Managing Culture

Discipline, Artistry, and Alternative Education in Ghana's State Dance Ensembles

Bibliographic Data

ID3751210
AuthorsSchauert, Schauert Schauert (corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume60
Issue3
Pages3
Publication date2014-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAfrica Today (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0001-9887 • E-ISSN: 1527-1978
PublisherIndiana University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2979/africatoday.60.3.3
OpenAlexW2080723712
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited17

Contributing to discourses on cultural nationalism, the postcolonial African state, and national dance, this article explores the politics of “managing” culture in West Africa by showing how members of Ghana’s two state dance ensembles mediate the surrounding disciplinary machinery to create possibilities for “self-improvement.” Initially, this discussion elucidates the processes by which national performers become “soldiers of culture” as their bodies and characters are trained and retrained with rigorous militaristic precision. Subsequently, it highlights performers’ artistry, examining how they tactically circumvent—or dance in between—this disciplinary apparatus, harnessing state institutions for personal ends. While taking advantage of the ensembles’ alternative education to develop artistic, social, and entrepreneurial skills, performers are also shown to ironically use these troupes as platforms to reproach their state/employer

Art · Dance · Sociology · State (computer science) · Visual arts · Computer Science · Diversity and Impact of Dance · Music History and Culture · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts

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