ABSTRACT
By using an analysis of two African diaspora dance choreographies of the African American Dance Company (AADC), along with a creative autoethnographic approach that reimagines these choreographies through my own visual art, this chapter argues for the importance of combining Black dance and visual art to teach individuals about the African diaspora. The AADC uses African diaspora dance to provide more accurate portrayals of diasporic histories and cultures, resist injustice and hegemonic representations, and provide participants with a voice and creative expression outside of verbal and written language. Similarly, Black visual art traditions provide African diasporic communities with agency regarding representation. The two dance performances and the paintings inspired by them used themes of ancestral connection and a longing for an Afro-Puerto Rican past as well as ideas about Afro-Cuban religion, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, and memory. An analysis of an anonymous questionnaire from an art exhibition of my work is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of combining African diaspora dance and Black visual art as a pedagogical method to teach others about African diasporic meanings of identity, culture, history, and memory.
