RESOURCES
With this list, I’d like to share some resources that have benefited my own teaching practice and ones I frequently find myself passing along to students and colleagues— the majority of these focus on dance practice/education of modern/contemporary and creative movement. I hope you’ll take or leave what’s useful to you, and dig deeper to find more resources from where these point. Of the many free resources listed here, information about how to compensate the teachers and leaders behind it is often included within the resource itself.
For Dance Practitioners
Dance happens in every place and culture worldwide, now and throughout history. So that means opportunities to dance are everywhere, in your home, on the street, online, with friends and family, indoors or outdoors, in or out of class. And a special shoutout to Dance Mission and Cora Dance for offering great classes that include ones that are free and recorded. Many studios have options meant to be overcome cost as an access barrier, but it might take some research-- If you’d like help finding the right fit, let me know.
For Dance Educators
...for your teaching practice:
Dance Union Town Hall: Dismantling White Supremacy in Dance Institutions
(This resource deserves to be listed twice, and so it is: I strongly recommend Sydnie Mosley’s presentation for dance educators, beginning at 1:18, as well as the entire event related to dance institutions).
Dance Pedagogy for a Diverse World: Culturally Relevant Teaching in Theory, Research, and Practice by Nyama McCarthy Brown
Creative Dance for All Ages by Anne Green Gilbert
First Steps in Teaching Creative Dance to Children by Mary Joyce
Teachers are as Racially Biased as Everyone Else, by Madeline Will
The Breathing Book, by Donna Farhi
Community Programs, Gibney Dance. Take a look at the four-part model described on this page.
...for the classroom:
Dances during 2020 Black Lives Matter protests:
MiRi Park’s public Google document
Dancing Bodies That Proclaim: Black Lives Matter
Choreographers sharing their creative practices:
Donald Byrd, Alvin Ailey Dance Company, Greenwood
Maria Baumann Morales, (re)Source
Elizabeth Streb, My Quest to Defy Gravity and Fly
Yin Yue, Pennsylvania Ballet, A Trace of Inevitability
William Forsythe, Room Writing (first in series of video tutorials) and The National Ballet of Canada, Physical Thinking
Rhodessa Jones, Cultural Odyssey and the Medea Project, "Gathering Stories at the Edge of the World"
Remy Charlip, Airmail Dances
Making connections between past and present:
A Visual History of Social Dance in 25 Moves, with Camille Brown:
Meet the Black Women Who Paved the Way for Post Modern Dance Today, by Melanie Greene
Resource Lists for Everyone interested in Dance
Many dancers/organizations/companies are leaders who sharing resources that support their communities. Here are just a few, with an emphasis on modern/contemporary concert dance, where you’ll find ways to contribute and learn:
A.I.M for Change, dancer-organized initiative sharing resources that support and advocate for the betterment of the Black community
Axis Dance Company, physically-integrated dance resources
The Dance Union, podcast, dancer relief fund, Collective Action resources
The International Association of Blacks in Dance, including books on Black Dance, black dancewear companies, online events and so much more…
Anti-Racism Resources and Dance Institutions
The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture, by Kenneth James and Tema Okun
Dance Union Town Hall: Dismantling White Supremacy in Dance Institutions (one of a series)
White Supremacy Culture at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, by Piper Thomasson, 12/2020