Embodying Resistance Through Ritual and Identity in the Afro-Colombian Currulao Dance Tradition

Abstract

This paper explores Currulao, an Afro-Colombian dance tradition from the Pacific coast, as a site of embodied resistance, ancestral memory, and cultural sovereignty. Far from being a static folkloric form, Currulao operates as a dynamic archive of Black survival, where rhythm, ritual, and territory intersect. Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives from performance studies, African diaspora theory, and ethnography, the study examines how Currulao encodes histories of colonial violence while simultaneously enabling contemporary acts of political and cultural reclamation. Through attention to sonic structures, gendered embodiment, territorial choreography, and transnational adaptation, the paper argues that Currulao is not only a cultural expression but a form of kinetic knowledge. In the face of displacement, commodification, and systemic marginalization, Afro-Colombian dancers mobilize Currulao as a space of refusal—where identity is not only remembered but performed. Ultimately, the dance offers a decolonial model of cultural continuity and transformation, where sovereignty is sensed through rhythm, and resistance is choreographed through joy, care, and ancestral invocation.