Sobre la escritura de «La síntesis moderna de Josephine Baker y Carmen Amaya»

As a biracial Afro-Norwegian American, I constantly felt like I was synthesizing information from different cultures throughout my life. I grew up with my father, the international jazz composer and trumpet player Ron Miles, who constantly had music playing or jazz documentaries playing in the house. I remember being so interested in the whimsical nature of Josephine Baker in the documentaries.

Additionally, I first learned about Gitana flamenco dancer Carmen Amaya as a teenager through flamenco guitarist René Heredia, who accompanied her and learned from Sabicas. The glamorous photos and interesting stories Heredia had of Amaya enchanted me, and I spent hours watching videos of Amaya dancing on youtube. 

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Being heavily influenced by music and the arts, I ended up attending the University of New Mexico for an MFA in Choreography. When it was time to write my dissertation, I decided to think about artists of color that had fascinated me, and I decided to focus on Carmen Amaya and Josephine Baker. Both women of color lived relatively at the same time and crossed the Atlantic to pursue professional performing careers abroad. Throughout my research process, I found a lot of parallels between these women who faced racism, stereotypes, and sexism. Both women were ahead of their time, and it was fascinating to research how these women synthesized the complexities of race and gender into modern identities. 

I hope you enjoy the article "The Modern Synthesis of Josephine Baker and Carmen Amaya"

I'd like to thank my dissertation committee at the University of New Mexico: Donna Jewell, Eva Encinias, Marisol Encinas, Amanda Hamp, and Kirsten Buick. I want to thank Dr. Meira Goldberg, Antoni Pizà, Jessica Gottfried, and Raquel Paraíso for publishing this article. I'd also like to thank Dr. Meira Goldberg and Brend Dixon Gottschild, whose research influenced this article. Thank you to my late father Ron Miles, and thank you René Heredia for introducing me to the historical figure Carmen Amaya.  

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“To realize our dreams, 

we must decide to wake up.”