From Warm-up to Dobale in Philadelphia

Abstract

From an experiential perspective, Julie B. Johnson charts the five main components of a West African dance class in West Philadelphia as a lens through which to explore the varied understandings of community that can emerge through engagement with African dance traditions. Each component – the warm up, the lesson, dancing down the floor, the circle, and the concluding ritual to honor the musicians (Dobale) – outlines a narrative through which students construct shared understandings of community through collective experiences at each phase of the class’s procedural structure. Employing poetry and vignettes, Johnson provides a participatory ethnography of African dance in Philadelphia rooted in scholarship and first-hand experience.