(Re) Membering Forwards : Excavating and Embodying Cultural Memory, An Afro-Diasporic Dance Film Rendition

Author

Rosalinda Rojas, Montclair State UniversityFollow

Date of Award

8-2022

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

Kathleen Kelley

Committee Member

Emmanuèle Phuon

Committee Member

Susan Pope

Abstract

The Afro-Indigenous diasporic body as a repository of imprinted memory and space of embodied knowledge cradles this written body of work and work of the body action research thesis (Re) Membering Forwards: Excavating and Embodying Cultural Memory. My autobiographical memory account looks back while going forward as an applied creative praxis and collaborative process a rich interwoven layering of embodied response emerges as an Afro-flamenco choreography.

A key feature of my process was in rooting my work through the lens of diasporic thinking and embodied questioning. With the aim of identifying and articulating how coexisting aesthetic codes emerge, the body as text revealed profound cultural memories. By engaging with and within varied environments (spaces and places) an employed methodology, temporal codes of embodied understanding were intuitively amplified. Through this interactive work (from studio to on location film shoots), I have deepened my understanding of the confluence between materiality and immateriality within specific spaces.

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.

File Format

MOV

Recommended Citation

Rojas, Rosalinda, "(Re) Membering Forwards : Excavating and Embodying Cultural Memory, An Afro-Diasporic Dance Film Rendition" (2022). Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects. 1109.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/1109