The Black Arts Movement brought together a diverse range of African American artists who used their art to disseminate the African aesthetic nationally, yet dancers are rarely recognized or even mentioned in the historical literature of that social and political movement. This thesis addresses this oversight by exploring the philosophies and ideas of the Black Arts Movement and demonstrating how dancers created and distributed dance art within the auspices of that movement. In spite of overwhelming challenges African American dancers were able to use concert dance as a form of social protest and political commentary, not only during the Black Arts Movement but also during the development of the Civil Rights Movement.

Black dance has historically been marginalized from two directions: Western ideologies about the function of dance and the Black Power Movement's devaluation of European aesthetics. This thesis repositions dance within the Black Arts Movement and American cultural history.