What is 'African dance'? Is the label 'African dance' representative enough of the diverse dance traditions in African communities, or is it just another form of tokenism? How is the term 'African dance' rooted in the histories of colonial racism against the African people? What are the dangers of using the same label as an attempt at instituting…

In her seminal text, "Feminist Theory: From the Margin to the Center," bell hooks calls attention to the "transformative impact the eradication of sexist oppression could have on all of our lives." She goes on to say that "challenging sexist oppression is a crucial step in the struggle to eliminate all forms of…

It is my belief that a prevailing colonial mentality in higher education dance spaces, as it relates to jazz dance, is responsible for the lack of serious engagement and appropriate regard. This article makes the argument for the decolonization of higher education spaces, advocating for fuller engagement with the jazz genre and positioning it to…

We contend that improvements are needed in current dance audition practices in higher education regarding inclusivity, equitability, and diversity. As a case study, we critically evaluated and modified audition practices at Ball State University with a specific goal to generate strategies and future considerations that provide a more inclusive,…

Postsecondary dance programs in the United States have been called upon to reconsider their curricula and pedagogical approaches in relation to racial equity. Historically students enter university with the belief that ballet is the foundation of dance, which is devaluing to dance forms outside ballet. As academia looks to build more inclusive…

In this essay, we center hip-hop culture and Black cultural legacies. We envision and offer a two-fold framework which illuminates the intersection between the two. We explore ways that the Black cultural experience (or better yet Black cultural praxis) has always brilliantly and organically demonstrated the shape and form of a scholarship of…

Zadok Adolu-Otojoka (b. 1932) is one of the prominent music educators and professional performers in the recent history of arts education in East Africa. A Ugandan by nationality, Adolu-Otojoka has served in different professional capacities as music educator, opera singer, folk musician, dancer, composer, and education/culture administrator, at…

In world music ensembles such as African and African Caribbean percussion ensembles, the Gamelan ensemble, and the Latin marimba ensemble, members may sing a song, play instruments, and dance simultaneously. This practice is known as music multitasking. For musicians in Western art music traditions, music multitasking can be a challenge. This…

This article revisits the "jongo" activity 'Pisei na Pedra' (2014) integrated into the "Nossa Casinha" guide (Martins & Sala, 2022) for teaching Portuguese to migrant children. "Jongo" is seen as an Afro-Brazilian form of expression, encompassing chants, drumming, collective dance, and spirituality (Rufino, 2014,…

This study aims to provide practical methods for teaching "world/urban" dance courses in higher education in the 21st century. We discuss problematic terminology in our courses and suggest a new term to better reference these dance forms. Eight methods are discussed for assisting teachers and expanding student perspectives in…

Somatic memoirs from the author's participation at dance intensives with acclaimed dancer-choreographer Moustapha Bangoura in the West African Republic of Guinea reveal how solo dance experiences can test acoustic literacy, promote music interaction, and foster an aptitude for movement invention. These skills are fundamental to West African dance…

Rhythmic virtuosity or moving with "percussive attack" is an ultimate performance quality for Black/African dance. The practice of musicality is a window into a dynamic system of intersubjective communal creativity. Drumming, for example, provides percussive sensorial information that directs a dancer's somatic and choreographic…

Hip-hop is an African folk art birthed in America. Whether one simply observes the tonal language that puffs the breath of life into the lyric prose of rap music, the poly-rhythms of the "boom-bap" rhythmic phrasings that became a fixture of New York rap music in the late 1980s, the winding syncopation from the pounding "808"…

Indigenous dances in communities that underwent European colonialism and Christianization are currently practiced in environments that still carry colonial legacies. Without formal dance teachers' training programs and frameworks, individuals in postcolonial Africa have leveraged local resources, social experiences, and individual innovation to…

Poetry informed by indigenous knowledge systems, whether written, spoken or heard, offers ideal pathways for healing and transformation. Being "medicine" in the broadest non-clinical sense, it is deeply restorative as activism, as caregiving practice and as balm in the face of relentless assaults on our bodies and beings. This I…