space-time
Mapping African Atlantic Diaspora Dance Lineage
africa : ancestral rhythms
Birthplace of humanity. Mande Empire, Akan, Asante, Yoruba, Kongo
and many more kingdoms and cultures.
sanja
From the Djelidon family of Mande griot rhythms. The circle of dancers travels anti-clockwise with individuals taking turns to spin around the inside edge of the circle. Listen to Sanja by: Karamoko Sanogo
early european contact
From 1500: trade in gold, ivory, guns and increasingly, sale of African captives to Europeans.
Dahomey, Oyo and Asante also profited from slavery until they were colonised.
Illustration by T.E. Bowdich 1814
16-17THC BENIN BRONZE
looted during the British sacking and
colonisation of the kingdom in 1897.
looted during the British sacking and
colonisation of the kingdom in 1897.
Image © The Trustees of the British Museum
transatlantic slave trade
Industrialised slave trade & colonialism, most profitable to:
Spain, Portugal, Britain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
and their settlers in Americas.
'middle passage'
death rate 10-20%
death rate 10-20%
The Brookes Slave Ship 1787
Map: UNESCO/Harris 2006
3 months | 350 years
12-15 million people
12-15 million people
La Marie Séraphique de Nantes 1770
surviving slavery
rhythms of solidarity, spirit and escape
mapped over 17-18thC slave trade routes.
syncretisation
African diaspora culture shapeshifted in response to Euro-colonial culture
by necessity, play, mockery
Image: Cakewalk c.1900
diaspora continuum
Circles show inter-diaspora influences and migrations northward 1820s –1980s
rhythm atlantic
Mapping Black Atlantic Living Heritage*
*not a complete list!