[Amplify a Voice: Dance as Protest]
Over the past few days I read a request from a person of color to white people – to amplify their voices instead of our own. That resonates. Please read what MiRi Park compiled on their public Google doc. If you’d like your voice amplified, anonymously or with citation, my blog, my social accounts, and everything I am is yours. #BlackLivesMatter #NotOneMore
June 9, 2020
Thanks to Siobhan Burke at the NY Times for the shout-out!
June 5, 2020
This doc is collating instances of protest that have occurred in response to the current moment, to be more specific, within the last 10-11 days since the first protest began in MN on 5/26/20. These instances of protest can be on the street AT the protests, or things like people flooding police apps to upload footage of violence with Kpop videos/fancams, or choreographed pieces in direct response to the moment like Jakevis Thomason’s piece.
The only section on here that is not specifically about this moment is “Background Reading.” This section includes essays, articles, and books by or about critical dance scholars who research protests and movement, for those who are curious about how to think and write about this.
Hope this helps to clarify what this doc seeks to do.
Also – later today I will likely re-organize the doc by date and then list the category underneath.
If you plan on using this information in any kind of way or has been of any assistance, and you would like to recognize the labor I’ve put into this, please consider donating to one of the following organizations. (I’m not financially able to give at the moment, so this would mean a lot!)
- https://www.joincampaignzero.org/
- DeDe McClure Community Bail Fund
- Or to any org listed here
- Or commit to do an action listed on the M4BL Week of Action
June 4, 2020
Hi fellow dancers, dance enthusiasts, dance scholars, and dance lovers who are protesting or bearing witness~
I’m compiling this list of dance and protest during the moment of current uprisings in response to the recent police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and the #BlackLivesMatter anti-racism movement. This is a crowd-sourced list that is open and available to any and all who would like to reference it for scholarship, or for examples of how other organizers are protesting with dance.
I will also add information for protests that plan on including dance as the center of their activism.
Please submit links to footage or articles here: https://forms.gle/SYU2NGdmVGf7e4sTA
In solidarity,
MiRi Park
Lecturer, Cal State Channel Islands | Performing Arts Program
PhD student, UCLA | World Arts and Cultures/Dance
Associate Choreographer | 20th Anniversary Tour, RENT
IG: @seoulsonyk | Twitter: @themiripark
June 7, 2020
Harlem, NY: Dance for George (IG)
Description: Dance as Protest
Chula Vista, CA: Cupid Shuffle (YouTube – aerial view, no sound)
Description: Dance as Protest
Spokane, WA: Yoga
Description: Dance Movement as Protest
Spokesman.com reporting
Boyle Heights, CA: Danzantes Azteca
Description: Dance as Protest
KCRW reporting
Minneapolis, MN: Electric Slide “Before I Let Go,” by Beyonce (IG)
Description: Protest-turned-Dance Parties
Washington DC: Go-Go (IG) (IG)
Description: Dance (Music) as Protest