Dancing the Revolution

The first publication to examine the visual, political and spiritual histories of dancehall, reggae en español, and reggaeton through the lens of contemporary artPublished with Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. This bilingual (English/Spanish) book is the first critical volume to cover the complexity of Caribbean popular music through the lens of contemporary art, including the ways musical and social movements such as dancehall, reggae en español and reggaeton evolved into global phenomena. The book sheds light on the genres' migrations and shifting rhythms through contemporary artworks, while underscoring their social and political impact. It opens with an introduction by former Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator and Director of Curatorial Initiatives Carla Acevedo-Yates on the early days of the "underground" scene in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and its connections to contemporary art all over the world. The other five essays by different contributors draw attention to the politics and aesthetics of Caribbean popular music and the dance hall—a space where race, sexuality and class collide. Topics include the history and global spread of Jamaican sound system culture; the transnational history of reggaeton through reggae en español in Panama and Jamaican dancehall; the ways that feminist and queer spaces and aesthetics are growing within—and against—the male-dominated spaces and/or tropes related to these musical genres; and how dance amplified the 2019 demonstrations in Puerto Rico that brought about the resignation of then-governor Ricardo Rosselló. This multilayered publication presents artworks that examine and draw inspiration from music and dance as revolutionary practices for collective liberation rooted in the struggle against colonial oppression.