March 15, 2006 — The Alton Augustus Adams Music Research Institute (AMRI), a branch of the Center for Black Music Research of Columbia College Chicago, will present a public lecture March 25 by Dr. Yvonne Daniel, the current Rockefeller fellow in residence at AMRI in St. Thomas.
The lecture will be held at 2 p.m. in Chase Auditorium, Room B-110, UVI Business Building, St. Thomas.
Daniel, professor emerita of dance and Afro-American studies at Smith College, is a sociocultural anthropologist. She specializes in the dance and music of the Caribbean. Her current project examines the Bele Complex as a means to better understand historical processes and the development of Africanized European dance forms from the 17th century to the present.
Her books include "Rumba," "Dancing Wisdom," and "Dances of Pride, Passion and Productivity: Case Studies in the Caribbean, Latin America and the 'Barrio.'"
She has published many articles, reviews and encyclopedia entries and has contributed several chapters to the works of other scholars. Daniel has performed with the Conjunto Folklorico Nacional of Cuba, as a guest artist for several Latin American dance companies and as a soloist in many of her own choreographies.
Daniel's lecture will feature a preliminary report on associated "American contredanse" forms. She hopes to elicit community input so that the views of V.I. elders and specialists will impact the placement and significance of Bele/Lewoz/Quadrille/Quelbe/Seu/Carabine inside a circum-Caribbean dance typology. Her lecture, which will be free and open to the public, will be followed by a reception.
AMRI was established in 2001 on St. Thomas in the ancestral home of Alton Augustus Adams Sr. It facilitates the study and documentation of black music in the Caribbean region, particularly in the Virgin Islands.
AMRI presents a series of summits that document the lives of important music and dance tradition bearers on all three islands, workshops that demonstrate preservation and documentation techniques so that V.I. residents can research and study local cultural traditions, and professional development workshops for teachers.
AMRI publishes a biannual newsletter entitled "Cariso!" and maintains a small but growing resource center located in Charlotte Amalie at 1-B Kongens Gade, Suite 1-B, and is open to the public Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call (340) 715-5680 for further information.
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