Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean - Temple University
Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean - Temple University
Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean - Temple University
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2 Peter Manuel<br />
outside) <strong>the</strong> <strong>Caribbean</strong>. Meanwhile, current generations of scholars, for better<br />
or worse, have tended to devote <strong>the</strong>ir attention primarily to <strong>the</strong> more dist<strong>in</strong>ctively<br />
Afro-<strong>Caribbean</strong> side of <strong>the</strong> music and dance spectrum, and especially to<br />
contemporary commercial popular genres like salsa and reggae.<br />
This volume addresses this scholarly lacuna by present<strong>in</strong>g a set of area<br />
studies cover<strong>in</strong>g all <strong>the</strong> major contradance and quadrille traditions that have<br />
flourished <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Spanish-, French-, and English-speak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>Caribbean</strong>. Ra<strong>the</strong>r<br />
than be<strong>in</strong>g a motley collection of diverse articles reflect<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> authors’ idiosyncratic<br />
<strong>in</strong>terests, <strong>the</strong> volume aims to treat each area <strong>in</strong> a relatively consistent<br />
manner, cover<strong>in</strong>g historical development, musical and choreographic<br />
aspects, and a set of relevant sociocultural <strong>the</strong>mes and approaches. Each area<br />
article syn<strong>the</strong>sizes extant published scholarship with <strong>the</strong> authors’ own orig<strong>in</strong>al<br />
research. The Introduction seeks to fur<strong>the</strong>r unify <strong>the</strong> presentation by offer<strong>in</strong>g<br />
general background material as well as suggest<strong>in</strong>g some of <strong>the</strong> panregional<br />
perspectives that are so essential to a holistic appreciation of <strong>the</strong> contradance<br />
and quadrille complex. (The Introduction and subsequent chapters, however,<br />
are works of <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>dividual authors and represent <strong>the</strong>ir own <strong>in</strong>terpretations and<br />
perspectives, ra<strong>the</strong>r than any particular perspective of <strong>the</strong> editor.)<br />
The contradance and quadrille, far from flourish<strong>in</strong>g solely <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>sular<br />
<strong>Caribbean</strong>, have taken root <strong>in</strong> various forms and at various times throughout<br />
<strong>the</strong> Americas, from Peru to Vermont. Particularly relevant has been <strong>the</strong>ir presence<br />
<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> ma<strong>in</strong>land <strong>Caribbean</strong> Bas<strong>in</strong> countries. Thus, <strong>the</strong> exclusion of <strong>the</strong>se<br />
areas from consideration <strong>in</strong> this volume is <strong>in</strong> some ways artificial and reify<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
A holistic study of <strong>the</strong> Cuban and Puerto Rican contradanza should properly<br />
encompass its closely l<strong>in</strong>ked Venezuelan and Mexican counterparts, just<br />
as this volume’s panorama of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Caribbean</strong> quadrille is <strong>in</strong>herently flawed for<br />
slight<strong>in</strong>g Belize and Panama—not to mention New Orleans and <strong>the</strong> sou<strong>the</strong>rn<br />
United States. However, proper <strong>in</strong>corporation of <strong>the</strong>se areas might <strong>the</strong>n<br />
oblige fur<strong>the</strong>r consideration of <strong>the</strong> North American as well as South American<br />
h<strong>in</strong>terlands, with <strong>the</strong>ir closely related contradance and quadrille traditions, at<br />
which po<strong>in</strong>t <strong>the</strong> problem of sprawl would become acute and <strong>the</strong> entire topic too<br />
unwieldy. Hence <strong>the</strong> decision has been made, with reservations, to limit <strong>the</strong><br />
focus of this study to <strong>the</strong> island traditions, to direct <strong>in</strong>terested readers to o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
literature, 2 and to hope that o<strong>the</strong>r scholars may ultimately generate <strong>the</strong> more<br />
broadly <strong>in</strong>clusive panoramas that <strong>the</strong> subject requires. As it is, <strong>the</strong> authors<br />
regret that even certa<strong>in</strong> <strong>Caribbean</strong> island traditions have been covered <strong>in</strong>adequately<br />
<strong>in</strong> this book. Fur<strong>the</strong>r, even <strong>the</strong> pan-<strong>Caribbean</strong> focus of this volume<br />
has presented vex<strong>in</strong>g challenges to coherent presentation; <strong>the</strong>se, <strong>in</strong>deed, can be<br />
seen to commence with <strong>the</strong> book’s very title, which, as a sort of unsatisfactory<br />
compromise, uses what cognoscenti will notice as an unidiomatic variant “contradance”<br />
ra<strong>the</strong>r than <strong>the</strong> more conventional but language-specific terms “contra<br />
dance,” “country dance,” “contredanse,” or “contradanza.” Throughout this<br />
volume, <strong>the</strong> reader may note that we cont<strong>in</strong>ue to use <strong>the</strong> term “contradance” <strong>in</strong>