Graduation Year
2020
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
American Studies
Reader 1
Julie Liss
Reader 2
Kevin Williamson
Reader 3
Todd Honma
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2020 Julia Gottlieb
Abstract
As a Cold War political initiative, the US State Department commissioned dance performances to showcase the constructed appeal of American modernism, universalism, and racial harmony. Modern dance as virtuosic embodied movement became an extremely useful “structure of feeling” and tool of diplomacy to connect with transnational audiences. This thesis studies two performances: Katherine Dunham’s Southland (1951) and Alvin Ailey’s Revelations (1960) to understand the ways in which artists resisted the State Department’s attempt to inscribe the ideals of the nation into these works. Through new definitions of modernism, I argue that these performances overcame the national narratives applied to the works.
Recommended Citation
Gottlieb, Julia, "Performing Power: Katherine Dunham and Alvin Ailey's Cold War Choreographies" (2020). Scripps Senior Theses. 1562.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/1562
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.
