A line of dancers perform a dance routine. Art by Sofia Savid ‘24
By Lucy Oster ’23
Staff Writer
On Friday, Sept. 24, Five College Dance and Mount Holyoke Division of Student Life, Office of Community and Belonging and the campus Cultural Centers hosted the second session of “RACE and … Dance,” a three-part dance workshop hosted on Zoom. The event was designed to allow the general public to learn about and appreciate African diasporic cultures “whose contributions to contemporary dance are often underexplored,” according to the event’s Embark page.
The session was curated by assistant professor of dance Shakia Barron and was led by Tatiana Desardouin, a professional dancer who founded, directed and choreographed the New York-based Passion Fruit Dance Company, which focuses on street and club dance styles.
Desardouin explained she decided to teach the workshop because “the representation of Black people is important.” She continued, “For us to represent our culture in this way is important. It would be stupid for me to say no [to teaching the session] now that we have the opportunity to do it.”
During the workshop, Desardouin taught house dance for around an hour and a half. Desardouin explained she partially likes house dance because, for her, there is “a sense of self-expression and spirituality.” She also prioritizes “the fact that it was created by Black people,” explaining that house dance gives people the freedom to be who they are.
“Anyone can come in, no matter who you are, as long as you acknowledge that this is a Black gay culture and you know that as a non-Black person and a non-queer person, you are a guest in this community, you are welcome in it,” Desardouin said.
Desardouin found the African diasporic element of “RACE and … Dance” to be deeply important. She shared that Afrocentric dance styles were not created to be taught in classrooms, but for more natural circumstances, like celebrations or storytelling. House dance was also not created to be taught in a classroom, “It was created in clubs, in order to celebrate, in order to release. Nobody taught it, it wasn’t a specific thing. It was really natural,” Desardouin said. Desardouin recreated this natural style of teaching during the Zoom workshop by offering consistent encouragement and not pressuring anyone to share.
According to the Five College Dance website, the next session of “RACE and … Dance” will take place on Oct. 15, from 4 to 6 p.m. It will focus on modern dance taught from an Africanist perspective with Christal Brown, a choreographer who works as an Associate Professor of Dance at Middlebury College.