Dance Spirit has highlighted college dance programs committed to dismantling white supremacy. But what if you arrive at your dream dance school to find that Western dance forms are at the center of every core requirement, or that your reading list doesn’t feature a single nonwhite academic? We spoke with Alex Christmas, a doctoral student […]
You may know—or have seen on social media—that International Human Rights Day is in December. But did you know December is also Universal Human Rights Month? Communities all over the world designate this time to acknowledge the basic rights of every human, and to celebrate the idea that we all deserve to be treated with […]
In New Orleans, LA, Dancing Grounds is more than just your average dance studio. Of course, the students dance—but they also have the opportunity to use their artistic talents to advocate for social justice issues. Founded in 2012, Dancing Grounds has hosted six Dance for Social Change festivals. They originally started as a series of […]
If you are a non-Black dancer, you likely want to be an ally to Black dancers, but you might not know where to start. You might even be thinking, “What does it mean to be an ally?” Allyship, says Melanie Person, co-director of The Ailey School in NYC, is “the process by which people build […]
With the 2020 election right around the corner, many have taken to social media to rally around the need to vote. This is especially true for members of the dance community, many of whom are concerned about how the election will impact not only the future of their careers, but also their human rights. The […]
Dance and activism can go hand in hand in a number of ways. Over the past few months, many dancers have turned to their art not only to advocate in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, but to highlight injustice within the dance world itself. Whether it’s incorporating dance into protests, starting conversations with […]