Theses Bachelor's

Dancing black Christianity: revealing African American and Ghanaian cultural identity through movement in Christian worship

Mosley, Sydnie L.

While Christianity has been with African-Americans in the United States for so long that it has become a “native” faith, the foreign imposition of Christianity is still fresh in other countries, such as Ghana. This means that over the past few centuries, African-Americans have had the opportunity to create art, music, movement, and dramatic styles of their own to honor and worship God. But in Ghana, images and methods of praise still hold onto their British colonial and missionary beginnings. For instance, a blond-haired, blue-eyed, bearded white male college student who was traveling with me in Ghana was often mistaken for Jesus. It is only recently that worship in Ghanaian Christian churches has become “African,” and music and dance, which is an undeniable part of the Ghanaian culture and the way to worship in traditional culture, has been integrated into the worship of Jesus Christ.

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Academic Units
Dance (Barnard College)
Degree
B.A., Barnard College
Published Here
March 24, 2011

Notes

Senior seminar thesis, Barnard College.