Dance in Post WWII era

The relationship between diasporic dance, the Civil Rights Movement and post war
modern dance is often overlooked as a result of the notion that most of the art of dance stagnated
during that period. The Civil Rights Movement was as a result of the fight for freedom within the
Unite States for equality post World War II. The Civil Rights Era is documented between 1950
and 1963 and was marked with mass protests and formations of groups to fight for equality. The
Civil Rights Movement won over after the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. Kowal 1
examines dance during the era following World War II. The book How to Do Things with Dance
conducts an analysis on how dance overt politicizations and universalism formation in postwar
modern dance brought about tensions. The author reveals the in-depth significance of the artists’
works during that era to the socio-political instances of the time. Even though most scholars
ignore these influences they can be seen in the works of various artists. This paper investigates
the works of Martha Graham and Anna Sokolow to understand the historical contextualization of
modern dance universalism, diasporic dance, and black modernism.
Modern dance universalism began as a result of forces pushing for the integration of
politics in art. In 1954 after the inclusion of performing arts in contributions of funds provided
by the government, domestic anticommunism emerged bringing about the collision of artistic
and government programs. Artistic expression was forced to take a step back since it began to
1 Kowal, Rebekah,J. How to Do Things with Dance: Performing Change in Postwar America, (Wesleyan University
Press, 2010), 21.

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take shape as a government proxy revealing a cold war between art and politics as they were
incompatible. Artists and critics were subjected to practice insulation after the development of a
system to ensure autonomy at the expense of the craft. Choreographic content was overlooked by
government officials forcing the dance community to bank “universalism on the existent
dominant cultural values. However, during the same era Kowal believes lines were drawn to
define the modern dance field and the formation of its context of universalism that excluded
“alien” bodies through funding deliberations and touring programs. 2
Black modernism and diasporic dance began to take shape in the post-World War II era
with more artists coming out in support of their art form. According to Kowal, modern dance
universalism is different from other forms of dance due to its “basicness.” 3 The diasporic dance,
on the other hand, is a dance form that was brought along to the United States from their
countries of origin, with the most common region of origin as Africa. The Jacob’s Pillow gave a
platform for the development of diasporic and black modernism dance during an era where
people of color has numerous racial restrictions. Asadata Dafora was a good example of
proprietors of diasporic dance as he brought West African artworks to America through
performances in critical establishments in New York. 4 Other artists such as Talley Beatty came
up post WWII to propagate the development of diasporic dance. Black modern dance is different
from modern dance universalism as it was thought to incorporate their “heritage.” Black modern
dancers have sought to redefine the genre to exclude the thought of primitivism alongside the art
form. The development of black modernism was struck with a war on two fronts; authenticity
versus originality. Primus is a prime example of the struggle of this war as her work was
criticized as she sought entry into the world of modern dance since it was thought to be
2 Kowal, How to Do Things with Dance, 21.
3 Kowal., 27
4 Perpener, John. “Joanna Haigood’s “Invisible Wings.”” (Jacob’s Pillow, 2007).

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excessively influenced by black culture and lifestyle. “Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder” was the
first piece performed on national television that displayed black modernism as an art form as it
showed the lives of black men. 5 The blues aesthetic was formulated as a black public sphere that
offered a continuous voice of resistance the artistic, social, and political front for African-
Americans in the United States.
Martha Graham is an artist known for her contribution to dance post World War II
through her expressions of the people’s daily lives along with their living conditions during the
era. Graham choreographed over 100 art pieces, a majority that are considered, to date,
masterpieces. She had over six decades’ worth of work, used as examples today for the changes
in the transformation of theatrical abstractions. Graham’s piece Lamentation, performed in 1931,
the solo was an expression of the social pressures during that era. The piece explored the
industrial design associated with the tempo of city life through the use of tightly fitting dresses
and the confining jersey tube. Another piece performed within the same year Primitive
Mysteries, alluded to the native Americans’ Christian rituals through its simplicity and support of
an individual by a group. In the piece Chronicle (1936), Martha Graham attempts to display on
the actualities to war by choreographing the distances between the dancers to evoke emotion.
Through the dance, Graham shows the prelude to war, the devastation of the spirit, and the
images left by war to explain the fascism menace that faced Europe during that era.
Anne Sokolow is prominent for her contribution to revolutionary modern dance through
her adaptations of social critique to the demands of her time. Her postwar works were severely
criticized on political anachronism and aesthetic. However, after production of Rooms (1954),
the depiction of her work changed the world of modern dance. The piece, Rooms (1954) delves
into new York’s isolation and anxiety issues as Sokolow choreographed the dancers acting alone
5 Kowal, How to Do Things With Dance, 194.

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while performing together. Sokolow’s influences could be felt through the adoption of both
empty and occupied spaces to present the housing crisis postwar, the urbanization and city
menace along with the collective versus individual experience. Rooms as described by a critic in
1957 explains that the lonely crowd explored by Sokolow are a depiction of the emotional
condition of the people post war since alienation was a present condition. 6 The piece highlighted
issues within the society that required proper examination through an aesthetic of
defamiliarization of the everyday for the audience. The dramatic embellishments adopted within
Rooms ensured that the aesthetic of the choreography remained while the message was passed to
the audience offering multiple points of view and touching each of them differently in the
process.
Understanding the historical contextualization of modern dance universalism, diasporic
dance, and black modernism requires proper study of their development and the effects of these
art forms on socio-political culture during the post-World War II era. Martha Graham’s works
had a huge influence on the view of social pressures while Sokolow’s Rooms was an insight onto
the daily lives of those living after war, in particular on housing. The blues aesthetic also
emerged through this era as a form of art in black modernism and set the stage for culture
containment. This paper reveals that there are existing socio-political connections between dance
and time period since they affect the development of art pieces. Sokolow and Graham’s works
are eyes into the era.

6 Kowal, How to Do Things With Dance, 115.

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Works Cited

Kowal, Rebekah,J. How to Do Things with Dance: Performing Change in Postwar America,
Wesleyan University Press, 2010.
Perpener, John. “Joanna Haigood’s “Invisible Wings.”” Jacob’s Pillow, 2007,
danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/themes-essays/african-diaspora/black-dancers-
berkshires/. Accessed 05 September 2019.