As an epigraph to the section entitled "LAVÉ TÊTE," the third section of her novel Praisesong for the Widow, Paule Marshall uses a brief quotation from a poem by Randall Jarrell: "Oh, Bars of my ... body open, open!" (148). It is in this section that Avey Johnson, the novel's protagonist, becomes aware of her body as a repository of memory, as a place where physical sensation echoes emotional feeling. This awareness …showed first 75 words of 1372 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1372 total…with dance. Citing Katherine Dunham's explication of funeral dances as an externalization of energy, she extends this perspective to Avey's experience: "If, as Dunham argues, emotions like anger and grief are best resolved by either violent or rhythmic motor activity, then Avey's physical movement can be read like a text, charting her internal thoughts and emotions" (114). The Dance of the Cumana was her final step into reestablishing her roots and understanding who she really is.