Race and Racism

The articles in this Special Issue on Race and Dance Education represent the ideas and perspectives of twelve authors of color (Black, Latinx, Native American, Asian American) and four White allies from the United States and abroad. The idea was born in 2017, when considering what topic might be important for the dance education community at this time. As a White dance educator in higher education, I had been examining and responding to the problem of Eurocentrism in my own small dance program, as well as in our entire college curriculum, for a long time. While some progress at my institution was visible over the past three decades—e.g., a diversity requirement within the core curriculum and the hiring of faculty of color in many departments—progress at the college level overall seemed very slow and halting.

Similarly, the field of dance education has been discussing multiculturalism since the 1990s, diversity since the early 2000s, and inclusion, diversity, equity, and access in the 20teens, but has made only minimal progress toward addressing systemic racism. Dance education has mostly been paralleling societal trends that favor Whiteness and Eurocentric norms. Although the dance education community has become more inclusive in some respects in the past 30 years, for instance, by incorporating more African diasporic dance forms into curriculums (usually as electives), there has not yet been a wholesale, nationwide examination of what a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive dance education might look like. One reason for this “blindness” is a lack of understanding about how some of the beloved dance forms many of us learned at an early age were privileged by their association with Whiteness.

Eurocentric dance education has been perceived as “American” and “neutral,” while dance of other origins including African diasporic, Hispanic, and Native American, to name a few, has been “othered.” This is particularly true in U.S. higher education, where core dance techniques studied are typically ballet and modern/contemporary dance. In private studios, African diasporic forms such as jazz dance, hip-hop, and tap are often popular, but may suffer from “Whitewashing” through appropriation by Whites, who often teach these forms without acknowledging or crediting the true creators of these genres. This phenomenon is an indication of the much larger societal problem of White supremacy.

Scholar bell hooks, in her book Writing Beyond Race: Living Theory and Practice, encourages us to come to terms with the pervasive and systemic nature of White oppression of people of color.

In order to talk openly and honestly about race in the United States it is helpful to begin with the understanding that it is white supremacist thinking and practice that has been the political foundation undergirding all systems of domination based on skin color and ethnicity … if we cannot as a culture accept the way white supremacist thinking and practice informs some aspect of our lives irrespective of skin color, then we will never move beyond race. (2013, 3–5)

Because of this mindset, people of color in our society continue to experience discrimination, police brutality, high rates of incarceration, low access to affordable healthcare, and many other injustices. While dance educators cannot fix racism on their own, they can examine the areas within their own lives where they can exert an anti-racist influence, including their own classrooms, studios, campuses, community centers, and schools. One way educators can improve curriculum is through the representation of varied racial and cultural groups.

Political scientist Maria Chávez points us to the importance of representation in the curriculum. While speaking of the rapid growth of Latinx population in higher education, Chávez exhorts teachers and institutions to be attentive to what is necessary:

It is important to explore the everyday racialized struggles of Latinos of all backgrounds as they face racism and discrimination, to understand the Latino experience better … An important function of racial identity, especially for people of color, is to have a positive and empowering interpretation of one’s self and cultural or ancestral background to counter the images and stereotypes by the white U.S. mainstream. (2019, 185)

Although she is referring here to the Latinx community, this statement is relevant to anyone not considered White within our society.

Many educators of color and White allies have attempted to bring this type of change to their teaching. However, although teachers often have significant control over their own classroom curriculum, they do not often have the power to make systemic changes to their institutions on their own. As educators, we need to think about both types of change—change in our classrooms, and change throughout our institutions. The authors included in this Special Issue have thought about change in particular courses as well as entire curricula and institutions, bringing anti-racist perspectives to their work in order to encourage and support others to do the same.

The issue opens with four short Commentaries offering opinions and advice. Cherie Hill’s “Talking Race” explains a private studio’s approach to talking about race with parents and children. Bridgit Luján points out the lack of information and awareness surrounding Latinx dance in “Beyond Black and White in Higher Education.” Robin Prichard’s “Teaching, Researching, and Writing Indigenous Dance: The Native Writes Back,” discusses the problem of invisibility for Native American dance. Finally, Angelica Bell discusses her strategies as a White ally in the dance classroom.

Next are six In Practice articles that give specific approaches that can be implemented in a classroom or institution. “Illuminating Diverse Voices in Dance Education: Problems in the Academy and Creative Approaches to Practice” by Cara Hagan discusses two assignments, one within a general education course, and another within a tap course, which guide students toward greater cultural sensitivity. Kori Wakamatsu writes about ongoing subtle (or not-so subtle) denigrations of Asian Americans and how to counter them in her article “Asian American Perspectives: From Microaggressions to Microprogressions—How Small Choices Can Make a Big Difference in the Dance Classroom.” Arneshia Williams explains a series of co-facilitated, interdisciplinary workshops focusing on body knowledge in “Moving to Center: A Reflection on Focusing Knowledge from Communities of Color in Dance.” Next, Tobin James discusses the ballet training and performance environment with the article “Calling for Cultural Humility in Ballet Academies and Companies: A Complementary Construct to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives.” Drawing on her background as a performer with the Chuck Davis Dance Company and dance educator, Ronya-Lee Anderson shows how African diasporic forms are marginalized in many dance environments, and suggests ideas for positive change in “Speech, Time, and Sight: Reconfiguring Notions of Dances of the African Diaspora.” Finally, Kristin Horrigan envisions a way for dance composition class to be inclusive of dancers from all backgrounds and movement traditions in “Welcoming in Dancers from All Traditions: De-centering Modern/Contemporary Dance in Choreography Class.”

We finish with three Feature articles that examine the role of African or African American dance within Western curriculum. First, four teachers from Makerere University in Uganda reflect upon the theory and practice of teaching African dance abroad in “Reflections of Four Teachers of Indigenous African Dances on Learning to Teach in Postcolonial Environments,” and reflect on how colonial ideas still influence aspects of dance education there. Authors Alfdaniels Mabingo, Edward Sembatya, Ronald Kibirge, and Gerald Ssenganda share their experiences and insights. Ayo Walker writes about how the history of dance education in the U.S. has shaped dance in higher education today into a Eurocentric construct in her article “Traditional White Spaces: Why Equitable Representation Matters.” Finally, Fen Kennedy focuses on a specific course, Dance History, and how it can benefit from a re-orientation using material from African American history. The article, “Start Somewhere Else: 1619-ing the American Dance History Class” reviews her own experience in designing and teaching her curriculum from this perspective.

All in all, these authors provide a plethora of ideas for transforming dance curricula and taking up an anti-racist agenda within dance education environments. As we move forward into the next decade, let us keep these issues top-of-mind. White dance educators need to accept the fact of their own participation in systemic racism, and consciously make changes in their own classrooms, departments, private studios, community centers, public schools, and institutions by working with like-minded colleagues, and by making convincing cases to colleagues or leaders who do not see the need for sweeping change. This lengthy project will mirror efforts in other areas of education where leaders have recognized the need for more diversity, equity, and inclusion. In our capacity as dance educators, we must seize the moment and make changes to our classrooms, institutions, communities, and beyond.