Performing whiteness on the competition stage: ‘I dance all styles’

ABSTRACT

This article seeks to reveal and problematize the multi-layered construction of whiteness in dance competition culture by illuminating assumptions about technique embedded in ‘all styles’ competition dancers perform on stage. The phrase ‘dance all styles’ is a shorthand of sorts for those in dance competition culture, as what they really mean is they dance all styles represented in competition dance. In dance competition culture, technique is key in ‘all dance styles,’ and over time youth unknowingly come to equate the idea of technique with the attributes of ballet inherently reinforcing whiteness as normative. Policies and practices such as competition organizations' rules and regulations, judges’ commentary, and choreographic content are examined in relation to critical race theory to demonstrate how whiteness, white privilege, and white supremacy are performed on the competition stage.

KEYWORDS:

• Dance competition culture
• critical race theory
• whiteness
• white privilege
• white supremacy
• dance education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Dancewear companies have recently started manufacturing tights and shoes in a range of skin tones, however, during my time in dance competition culture, ‘flesh tone’ tights only came in one shade.

2. BIPOC is an acronym that stands for Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

3. Because the performers in the videos are youth, the IRB approval does not allow for the inclusion of video links or detailed descriptions of the video’s content beyond what is provided.

4. For a scholarly examination of how dance competitions reinforce white nation building, see Weisbrod (2010).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Karen Schupp

Karen Schupp, MFA, is Associate Director of the Herberger Institute School of Music, Dance and Theatre at Arizona State University. Her research interests include dance competition culture, dance curriculum and pedagogy in tertiary education, and equity and ethics across the spectrum of dance education. Her books include Studying Dance (author), Dance Education and Responsible Citizenship (editor), and Ethical Dilemmas in Dance Education (co-editor with Doug Risner). Professor Schupp is the co-editor in chief of the Journal of Dance Education. For more information, please visit http://www.karenschupp.org.