1. Students make two lines facing each other.
2. The two students at the end of each line take a popular dance, a dance from their
culture or a move they improvise and dance down the aisle made by the students to
music that was popular from the Black Power era. Artists who were popular at the
time include, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye.
Music suggestions: “Ball of Confusion” (The Temptations)
“Get On The Good Foot” (James Brown)
“Respect” (Aretha Franklin)
HIP HOP
Hip Hop emerged from social, political and economic devastation. The combination of the
physical destruction wrought by the race riots in the late 1960s, the disappearance of
working class jobs as a result of industrial restructuring, and white flight to the suburbs left
some of the major urban cities in a state of severe decline. One such area was the South
Bronx, one of New York City’s five boroughs. The 1970s were disastrous for New York City.
The city was on the verge of bankruptcy and one of the hardest hit areas was the South
Bronx. During this turbulent time, the South Bronx lost 57% of its population, comparable to
the desolation of war. Misguided urban planning, corruption and harsher punishments for
blacks and Latinos for drug involvement impacted how the public conducted themselves and
perceived urban minority youth across the United States. Hip Hop, an urban movement,
became an outlet for the youth to express themselves in a positive way and went on to
flourish in other parts of the U.S. and other countries.
The basic elements of Hip Hop:
- DJ (music)
- MC (rap/spoken word)
- Graffiti (visual art)
- B-Boy/B-Girl (dance)
Hip Hop dance is a dance form that grew out of the Hip Hop scene in club settings, parks and
literally in the streets. Rock Steady Crew (breaking), Boogaloo Sam (popping) and Don
Campbell (locking) are major pioneers of these main dance styles. The “DJ,” “MC” (Rap) and
music are integral to Hip Hop dance. A major element of dance in Hip Hop is improvisation. In
the clubs and on the streets, people danced in a circle for improvisation that is referred to as
a cypher.
Lesson G
QUESTIONS TO STIMULATE DISCUSSION:
1. What caused the emergence of Hip Hop culture?
2. What is the underlying theme of Hip Hop?
3. Do you use Hip Hop as a form of self-expression?
4. How are Hip Hop and slavery related?
DANCE ACTIVITY:
Students make a circle and each student takes a turn doing a dance improvisation, alone,
inside the circle.
Music suggestion: “It’s Like That” (Run DMC)
“I Know You Got Soul” (Eric B. & Rakim)
DIASPORA NOW – HOW WILL YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
Despite the hardships the displaced African and their descendants have endured, African
Americans have made a tremendous contribution to building America and played a key role in
shaping the cultural identity of America. What started out as a history of displacement and
tragedy has turned into a legacy of courage, creativity, tenacity and hope. At different points in
history and throughout the African Diaspora, it is possible to find people who dared to dream
and—as the world changed—we see African Americans at the forefront of change and
innovation.
Lesson H
QUESTIONS TO STIMULATE DISCUSSION:
1. What is your dream for the future?
2. What is necessary to create change?
3. What future will you imagine?
4. What actions will you take to create that change?
ACTIVITY:
1. In groups of 4-5 persons, each person writes his/her dream in five lines or less.
2. Write the numbers 1-5 under the dream and next to each number a step you can take to
make your dream reality.
3. Create a movement that describes your dream.
4. Each person in the group reads their dream out loud and shares the movement that
describes their dream.
ONGOING ACTIVITY:
Create a collage or “dream board” of images, photos, captions connected to your dream.
REFERENCES:
Selected Bibliography
“Black Power” International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences 2008.http://exhibitions.
nypl.org/africanage/essay-black-power.html
Clarke, John Hendrik. (Ed.) (1964). Harlem: A Community in Transition. New York:
Freedomways Associates, Inc.
Driskell, David, Levering Lewis, David and Willis Ryan, Deborah. Harlem Renaissance: Art of
Black America. New York: The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York and Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Publishers, 1987.
DuBois, W.E.B.1903. The Souls of Black Folk. Chicago: A.C.McClurg and Co.
Duncan, J. & Morell, E. (2002). Promoting Academic Literacy with Urban Youth through
Engaging Hip Hop Culture. The English Journal, 91, (2), 88-92. From Craft Inc. Literacy E-books
database http://www.craftinc.org/literacy-e-books/promoting-academic-literacy-with-urbanyouth-through- engaging-the-hip-hop-culture.pdf.
Gonzales, Michael A. 2013. What Is Afrofuturism? Has Janelle Monae Become The Poster Girl
To A Movement That Started Way Back with Octavia Butler, Samuel Delany and Lt.Uhura?
From Ebony Magazine. http://www.ebony.com.
Great Migration. (2014). The History Channel website. http://www.history.com/topics/greatmigration.
Greskovic, Robert.1998.Ballet 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving the Ballet. New
York: Hyperion.
Clarke, John Hendrik. (Ed.) (1964). Harlem: A Community in Transition. New York:
Freedomways Associates, Inc.
Garofoli, Wendy. (2007, February 1). Hip Hop You Don’t Stop. Dance Teacher, 46-49.
Gladney, Marvin J. (1995). The Black Arts Movement and Hip Hop. African American
Review.vol. 29 (2).pp. 291-301. Published by Indiana State University.
Harlem Renaissance. (2014). In Encyclopedia Britannica.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/255397/Harlem-Renaissance.
Hidalgo, Walter.2011. Beyond The Four Walls: The Rising Ministry and Spirituality Of Hip Hop.
Bloomington, IN: Author House.
Johnson, James Weldon. (1994).From Black Manhattan. In Lewis, D.L. (Ed.), The Portable
Renaissance Reader (pp. 35-37). New York: Penguin Press.
Jones, Arthur C.(2004). Spirituals, Praise Houses and Ring Shouts. Sweet Chariot: The Story of
the Spirituals, A Multidisciplinary online curriculum, from The Spirituals Project: University of
Denver http://ctl.du.edu/spirituals/religion/praise.cfm.
Munoz, Jose Esteban. 2009. Crusing Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity. New York
and London: New York University Press.
New York Public Library – Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture: Culture: Africana
Age, African and African Diaspora Transformation in the 20th Century.
Schomburg Manuscripts, Archives, Rare Books Division.
Library for the Performing Arts: Jerome Robbins Dance Division.
Dance Theatre of Harlem Archives, New York, NY.
Schoener, Allon. (Ed.). (1968). Harlem On My Mind Cultural Capital1900-1968.New York:
Random House. Jackson, J. (2001). Improvisation in African-American Vernacular Dancing.
Dance Research
Journal, 33, (2), 40-53. From Jstor http://www.jstor.org/stable/1477803.
Kitwana, Bakari.2002. The Hip-Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African-American
Culture.
New York: Basic Civitias Books, A Member of the Perseus Books Group.
Ousmare, Hanifu. (2002) Global Breakdancing and Intercultural Body, 34, (2), pp. 30-45 Dance
Research
Journal Congress on Research in Dance http:// ww.cordance.org.
Nelson, Alondra. 2002. Afrofuturism: A Special Issue of Social Text: Afrofuturism, Science,
Fiction and the History of the Future, 42, Vol.20(3). From Journal of the Research group on
Socialism and Democracy online, Posted April 7, 2011.
Perpener, John O. African American Concert Dance: The Harlem.2001. Illinois: University of
Illinois Press
Provine, Doris. 2007. Unequal Under the Law: Race in the War on Drugs. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
www.TeachingAmericanHistory.org.Ashbrook Center, Ashland University.
Universal Music Group. 2012. The Story of Motown Records. Classic Motown. Universal Music
Group http://www.classic.motown.com/history.
Washington, Booker T., DuBois, W.E.B. Chestnutt, Charles, Smith, Wilford H., Kealing, H.T.,
Dunbar, Paul Laurence, Fortune, Thomas T.l.1903. The Talented Tenth. In The Negro Problem.
New York: J.Pott and Company.
Wilkerson, Isabel.2010. The Warmth of Other Sons: The Epic Story of America's Great
Migration. New
York: Random House.
DVD
History and Concept of Hip Hop Dance: The Street Culture that became a Global Expression.
Produced by Moncell Durden. Dance Time Publications. 2009
www.DanceTimePublications.com
www.mylanguages.org www.freelanguage.net
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FOR STUDENT AND TEACHER GUIDES
REVELATIONS: Arts Education for Young People is made possible by the Milton and Sally Avery
Arts Foundation, The Kupferberg Foundation, and The Max and Selma Kupferberg Family
Foundation. Additional funding is provided, in part by public funds from the New York City
Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council and Queens
Borough President Melinda Katz.
Copyright ® 2015, Kupferberg Center for the Arts