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. 


> LISTEN <
BALAKULANDYA

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



Dancing Sculptures – Africa

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.


Asante royal festival with European visitors and flags
Illustration by T.E. Bowdich 1814
Map by de l’Isle & Inselin 1718


16-17THC BENIN BRONZE
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%



The Brookes Slave Ship 1787





Map: UNESCO/Harris 2006


3 months | 350 years
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.
Carte de fond par Chaliand et al. (1995)  
La traite négrière (XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles)





























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!