Teaching Beyond Orientalism

ABSTRACT

This article interrogates the veneer of Orientalism in the course content related to dance practices from East Asia, reflecting on pedagogy and experience in teaching the topic of “Chinese” dance, within the demographics of a majority White university. It examines how existing curriculum structure shapes the ways students learn about dance forms other than Euro-American dance forms. Strategies and practices are discussed, and examples from a classroom and a production are provided, in order to add to the larger conversations happening in the United States and elsewhere, about decolonizing our curricula and harnessing the transformative power of dance. This is a call to action to revolutionize the ways we learn and educate.

KEYWORDS:

• Dance education
• performance studies
• Eurocentrism
• Orientalism
• decolonization

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.