Small, Holly2014-07-312014-07-312014-04-212014-07-28http://hdl.handle.net/10315/27688This paper analyzes how memory is performed through the creation of three contemporary dance-based choreographies: Lejania (Distant), Memory Lane and ImShift. Influenced by Afro-Venezuelan movement and contemporary dance, I explore specific locations where memory is stored in the body. All three choreographic case studies have pronounced motifs of white cloth, partial nudity, shadows and percussive rhythms. This analysis spring boards from leading scholars that write about issues of embodiment, cultural memory and diasporic performance such as Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Diana Taylor, Coco Fusco and Gloria Anzaldua. The dynamic movement vocabulary creates a body bilingualism that draws from the dancers’ personal lives and each author’s issues of living in the margins of mainstream society, belonging and challenging Latin American immigrant stereotypes. This paper examines the historical knowledge and shared sense of identity that is embodied and expressed in the performances.enAuthor owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.DanceLatin American studiesMulticultural educationElectronic Thesis or Dissertation2014-07-28Arte de la fronteraEmbodying memoryLatin American DiasporaToronto DiasporaMigrant experiencePerformance ArtsVictoria MataAlexandra GelisLiving in the in betweenDiana TaylorGuillermo Gomez-PenaCoco FuscoGloria AnzalduaYork University DanceEthnographic lens of DanceParticipatory danceDancing with ClothUsing slow motion in choreographyAfro-Latino FolkloreVenezuelan FolkloreAfro Venezuelan FolklorePedagogy of the OppressedPedagogic ChoreographyTelling stories through choreographyMemory and danceChoreographing through memory embodimentArchiving memory and danceArchiving memory and choreographyGroup choreographyReplacing dancersImportance of lighting designerCommunity and danceCommunity accountability in creationParticipatory artActivism and danceMatadanzeCollectiveConsecuencias collectiveImportance of an outside eyeMultimedia arts and borderBorder crossing art