Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3
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- All Subjects: African American Studies
- Creators: Norton, Kay
- Creators: Jackson, Naomi
Description
Illuminating Silent Voices: An African-American Contribution to the Percussion Literature in the Western Art Music Tradition will discuss how Raymond Ridley's original composition, FyrStar (2009), is comparable to other pre-existing percussion works in the literature. Selected compositions for comparison included Darius Milhaud's Concerto for Marimba, Vibraphone and Orchestra, Op. 278 (1949); David Friedman's and Dave Samuels's Carousel (1985); Raymond Helble's Duo Concertante for Vibraphone and Marimba, Op. 54 (2009); Tera de Marez Oyens's Octopus: for Bass Clarinet and one Percussionist (marimba/vibraphone) (1982). In the course of this document, the author will discuss the uniqueness of FyrStar's instrumentation of nine single reed instruments--E-flat clarinet, B-flat clarinet, alto clarinet, bass clarinet, B-flat contrabass clarinet, B-flat soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, and B-flat baritone saxophone, juxtaposing this unique instrumentation to the symbolic relationship between the ensemble, marimba, and vibraphone.
ContributorsThompson, Darrell Irwin (Author) / Sunkett, Mark E (Thesis advisor) / Bush, Jeffrey (Committee member) / DeMars, James (Committee member) / Little, Bliss (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
“Her Brown Body Is Glory: A Legacy of Healing Forged Through Sisterhood and
Dance” fondly captures the process of creating the evening length dance project, Her
Brown Body Is Glory (HBBIG). This document addresses many themes, such as
liminality, rites of passage, trauma in the African American community (like the effects
of Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary’s “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS) theory), and
provides a perspective of healing rooted in dance, rituals, and community. This research
focuses on dance being the source of intervention to create sisterhood among African
American women of many shades. Throughout the creation of this dance project, the
choreographer and dancers collaboratively generated experiences to cultivate a space of
trust, vulnerability, sisterhood, and growth. The use of written, verbal, and movement
reflection supported this creative process as the main source of ritual to check in with
self, building community amongst the dancers, and generating choreography. The
insertion of these sisterhood rituals into the production became the necessary element of
witness for the audience to experience an authentic and moving performance of Her
Brown Body Is Glory.
Dance” fondly captures the process of creating the evening length dance project, Her
Brown Body Is Glory (HBBIG). This document addresses many themes, such as
liminality, rites of passage, trauma in the African American community (like the effects
of Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary’s “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS) theory), and
provides a perspective of healing rooted in dance, rituals, and community. This research
focuses on dance being the source of intervention to create sisterhood among African
American women of many shades. Throughout the creation of this dance project, the
choreographer and dancers collaboratively generated experiences to cultivate a space of
trust, vulnerability, sisterhood, and growth. The use of written, verbal, and movement
reflection supported this creative process as the main source of ritual to check in with
self, building community amongst the dancers, and generating choreography. The
insertion of these sisterhood rituals into the production became the necessary element of
witness for the audience to experience an authentic and moving performance of Her
Brown Body Is Glory.
ContributorsThomas, Hannah Victoria (Author) / Jackson, Naomi (Thesis advisor) / White, Marcus (Committee member) / Hunt, Kistin (Committee member) / Nascimiento, Eliciana (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Traditional jazz refers specifically to iterations of New Orleans style jazz since its beginnings in the early 20th century. It has been labelled "Dixieland," "Classic Jazz," "New Orleans jazz," "Trad," or "Our Kind of Music (OKOM)" among other names. As a scholar-performer, I learned this style of music in my undergraduate studies in Provo, Utah and later taught it as a graduate student in Phoenix, Arizona. This research grows out of the challenges I encountered mediating between the academic institution, the non-academic tradition, and student needs. Combining musicological methods such as historiography and artifact analysis with reflexive ethnography and performance pedagogy more typical of other disciplines, I consider how educators might represent traditional jazz in a more culturally responsible way. To begin, I reference historical newspapers and oral histories to show how the labels of “Dixieland” and “traditional jazz” have evolved over time and taken on a variety of associations. Specifically, I note how the word “Dixieland” is problematic for the ways it reinforces nostalgic fantasies of the “old south” and prevents African Americans from participating without the oppressive and offensive stereotypes created by white minstrel entertainers. I then consider how prominent figures have established their authority to speak for traditional jazz by looking at several pedagogical artifacts for the style of traditional jazz drumming. I highlight how each of these artifacts’ authors present the subject and color their audience’s view of traditional jazz. Having analyzed these methods of genre definition, I discuss the tenuous place of traditional jazz within university jazz programs and its potential futures through interviews I conducted with jazz educators. These interviews focus on teaching traditional jazz within the academy and the potential for the jazz ensemble as a site of scholar-performer interdisciplinary collaboration. Finally, following models of reflexive ethnography established by ethnomusicologists leading world music ensembles, I analyze my own experience teaching traditional jazz ensembles. My synthesis of methods from musicology, ethnomusicology, music education, and jazz performance departments serves as an important bridge between these disciplines, and in turn, improves jazz instruction, offers insight into genre definition, and illuminates how institutional structures shape the subject.
ContributorsWiggins, Zachary Thomas (Author) / Wells, Christi Jay (Thesis advisor) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Solís, Ted (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021