Choreographing the Folk

<p><b>Recovers an important dimension of the work of the renowned African American artist</b></p> <p>While Zora Neale Hurston and her 1937 novel <i>Their Eyes Were Watching God</i> have become widely celebrated she was also a prolific stage director and choreographer. In the 1930s Hurston produced theatrical concerts that depicted a day in the life of a railroad work camp in Florida and featured a rousing Bahamian Fire Dance as the dramatic finale. In <i>Choreographing the Folk</i> Anthea Kraut traces the significance and influence of Hurston's little-known choreographic work.</p> Hurston's concerts were concrete illustrations of the real Negro art theatre she was eager to establish and they compellingly demonstrate how she used the arena of performance to advance a nuanced understanding of the black diaspora. Her version of the Fire Dance was staged in a variety of venues during the 1930s. In its multiple representations Kraut asserts the dance raised critical issues about ownership artistry and authenticity. <i>Choreographing the Folk</i> argues for the significance of Hurston's choreography and with perceptiveness sensitivity and originality Kraut illuminates the important and often-contested place of black folk dance in American culture.