Allison Miner Series - Dancing the Politics of Pleasure at the New Orleans Second Line

We're live from the George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center on N. Rampart St. for the next edition of the Allison Miner series! Tonight, we're highlighting the research of Rachel Carrico, who will showcase her work through her new book, "Dancing the Politics of Pleasure at the New Orleans Second Line." When second liners dance, they are usually doing more than showing off fancy footwork. They might be building community, catching the spirit, fighting for freedom, or claiming home. Such is the point of view forwarded by Rachel Carrico’s new book, "Dancing the Politics of Pleasure at the New Orleans Second Line," which was supported by a Jazz & Heritage Fellowship in 2017. To celebrate the book and the people’s lives it documents, Carrico will share stories and reflections, including a tribute to Joe Stern and Barbara Lacen Keller. Two Social Aid & Pleasure Club presidents will join her for an audience discussion before a band ushers the community into the courtyard for book signing, drinks, and of course, dancing. Dr. Rachel Carrico (she/her) believes that art serves an essential function in life, including as a tool for justice. Her recent book, Dancing the Politics of Pleasure at the New Orleans Second Line (University of Illinois Press, 2024), features a chorus of participant voices to reveal how dancers’ choices allow them to access the pleasure of reclaiming self and city through motion and rhythm while expanding a sense of the possible in the present and for the future. A serial collaborator, some of Carrico’s favorite collective projects include: co-founding Goat in the Road Productions (New Orleans); advising and co-directing film projects (Buckjumpin [Lily Keber]; If Cities Could Dance [KQED]; Light Rock and Bounce [Neighborhood Story Project]); and parading each March with the Ice Divas Social & Pleasure Club. She is an assistant professor of dance studies at the University of Florida.