Ascending from Dust : The Ring Shout
Date of Award
5-2022
Document Type
MSU-Only Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
College/School
College of the Arts
Department/Program
Theatre and Dance
Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair
Maxine Steinman
Committee Member
Susan Pope
Committee Member
Diann Sichel
Abstract
As a child, I grew up in Charleston, South Carolina worshiping in a Southern Baptist church. My mother would often take us (my family) to my grandmother’s church in the deep woods of South Carolina for a richer experience, and it was here that I got my first glimpse of the Ring Shout. At the time, this private ritual both overwhelmed and captivated me, and the memories of those religious experiences have stayed with me to this day. It has led me to want to learn more about both my ancestral lineage and the unique practice of the Ring Shout.
My thesis, Ascending from Dust is meant to preserve the sacred practice of this ritual. The dance film captures and recreates the ritualistic worship experience of African Americans’ practice of the Ring Shout and its connection to the modern African American spiritual praise dance known as “catching the Holy Ghost.” Furthermore, Ascending from Dust translates the internal, communal, and non-ego worship experience into a visual film experience that intertwines the past and the present. Ascending from Dust is a culmination of three sections: The first section examines song and meditation; the second section explores modern practices of spirituality through song and dance; and the final section is the traditional Ring Shout. Research for this project, which is detailed in this written thesis, explores the history of the Ring Shout, Plantation dances of the Southern United States more generally, Negro Spirituals, and translations of the Ring Shout into current religious practice. This thesis also unpacks my creative process, reflects on the resulting film, and discusses implications for my future work.
File Format
MP4
Recommended Citation
Hawkins, Morgan, "Ascending from Dust : The Ring Shout" (2022). Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects. 1017.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/1017
PDF file of written thesis
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Comments
The performance video is restricted to the Montclair State University community but the PDF file of the thesis, which is located at the bottom of the screen, is available to anyone interested in reading it.