WE AFFIRM BLACK LIFE

The Dance Program has been deliberate in demonstrating an awareness of how Black Lives have been, and continue to be, impacted by systemic racism, savage acts of anti-Black violence, white privilege, injustice, brutality, inequity... the list goes on. Dance is a visible form, and because the anxiety, torment, distress, relentless discrimination and theft of life experienced by Black people is often invisibilized—not seen as valid or important—it is vital that WE Show up. Make it Visible. 

Dance is a practice which aids an understanding of culture, supports being and healing, produces meaningful research, and confronts social issues. It is a magnificent agent of change – and the Duke Dance Program has been consistently shaking the world into awareness.

Our faculty will continue to teach that Dance, in all its embodiments, can be a transformative force for social change. And as we acknowledge our ongoing commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion—within the program, across campus, and throughout the community—the Dance Program at Duke University reaffirms its pledge to value and to welcome Black lives. 

Reflections 

A space for voices within the Dance Program to give thought to Black lives in Dance. 

Ava Vinesett
“The lynching of black bodies from trees across the southern U.S. was ritual gathering. Throughout southern states, trees were used as instruments of violence during the wave of terror lynchings. In Yoruba practices, where trees are revered as landscapes of memory, as the dwelling space for the descension of orishas, as sacred instruments of healing, how might we engage in a process of re-consecrating sites of brutality? The Hanging Tree: Retying the Ìrókò is a work in progress, a work of resistance, a declaration to combat race-based discrimination, violence and brutality.” Ava LaVonne Vinesett, Associate Professor of the Practice 

 
placeholder
"Dance has been a tool used in the fight for liberation for African American and Afro-Diasporic peoples from the beginning of time. We protect, we mourn, we commune, we elevate, we pray, we venerate, we celebrate through the art of dance and music. In my own work and in collaboration with the other students and faculty in the Dance program at Duke, I know that we will continue to create and hold space with our bodies in movement for the true liberation of African peoples." Namajala Naomi Washington, MFA Student

 
image of M Klien
“My work has been specifically concerned with destabilizing dominant systems that are acting upon our thoughts and bodies, individually as well as collectively. Hence, through my artistic and academic work I endeavor to connect individuals to a more equitable future by cultivating genuinely alternative systems and institutions to inhabit. Choreography is thereby understood as ‘creating the conditions for things to happen’ in a deeply complex world.” Michael Kliën, Associate Professor of the Practice

 
image of michael klien
“I’m interested in studying how accessing and honoring embodied knowledge, particularly within marginalized communities, can empower folks while also helping to eradicate negative stereotypes and stigma.” Alyah Baker, MFA Student
image of alyah baker
“My areas of interest are based in: the historical trauma across generations; use/creation of public spaces as a black femme; and space as a tool for wellness.” Ayan Felix, MFA Student
image of ife presswood
“I am studying ways to evolve the scope of how we see dance bodies by expanding the perception of dancer to include ‘plus-size’ bodies, in both commercial and traditional lenses.” Ife Presswood, MFA Student

 

Activism in Action– Show up. Make it Visible. Dance!

New Curriculum 


Our newly-developed curriculum interweaves dance styles and cultural traditions through these areas—Dance Cultures; Being and Healing; Process, Practice, and Research; and Social Issues and Social Action. Read more
Slippage

SLIPPAGE@Duke


SLIPPAGE@Duke is a think-tank, an interdisciplinary performance research group that explores connections between performance, history, theater, and emergent technology. Under the direction of Professor of Dance Thomas F. DeFrantz, SLIPPAGE@Duke builds on the urgent need for intentional, critical, and timely interaction among artists, researchers, audiences, engineers, faculty, students, and general publics in the arts. Learn more
CADD

Afro-Feminist Performance Routes and the Collegium for African Diasporic Dance

Two bi-annual conferences that celebrate the contributions of Black dance, allowing artists and the community to share in critical inquiry and inspiration. Read more 
Indigo Yard Girls

Indigo Yard Gals


Associate Professor of the Practice Ava LaVonne Vinesett, with Jessica Almy-Pagán, form the core of the collective: Indigo Yard Gals. The site-specific works acknowledge the intentionality of creating home and community, integrating many traditions while rooted in practices amplifying energies of nature and the elevation of spirit. Learn more
Embodied Learning Summit

Embodied Learning Summit


This annual event is hosted by the Bass Connections Mindfulness in Human Development research team which is led by Keval Kaur Khalsa, Professor of the Practice, and Dr. Michele Tracy Berger, Associate Professor in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. The Embodied Learning Summit is a day-long gathering for teachers, students, community members, and activists to experience and discuss the relationship between yoga, mindfulness, movement work, and social justice.  Learn more
Dance Studies

Dance Studies Association Solidarity Statement 


Assistant Professor of the Practice Sarah Wilbur, sits on the board of the Dance Studies Association (DSA), an international organization of dance scholars, educators, and artists that aims to strengthen the visibility and increase the reach of dance as embodied practice, creative endeavor, and intellectual discipline. DSA recently released a statement strongly and unequivocally condemning global anti-Blackness and white supremacy.  Read more