Representations of Black Slave Dance in American Cinema

This dissertation examines the representation of slave dance in American cinema with a close reading of these seminal productions: The Birth of a Nation, Way Down South, Beloved Roots, 12 Years a Slave, and The Underground Railroad. Starting with an examination of the history of black dance in America, getting to the Congo Square, as a central site in New Orleans where enslaved Africans danced together on Sundays since the early 1700s, and later to the portrayal of slave dances in American cinema, this thesis will follow the ways in which African and later African American dance traditions have been reflected on the cinema screen. The examination will be centered on how the filmic devices, such as cinematography, sound design, lighting, music, and editing, are employed to represent these moments of dance, which function to both advance the narrative of the plot and illuminate the historical and social contexts of slavery. This thesis examines how sequences of slave dance reflect and respond to the sociopolitical context of the time in which the movie was produced. These representations range from depictions of resilience, solidarity, community, and the preservation of African cultural identity to expressions of healing and spirituality, and in earlier works, to deliberately distorted portrayals that reinforce racial hierarchies and dehumanizing stereotypes. This thesis aims to add to the knowledge of the cultural and historical significance of dance to the African American experience by engaging in a critical examination of the staging of such dance scenes. Through close analysis of the films, this project will add to the broader discourse on African American representation in film by showing how slave dances, informed by early traditions such as that of Congo Square, are among the most powerful moments of historic reflection and emotional expression.