Dance and Advocacy

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When asked about potential intersections between dance and advocacy, dancers will most often point to examples of advocacy that supports dance itself. Advocacy for the inclusion of a particular dance form in public education curricula, appeals for government funding to support performances by local dance companies, and cases made to foundations for capital support to build new studios are common examples. These efforts position the dance student, artist or organization as the primary beneficiary of the resources being sought and can be viewed as motivated by self-interest. The justification for this kind of “dance advocacy” relies on the expectation that by supporting the dance student, artist or organization, there will be a ripple effect that eventually benefits the community at large.

Less often will dancers think about advocacy in a more outward-looking way, supporting efforts with the deliberate objective of capitalizing on dance’s inherent power to can bring people together in order to focus attention on issues that can more directly benefit the broader community — for example, using a dance-based event to advocate for increased local spending for at-risk youth programs, raise money for AIDS, or build solidarity for environmental justice.

Q1: Are you involved in, or familiar with, other dance-based efforts (single events, ongoing activities or long-term projects) that bring communities together and create new opportunities to raise awareness about a particular local or global issue?