How did Caribbean rituals helped form new currents in the performing and visual arts of the United States? This book answers this question through an examination of the Caribbean-inspired dance creations of dancer/choreographer Katherine Dunham and the experimental films of avant-garde filmmaker Maya Deren. An intercultural discussion that refers to alternative subjectivities for black dancing bodies within the existing paradigms of the American public, Platon Lazaro reflects on the cultural discourses in the two contemporary artistic fields of dance and film.