Black Dance Change Makers is preparing to study Black hair in dance, and we’re looking for Black dancers to join the research team!
 
Black Dance Change Makers is a group of Black dancers redefining performance through choreographed movements of change. We unite and uplift our community through leadership, education, and service.
 
We’re looking for dancers to help us conduct this study, and examine how navigating the world with Black hair, has impacted dancers’ training, career, and life. There has been a lot of work over the past few years around Black hair, especially with the work of The CROWN Act (“Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” The Official Campaign of The CROWN Act Led by the CROWN Coalition). We’ve examined the challenges of navigating the world with Black hair, but the specific needs of dancers have been mostly left out of the conversation. Considering how white-centered the world of ballet and western dance styles, in general, can be, dancers’ experiences deserve to be examined! In turn, said research will help us better create policies and resources to improve how dance and the dance institution interact with Black hair.

This project centers the following values of BDCM:
-Learning, Openness, Curiosity, Creativity
-Community, Collective Responsibility, Responsiveness
-Respect
-Celebration, Joy
-Honoring Legacies and Ancestors
-Uniqueness and Cultural Sensitivity/Awareness

Who YOU are:
-A Black dancer age 18+.
-A dancer with interests in community organizing, research, and social justice.
-A person with interest or experience in data collection.
-We’re especially interested in multi-marginalized dancers, including fat, trans and non-binary, disabled dancers, or dancers with kids involved in performing arts/dance.

Commitment:
-We anticipate having two, 1.5 - 2 hour monthly meetings, with additional optional one-on-one or small group meetings.
-This phase of our work is slated to go until April 2024, and we are looking for people interested in committing until then.

Information Session:
If you’re interested in joining the team for this study, please join us for an information session on Wednesday, March 8, from 7:30 - 8:30 pm ET!
 There we will share our full proposal and answer any questions.

RSVP Here!

Can't make the meeting, but still wanted to get involved?
Shoot us an email at hello@blackdancechangemakers.com!