Creating A Safe Dance Environment
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in Amy Hall Garner’s “As the Wind Blows”
Photo by Michelle Reid
Courtesy of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
March 29th: USArtists International, April 14th: Arkansas Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship, April 30th: Copenhagen International Choreography Competition, May 7th: Atlantic Center for the Arts Mentoring Artist-in-Residence Program, May 22nd: National Performance Network - Creation & Development Fund, May 31st: National Dance Project Travel Fund, June 1st: New York Choreographic Institute Residency, June 1st: Sadie-Rose Residency Program, June 12th: National Dance Project Production Grant - New England Foundation for the Arts, June 30th: South Arts Professional Development & Artistic Planning Grants
×Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in Amy Hall Garner’s “As the Wind Blows”
Photo by Michelle Reid
Courtesy of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
By Gretchen Alterowitz
Western concert dance techniques are often taught in an authoritarian manner, which separates the roles of instructors and students by demarcating who holds power and knowledge (instructors), and who is subject to power and needs to gain knowledge. Authoritarian models, while sometimes defended for their rigor or results, can be abusive (emotionally, psychologically, physically) and lead to fear, anxiety, and injury. Intimidated dancers are less creative, exploratory, and willing to take risks, and their capacity to learn and develop is diminished. Inclusive teaching reimagines traditional ideas about who can and should dance and what the studio environment should feel like, with the goal of creating equity, care, and growth opportunities for all participants.
Gretchen Alterowitz is an artist-scholar-educator whose research focuses on feminist, queer, and democratic dancemaking, performance, and teaching. Her writing is published in Dance Chronicle, Conversations Across the Field of Dance Studies, Journal of Dance Education, and the forthcoming Oxford Handbook on Contemporary Ballet. She is Associate Professor of Dance at UNC Charlotte, where she teaches ballet technique, choreography, and dance studies.