Dr. Rachel Carrico speaks on "Dancing the Politics of Pleasure at the New Orleans Second Line"

Friday Forum Lecture Series:

Dancing the Politics of Pleasure at the New Orleans Second Line
Friday, 7 February 3:30pm
Howe Russell W130

Abstract of Talk

On many Sundays, Black New Orleanians dance through city streets in Second Lines. Although the parades have been widely recognized as public expressions of Black resistance, the importance of dance within the tradition has been underexamined. In this talk, dance studies scholar Dr. Carrico shares research from her recent monograph, Dancing the Politics of Pleasure at the New Orleans Second Line (University of Illinois Press, 2024), in which she examines the parading bodies in motion as a form of negotiating and understanding power. When second liners dance, they are usually doing more than showing off fancy footwork; they might be building community, catching the spirit, fighting for freedom, or claiming home.

Speaker Biography

Dr. Rachel Carrico (she/her) believes that art serves an essential function in the lives of all people, including as a tool for justice. Accordingly, her recent book, Dancing the Politics of Pleasure at the New Orleans Second Line (University of Illinois Press, 2024), reveals how Black New Orleanians (re)claim self and city by dancing through the streets. A serial collaborator, some of Carrico’s favorite collective projects include co-founding Goat in the Road Productions (New Orleans); advising and co-directing film projects (Buckjumpin [Lily Keber]; If Cities Could Dance [KQED]; Light Rock and Bounce [Neighborhood Story Project]); and parading each March with the Ice Divas Social & Pleasure Club. She is currently at work on a project that explores dance, culture, and Parkinson’s Disease. Carrico is an assistant professor of dance studies at the University of Florida.

Ethnography and the Body

Dr. Rachel Carrico will also offer a workshop for graduate students. The workshop will take place at 12pm in the Richardson Lab, Howe-Russell-Kniffen Complex W253.

In this graduate workshop, researchers will explore ethnographic research through the lens of the body. Whether or not studying cultural expression, bodies are present and moving. The researcher’s body may function as a data recorder (sense, memory, affect) and/or a medium for sharing findings. How does one read body language as a form of communication? How to describe the physicality of others in writing that respects their full humanity without objectifying? Participants are asked to read materials provided in advance. This workshop will open up a space for researchers to workshop conundrums and possibilities in their own work regarding ethnography and the body.