Blues Traditions in Jane Dudley’s Harmonica Breakdown
During the Depression, choreographers often employed American folk traditions to express the concerns of “the common man.” Jane Dudley (1912–2001) created Harmonica Breakdown (1938), set to the blues of Sonny Terry (1911–1986). The work addressed the plight of African American sharecroppers. “I think of it as a dance of misery—and defiance rising out of it.”
During the Depression, choreographers often employed American folk traditions to express the concerns of “the common man.” Jane Dudley (1912–2001) created <em>Harmonica Breakdown</em> (1938), set to the blues of Sonny Terry (1911–1986). The work addressed the plight of African American sharecroppers. “I think of it as a dance of misery—and defiance rising out of it.”