RACE AND…Dance

RACE AND…Dance

A series devoted to exploring African diasporic dance forms and using embodiment to discuss race in America

RACE AND…Dance was a curated educational series that explored the profound relationship between African diasporic dance forms and the lived experiences, histories, and cultural legacies of Black and Afro-descendant communities. Conceived in collaboration with the Mount Holyoke College Division of Student Life’s RACE AND… series and the College’s Common Read, The 1619 Project, the initiative invited participants to engage with race, culture, and identity through embodied learning. I developed and lead RACE AND…Dance out of a commitment to create space for critical conversations around race through the lens of movement. Designed for Five College students—and later expanded to the general public—the series bridged the gap between academic inquiry and creative practice by offering access to African diasporic dance forms alongside the cultural, political, and historical contexts in which they emerged.

The six-session virtual series featured leading Black and Afro-diasporic dance artists and scholars, including Moncell Durden, Ronald K. Brown, LaTasha Barnes, Ana “Rokafella” Garcia, Brother(hood) Dance, and Adanna Kai Jones. Each session focused on a distinct dance form—such as African folkloric, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Mexican, Caribbean, Jazz, or Hip-Hop—and included both a lecture and a movement component, followed by a Q&A and dialogue. Sessions were open to all, regardless of prior dance training, and incorporated assigned readings and media to support deep engagement with each artist’s work.

By engaging with African diasporic movement vocabularies and their sociopolitical roots, participants developed a deeper understanding of race and cultural identity not only intellectually but somatically. This work served as a direct extension of my scholarship and pedagogical practice. By centering African diasporic dance as both a rigorous academic discipline and a lived cultural practice, I used this series to model how embodied research, culturally responsive pedagogy, and artistic curation can function as scholarly methodologies that generate new knowledge, build community, and challenge dominant frameworks within dance studies and higher education.

RACE AND…Dance was also a community building project. The sessions fostered intergenerational connections, mentorship, and long lasting relationships between students, faculty, and artists across institutions. The project affirmed that scholarly labor can take the form of curation, collaboration, and collective learning, and that dance practice can serve simultaneously as a mode of resistance and a site of healing.

RACE AND…Dance was also a community building project. The sessions fostered intergenerational connections, mentorship, and long-lasting relationships between students, faculty, and artists across institutions. The project affirmed that scholarly labor can take the form of curation, collaboration, and collective learning, and that dance practice can serve simultaneously as a mode of resistance and a site of healing. Faculty from across the Five Colleges regularly attended sessions, often inviting their families, friends, and colleagues to join. Many expressed their excitement at the opportunity to engage with dance forms that were not readily accessible through their institutions. The series filled a critical gap in curriculum and community programming by offering culturally rooted movement experiences that were both intellectually rigorous and deeply moving. Participants frequently shared how the series expanded their understanding of embodied knowledge, challenged their assumptions about race and representation in dance, and renewed their commitment to inclusive and anti-racist pedagogies.

RACE AND…Dance provided a meaningful space for movement, reflection, and critical engagement, standing as a testament to the transformative power of dance and to the importance of centering Black cultural knowledge within academic institutions. The series was so well received that I was awarded funding by the Massachusetts Cultural Council to curate a second installment, which focused specifically on Black femme-identifying choreographers. This follow-up series further expanded the reach and impact of RACE AND…Dance, offering public-facing workshops that honored the artistic labor, cultural insight, and leadership of Black women in the field of dance.

Supported by all Five College Dance departments—Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and UMass—as well as Mount Holyoke’s Office of Student Life, Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Cultural Centers

Series One

Series Two

Five College Dance Newsletter on RACE AND…Dance

RACE AND… Dance News: