Concurrent Session 2-A

Location

Bryant Hall, Room 111

Start Date

14-3-2025 1:30 PM

End Date

14-3-2025 2:45 PM

Description

  • Moving Spirits: Memorialization through Movement
    Jennifer Mizenko, Professor Emerita of Dance and Movement, University of Mississippi
    Often overlooked in memorialization is theatrical performance. Seen as an art form that only takes place on a stage, with lights and sets, performance can be perceived as a memorialization that removes itself from place and environment. However, there is nothing more powerful than physically embodying a story and representing the human condition with humans. On April 14, 2024, 17 people of color told the story of William Faulkner’s home, Rowan Oak, through a site-specific performance. Moving Spirits II: A Deeper History of Rowan Oak through Movement, Dance, and Song told the untold story of the enslaved who once lived on the property. Rowan Oak in Oxford, MS, draws 1000’s of visitors from around the world annually. The property is also used daily by locals and visitors as a background for photoshoots for high school graduation, engagement photos, prom pics, etc. What most visitors don’t realize is that they are taking photos at a site that was originally built by the enslaver, Robert Sheegog. A building that is a common background for these photos was once a slave dwelling. Moving Spirits II, made this history visible, performed on the grounds where the enslaved toiled, lived, and loved. This performance honored the spirits of those who were enslaved on the property and reclaimed the property. It gave agency to those who were enslaved and also their descendants. The performers, aged 12 – 84 years old, participated in 3 weeks of rehearsal. They were not dancers, and most did not have any performance experience. But they wanted to tell this story. Using best practices from Trauma-Informed rehearsal processes and inviting the community to walk and move through the grounds of Rowan Oak, Moving Spirits II, healed a community and laid the ground for next steps in racial healing.
  • How Black Commemorative Performance in Natchez, MS Resists “Old South” Tourism
    Teresa Simone, Department of Theatre and Film, University of Mississippi
    Performance is central to commemoration and critically affects how memories of the past circulate. This paper focuses on Natchez, Mississippi’s Confederate history and ongoing struggles for Civil Rights, emphasizing how performed commemorations and theatrical sites of memory reflect dissenting beliefs about the nation. I highlight Black-created performances and sites of memory centering Black histories and perspectives on Natchez’s past. Each Spring since 1932 residents of Natchez, Mississippi have performed a Confederate Pageant. Natchez was once the wealthiest city in the nation due to its slave trade and cotton plantations, and it has more antebellum architecture than any other US city. Since the Great Depression, capitalizing on Lost Cause nostalgia, residents have promoted Confederate heritage tourism romantically glorifying Natchez as “where the Old South still lives.” During “Spring Pilgrimage,” a lucrative tourist event, women dress in hoop skirts for plantation tours, and direct youth in the annual Confederate Pageant. Commemorations performed primarily by women and children create and sustain memories of the “Old South.” Despite significant challenges, Black residents of Natchez have a long history of performing alternate commemorations and creating alternate archives and sites of memory. Reconstruction-era commemorations performed by Black residents predate white residents’ commemorations. In recent years Black activists have significantly intervened in Natchez’s Confederate heritage tourism. Performances, museums, and sites of memory reflecting diverse Black perspectives shift how Natchez is remembered and performed. I discuss theatrical performances and plays focusing on Natchez Black history, and activist efforts to update Natchez tourism and heritage sites to reflect Black histories more accurately and respectfully.
  • Chair: Alex Lichtenstein, Professor of American Studies, Indiana University

Relational Format

Conference proceeding

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS
 
Mar 14th, 1:30 PM Mar 14th, 2:45 PM

Concurrent Session 2-A

Bryant Hall, Room 111

  • Moving Spirits: Memorialization through Movement
    Jennifer Mizenko, Professor Emerita of Dance and Movement, University of Mississippi
    Often overlooked in memorialization is theatrical performance. Seen as an art form that only takes place on a stage, with lights and sets, performance can be perceived as a memorialization that removes itself from place and environment. However, there is nothing more powerful than physically embodying a story and representing the human condition with humans. On April 14, 2024, 17 people of color told the story of William Faulkner’s home, Rowan Oak, through a site-specific performance. Moving Spirits II: A Deeper History of Rowan Oak through Movement, Dance, and Song told the untold story of the enslaved who once lived on the property. Rowan Oak in Oxford, MS, draws 1000’s of visitors from around the world annually. The property is also used daily by locals and visitors as a background for photoshoots for high school graduation, engagement photos, prom pics, etc. What most visitors don’t realize is that they are taking photos at a site that was originally built by the enslaver, Robert Sheegog. A building that is a common background for these photos was once a slave dwelling. Moving Spirits II, made this history visible, performed on the grounds where the enslaved toiled, lived, and loved. This performance honored the spirits of those who were enslaved on the property and reclaimed the property. It gave agency to those who were enslaved and also their descendants. The performers, aged 12 – 84 years old, participated in 3 weeks of rehearsal. They were not dancers, and most did not have any performance experience. But they wanted to tell this story. Using best practices from Trauma-Informed rehearsal processes and inviting the community to walk and move through the grounds of Rowan Oak, Moving Spirits II, healed a community and laid the ground for next steps in racial healing.
  • How Black Commemorative Performance in Natchez, MS Resists “Old South” Tourism
    Teresa Simone, Department of Theatre and Film, University of Mississippi
    Performance is central to commemoration and critically affects how memories of the past circulate. This paper focuses on Natchez, Mississippi’s Confederate history and ongoing struggles for Civil Rights, emphasizing how performed commemorations and theatrical sites of memory reflect dissenting beliefs about the nation. I highlight Black-created performances and sites of memory centering Black histories and perspectives on Natchez’s past. Each Spring since 1932 residents of Natchez, Mississippi have performed a Confederate Pageant. Natchez was once the wealthiest city in the nation due to its slave trade and cotton plantations, and it has more antebellum architecture than any other US city. Since the Great Depression, capitalizing on Lost Cause nostalgia, residents have promoted Confederate heritage tourism romantically glorifying Natchez as “where the Old South still lives.” During “Spring Pilgrimage,” a lucrative tourist event, women dress in hoop skirts for plantation tours, and direct youth in the annual Confederate Pageant. Commemorations performed primarily by women and children create and sustain memories of the “Old South.” Despite significant challenges, Black residents of Natchez have a long history of performing alternate commemorations and creating alternate archives and sites of memory. Reconstruction-era commemorations performed by Black residents predate white residents’ commemorations. In recent years Black activists have significantly intervened in Natchez’s Confederate heritage tourism. Performances, museums, and sites of memory reflecting diverse Black perspectives shift how Natchez is remembered and performed. I discuss theatrical performances and plays focusing on Natchez Black history, and activist efforts to update Natchez tourism and heritage sites to reflect Black histories more accurately and respectfully.
  • Chair: Alex Lichtenstein, Professor of American Studies, Indiana University