Few will dispute the profound influence that African American music and movement has had in American and world culture. ''Dancing Many Drums'' explores that influence through a groundbreaking collection of essays on African American dance history, theory and practice. In so doing, it reevalautes ''black'' and ''African American'' as both racial and dance categories. Abundantly illustrated, the volume includes images of a wide variety of dance forms and performers, from ring shouts, vaudeville and social dances to professional dance companies and Hollywood movie dancing. Bringing together issues of race, gender, politics, history and dance, ''Dancing Many Drums'' ranges widely, including discussions of dance instruction songs, the blues aesthetic, and Katherine Dunham's controversial ballet about lynching, ''Southland''. In addition, there are two photo essays: the first on African dance in New York by noted dance photographer Mansa Mussa, and another on 1934 ''African opera''