Diversity, Inclusive Teaching and Cultural Competency Statement
I am a white American male dancer who has trained and performed for many years in Euro-American concert dance forms such as classical ballet and modern/contemporary dance. In addition, I grew up dancing in the diverse and colorful city of San Francisco, California, where I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in dance styles such as flamenco, folklorico, and afro-haitian. Learning each of their movement stylings, spatial patterns, and the social relationships they enact enriched my artistic upbringing and broadened my sense of the world I lived in. Through this personal dance history, I recognize the importance of diversity, inclusive teaching and cultural competency.
Though my personal dance form has a certain identity, my teaching aims to offer students an understanding of dance and dance technique that decolonizes certain Euro-American dance constructs. For example, I don’t use a hierarchical balletic social structure such as corps de ballet/soloist/principal dancer - everyone is equal in my class. My class begins and ends in a circle to symbolize unity and community. I continually ask students to shift themselves around spatially so as not to always be in the front or back of the dance studio or classroom. I encourage students to observe each other, find inspiration and learn from one another. Instead of using ballet vocabulary, I use anatomical and kinesiological terminology, somatic imagery and metaphors to express and explain the movement exercises. I aim to teach students to notice their personal mental and physical state of well-being. This approach delivers an organic, personal, and social dance experience. I do not want my students' training and education to be limited to Euro-American concert dance forms as I was in my dance education, and contextualize ballet and modern dance styles like Graham or Cunningham as only certain possibilities for achieving sound technique and being "performance" ready.
I use a blend of gestures, postures, steps, movement qualities, and rhythmic patterns to create a modern/contemporary technique class that emphasizes the individual dancer’s use of weight and momentum, spatial awareness, and the development of a vibrant relationship with the self and others. Similarly, in the way that dance can entice, invoke, worship, and entertain deities and spiritualities, I encourage students to sense their inner body--muscles, bones, joints, blood, lymph, ligaments, tendons, and viscera--not only as a method for strengthening dance technique, but also to celebrate their bodies, artistic and creative voices, and to align their mind, body, and spirit.
A diverse dance education should expand one’s understanding of and meaning behind dance. It's an opportunity to connect with culture deeply, and cultivate personal growth. In a curriculum, rather than appropriating non-Euro-American styles to fulfill a policy, I would aim to bring in guest teachers to teach dance forms from around the world. I would find and reach out to history professors, dance history professors, dance students and non-dance students, professionals and expert practitioners, who have a background and specialize in non-Euro-American cultural forms. This priority would apply to my own courses as well as a program plan, and would aim to define what dance technique is and can be for students.
As I look into the future and see myself as a director of a dance school or chair of a dance department, my mission is to develop a curriculum that makes room for students to learn a variety of world dance forms and behaviors and share their artistic endeavors, creative ideas, and research with faculty and students. This method of pedagogy will strengthen students' bodies, empower their voices, and enrich their appreciation for dance, life, each other, and the world around them. I acknowledge that I do not have the ideal solution–diversity, inclusive teaching, and cultural competency are “living” endeavors that need to be addressed and revised continuously to enrich dance education. I will strive to discover ways to implement these issues into a curriculum as I pride myself on holding a safe space for students to learn about themselves; learn from each other; interact and collaborate with others; and respect one another.
This is a teaching blue print that can offer a learning environment that encourages and fosters students to I see the value in embracing diversity and inclusion. It I would strive students get an in depth experience of the cultural and intellectual background of the said dance form. teaching does not obliterate voices.and This would diversify the class curriculum and emphasis the importance of the world up and strengthens our appreciation for our lives, each other, and the world around us. The world is home to diverse societies and cultures and is rich with tradition, ritual, knowledge, and wisdom. In the United States newcomers enter our schools: immigrants from countless cultures, with their own ways of seeing and being in the world. The way we educate should not be one-dimensional and limited to Western/Eurocentric dance forms, pedagogies, concepts, or philosophies. Rather than overlooking inclusion, we need to include plurality and multiplicity in our curriculum for people to have a sense of belonging and they can be their authentic selves. Instead of merely accepting diversity, I value it and embrace each student’s identity and heritage. Through codified movement styles, writing, text, and class discussions to encourage kin-aesthetic experiences, reflection, and cultural acceptance, I foster my students to be proud of who they are, grow as global citizens, and be dynamic artists.
I strive to create class syllabi and class environments to bring students together in ways that help them stand out, empowering them to connect, belong, and grow. Everyone has the freedom to express themselves regardless of a person's race, religion, gender, or physical disabilities. Anyone who desires to broaden their dance education, and its diverse history and theory are welcome in my class. People are born with an inherent sense of curiosity, inquiry, rhythm, and movement, and dance is their birthright. Denying anyone this right is oppressive to their mind, body, and spirit.
and not uphold western dance legacies. experience bodies.
Students have physical limitations and attributes, and they should not feel pressuered or harassed to acieve certain goals in their traingin and education. of dance trainging should not be to perfect but to a
develop self awareness;