Black Beauty Dance
What began as a healing circle for my Black identifying students quickly evolved into a powerful platform for embodied research, cultural education, and artistic mentorship. Amidst a global pandemic and heightened racial trauma, Black Beauty Dance created a virtual space for dancers to gather in community, to move, reflect, and learn from one another and professional artists in the field. In a moment of profound grief and isolation, we found strength and connection through shared movement and dialogue.
The series has since expanded to include over 45 professional dance artists and scholars from across the country who have generously shared their knowledge, artistry, and wisdom with students. These sessions have taken the form of dance classes, lectures, historical deep dives, and open conversations, all centering the lived experiences, aesthetics, and contributions of Black artists. I participated in every session, whether dancing, discussing, or listening. The knowledge I gained through this work deeply informs my teaching, curriculum, and choreographic research. I continue to reference the artists’ teachings in my classes, weaving their insights into the language, movement quality, and cultural grounding of my work.
Grounded in Black feminist theory, culturally responsive pedagogy, and practices of communal care, Black Beauty Dance exemplifies how artistic practice can also be a scholarly methodology. It fosters long lasting relationships between students and professional artists, creating a living archive of intergenerational learning and mentorship. These collaborations extend beyond the workshop space and speak to the power of dance as a tool for lifelong connection, mentorship, and cultural continuity.
Black Beauty Dance is an integral part of my scholarly portfolio. It models how creative practice can function as both a rigorous academic endeavor and a form of community building in times of profound need. By centering healing, collective learning, and cultural transmission, this initiative redefines what scholarship can look like. Affirming that academic rigor exists not only in lecture halls or publications, but also in the spaces where people come together to move, hear each other, feel supported, reflect, and build lasting community.
“I decided to pay for dance artists to work with the students out of my own pocket. I then asked the college for some assistance. They were able to give me some funds, but not enough to continue this workshop series. I am asking for your help in donating to this workshop series. I am looking to bring in more dance artists to not only share their dance history with us, but to give us their words of wisdom for the future, educate us, and be in-network with a great dance community. Please donate any amount that you can. All of the funds will go to the artists that lead a workshop, and books that we are interested in reading together.”
– Shakia Barron
Workshop Archive
Black Beauty Dance has had a diverse program of workshops ranging from movement classes to lectures and discussions. To see content from each workshop, please visit our Instagram page.
March 2021
March 21 King Charles
March 20 Lauren Cox
March 14 Kelli Forman
January 2021
January 10-11 Andrew Ramsay
November 2020
November 22 Hope Boykin
November 15 Andre Zachary
October 2020
October 18 Kyle Abraham
October 11 Jamila Jackson
October 4 Kyle Marshall
October 2 Aaron Thomas
September 2020
September 27 Yvonne Hernández
September 20 Lauren Cox
August 2020
August 14 Omari Wiles
August 13 Cricket
August 12 Michelle Kouakou
August 11 Nubian Néné
August 10 Ronald K Brown
August 6 Aime Mbye
August 5 Tweet Boogie
August 4 Nubian Néné
July 2020
July 30 Chawnta
July 29 Misses JoJo
July 28 Daniel Moore
July 27 Brotherhood Dance
July 23 Rennie Harris
July 23 Robert Moses
July 22 B-Girl Macca
July 21 Lida Winfield
July 20 Janelle Gilchrist
July 16 Buddha Stretch
July 15 LaTasha Barnes
July 14 Stephanie Martinez
July 13 Laurice Jiggets
July 8 Caroline Fermin
July 7 Maree Remalia
July 2 Shakia Barron
July 1 Aishah Murray
June 2020
June 30 Shakia Barron
June 29 Courtney D Jones
June 25 Jenny Oliver
June 24 Jamila Jackson
June 23 Gesel Mason
June 22 India ‘Ingine’ Hyman
June 22 Fyness
June 17 Christal Brown
June 17 Kashana (Kash) Sharif
June 16 Courtney D Jones
June 15 Tatiana Desardouin
June 10 Sakina Ibrahim
June 9 Jennifer Archibald
Funders
