Release date: Jan. 14, 2004
Contact: Sally Corbett, Director of Public Relations, Arts,
at 404-727-6678 or sacorbe@emory.edu

Emory Friends of Dance Presents Illustrated Lecture on Black Women’s Identity in Modern Dance

The 2003-2004 Emory Friends of Dance Lecture Series presents “Big-Legged Women: Tina Turner, Modern Dance and New Notions of Black Women's Identity” by Veta Goler of Spelman College. The free public lecture is Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Dance Studio of the Donna and Marvin Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, 1700 N. Decatur Rd., Emory University.

In “Big-Legged Women: Tina Turner, Modern Dance and New Notions of Black Women's Identity” Goler will discuss the ways several important African-American women performers in concert dance and popular culture have challenged presumptions about black women's identity. Her lecture examines rock idol Tina Turner, choreographer and Urban Bush Women founder Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, and modern dancer Sherri “Sparkle” Williams, among others. Goler also will look at the expanded notions of black women's identity these women embody and the new concepts of womanhood that age creates for black performers.

Goler is associate professor of dance and chairwoman of drama and dance at Spelman College. Her research focuses on contemporary African-American modern dance artists, particularly women choreographers, as well as the intersection of dance and spirituality in popular culture. She has presented her research internationally, and has published in journals and anthologies, including "Discourses in Dance," "Dancing Many Drums: Excavations in African-American Dance History," "Choreography and Dance" and "The Citizen Artist: 20 Years of Art in the Public Arena."

The Friends of Dance Lecture Series debuted in fall 1998 with internationally renowned dance scholar and historian Sally Banes. The Friends presents biannual lectures each fall and spring semester to reach out to the larger Atlanta community with offerings that are topically challenging, artistically stimulating and intellectually enriching in the field of dance. This is the only lecture series in the Atlanta area that is focused exclusively on dance.

The free event is sponsored by the Emory Friends of Dance, the Department of Women’s Studies, the Department of African American Studies, the Center for Humanistic Inquiry and the Emory University Dance Program. Light refreshments will be served. For further information, call 404-727-7266.

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