{"id":19980,"date":"2024-03-19T15:16:23","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T20:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/?p=19980"},"modified":"2024-03-20T13:48:16","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T18:48:16","slug":"gibson-celebrates-black-history-through-dance-of-america-art-installation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/news\/2024\/03\/19\/gibson-celebrates-black-history-through-dance-of-america-art-installation\/","title":{"rendered":"Gibson Celebrates Black History Through ‘Dance Of America’ Art Installation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The history of Black dancers was on display through video footage and artwork during a recent immersive exhibit at the Black Box Theater in the Liberal Arts and Arts and Humanities Building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elijah Alhadji Gibson<\/a>, assistant program director and lecturer in the Dance Science<\/a> program, organized \u201cDance of America: A Celebration of Black Dance in the United States\u201d on Feb. 29 in honor of Black History Month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hosted by the Dance Science program, the installation featured information, photos and video of more than 60 artists, along with an interactive timeline of the history of Black ballet dancers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLooking at everything in the exhibit, it makes me emotional,\u201d Gibson said. \u201cWithout them, I would not be doing what I am doing or be where I am today.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Elijah Alhadji Gibson and Abby Chin, visiting lecturer, watch dance clips during the exhibit. (Abbey Santoro\/Texas A&M University Division of Marketing and Communications)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gibson showcased the history of the Cakewalk, a pre-Civil War dance, by putting footprint stickers on the floor that outlined how to do the dance in a circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was originally performed by slaves on plantations as entertainment for their masters, but their masters didn\u2019t realize that they were actually mocking them,\u201d Gibson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jomi Olufemi, a junior Biomedical Engineering student, heard about the exhibit from one of his professors. Olufemi said he was surprised to learn the history of the Cakewalk and its cultural significance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is great to understand the perspective and the history of these things,\u201d Olufemi said. \u201cEven myself, as someone who doesn\u2019t know anything about dance, it\u2019s always good to know these things and have more cultural respect. It really brings the perspective of everyone\u2019s culture together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
The exhibit included pink ballet pointe shoes with makeup applied to reflect a darker skin tone. Photo by Bailey Brown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A display of books about Black dance history and Black dancers was featured next to a pair of pink ballet pointe shoes that were painted to reflect a darker skin tone. It wasn\u2019t until 2017 that companies started manufacturing ballet pointe shoes for darker skin tones, Gibson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPrior to brown skin tone shoes being manufactured, we had to pancake our shoes, a technique of applying makeup to get our shoe the desired skin tone,\u201d Gibson said. \u201cCan you imagine what that process is like for a professional ballet dancer, considering how many pointe shoes they go through in a week? I actually stopped pancaking mine, and instead I began dyeing them in tea and coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davie Dickinson, a senior Allied Health major and Dance minor, said she grew up fascinated with ballet. After looking at the pointe shoes on display, she noted that she never had to alter her pointe shoes because pink suited her skin tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn junior high and high school, I heard about all of the petitions going around to have mainstream manufacturers make different colors of pointe shoes,\u201d she said. \u201cIt should be mainstream. Any ballet dancer shouldn\u2019t have to worry about finding shoes that match the color of their skin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A group of dance students in a Choreographic Principles class taught by Jessica Boone, visiting lecturer, filled the exhibit with excitement and readiness to learn, Gibson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey came in and they were really intrigued,\u201d Gibson said. \u201cOne of the students told me, \u2018Some of the artists we have talked about in Dance History, so it was great to be able to click the QR code and read more about them.\u2019 But it was also great to witness visitors learn of all these people that they had never heard of, being able to just connect the dots from what was then and now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A mannequin displays a banana skirt like the one made famous by iconic dancer Josephine Baker, who died in 1975. (Abbey Santoro\/Texas A&M University Division of Marketing and Communications)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Two
Students from the Choreographic Principles class taught by Jessica Boone dance along with clips that were projected onto the screen in the Black Box Theater. (Abbey Santoro\/Texas A&M University Division of Marketing and Communications)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The history of Black dancers was on display through video footage and artwork during a recent immersive exhibit at the Black Box Theater in the Liberal Arts and Arts and Humanities Building. Elijah Alhadji Gibson, assistant program director …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"featured_media":19986,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[145,58],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGibson Celebrates Black History Through 'Dance Of America' Art Installation - Texas A&M University College of Performance, Visualization & Fine Arts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The installation featured information, photos and video of more than 60 artists, along with an interactive timeline of the history of Black ballet dancers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/news\/2024\/03\/19\/gibson-celebrates-black-history-through-dance-of-america-art-installation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gibson Celebrates Black History Through 'Dance Of America' Art Installation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The installation featured information, photos and video of more than 60 artists, along with an interactive timeline of the history of Black ballet dancers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/news\/2024\/03\/19\/gibson-celebrates-black-history-through-dance-of-america-art-installation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Texas A&M University College of Performance, Visualization & Fine Arts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tamupvfa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-19T20:16:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-20T18:48:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/app\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Dance-of-America-5-e1710874618973.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"504\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"robclark\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@tamupvfa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@tamupvfa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"robclark\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/news\/2024\/03\/19\/gibson-celebrates-black-history-through-dance-of-america-art-installation\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/news\/2024\/03\/19\/gibson-celebrates-black-history-through-dance-of-america-art-installation\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"robclark\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/9f6f92d18d5bc0deccbeb90ae781afb8\"},\"headline\":\"Gibson Celebrates Black History Through ‘Dance Of America’ Art Installation\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-19T20:16:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-20T18:48:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/news\/2024\/03\/19\/gibson-celebrates-black-history-through-dance-of-america-art-installation\/\"},\"wordCount\":695,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Dance\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/news\/2024\/03\/19\/gibson-celebrates-black-history-through-dance-of-america-art-installation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/news\/2024\/03\/19\/gibson-celebrates-black-history-through-dance-of-america-art-installation\/\",\"name\":\"Gibson Celebrates Black History Through 'Dance Of America' Art Installation - 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