Her Brown Body Is Glory: A Legacy of Healing Forged Through Sisterhood and Dance

“Her Brown Body Is Glory: A Legacy of Healing Forged Through Sisterhood and

Dance” fondly captures the process of creating the evening length dance project, Her

Brown Body Is Glory (HBBIG). This document addresses many themes, such as

liminality, rites of passage, trauma in the African American community (like the effects

of Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary’s “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS) theory), and

provides a perspective of healing rooted in dance, rituals, and community. This research

focuses on dance being the source of intervention to create sisterhood among African

American women of many shades. Throughout the creation of this dance project, the

choreographer and dancers collaboratively generated experiences to cultivate a space of

trust, vulnerability, sisterhood, and growth. The use of written, verbal, and movement

reflection supported this creative process as the main source of ritual to check in with

self, building community amongst the dancers, and generating choreography. The

insertion of these sisterhood rituals into the production became the necessary element of

witness for the audience to experience an authentic and moving performance of Her

Brown Body Is Glory.