Dancers Concerned with Departmental Change

The Color of Protest: Last springšs dance performance Colors of Rhythm highlighted the controversy within the dance department about support of non-European dance. (file photo)

With both the Dance Diaspora concert, entitled Makibaka, and a review board visit occurring this weekend, in the theater and dance department, thoughts return to last semester's protest and petition which advocated a more representative department and curriculum.

The protestors' petition demanded that the department change from its lack of institutional support of students of color.

Opinions differ on the department's response to the protest this semester.

"The dance department is making an effort to make everyone feel included," sophomore dance representative Laura Daugherty said.

Sophomore dance major Nija Whitson said, "In regards to the department itself, I don't think much has really changed."

Theater and dance chair Paul Moser said, "Some very definite changes have happened. The first thing to clarify is that some of the students involved with the protest were unaware of how the faculty felt. The theater and dance faculty also get frustrated with the limitations of resources."

Some recent actions considered relevant to the push outlined in the petition were the change to tenure-track from visiting status for Adenike Sharpley, professor of dance and African American Studies, and the addition of Visiting Professor Jonathan Jackson into a semester-long position.

"I think the most important thing that happened was that Adenike Sharpley got a real, permanent, job. Dean [now Acting President] Koppes did the right thing and sat down with everybody involved and came up with a very good job description for her - it's a nice package. And it kind of assures that she's going to be here and that she's treated more equitably. That's the main thing. I think what the students didn't understand was that everybody wanted that," Moser said.

Senior African American studies major Johanna Almiron agreed that Sharpley's addition as more permanent staff was a positive step, saying, "Adenike's classes represent all of the things that Oberlin strives for, whether or not it's in the College or the community relations she teaches outside of the class. Dance Diaspora is a company that always goes around. We always do residencies. We always teach kids through Oberlin public school. The kind of art that Adenike cultivates is community based."

Sharpley said, "I have to definitely say that protest is sometimes necessary. Sometimes you have to speak a little louder for people to listen. The support from the students who took my classes and worked with me, as well as colleagues who supported me, were a big help in getting the position."

Many were pleased with Jackson's appointment although some questioned whether his temporary position was only a sign of temporary support.

Junior dance representative Mary Moran said, "Jonathan Jackson's presence on the dance faculty has contributed to the students' interests for a more diverse dance curriculum. However it is only a start, and I am not confident that the dance program will continue to push for a more diverse faculty after his [semester] is done at Oberlin."

Almiron said, "It was interesting that we had a new faculty member, Jonathan Jackson, and how swift his position came into being. They recruited him over the summer. It is interesting how popular that course is, and that he is only here for a semester."

Some argue that the spark for last year's protest began with contesting needs for limited amounts of rehearsal and performance spaces. Some students felt that these venues were not prioritized for student of color groups, like those rehearsing for Colors of Rhythm.

Moser said, "Unfortunately, the college really hasn't kept up with resources, particularly for the extracurricular groups. We do pretty well on the curricular side though there are some issues still with that. But it's impossible, given our limited space, to provide for the growing number of extracurricular groups. It's not just the students of colors, or just the dancers. There's also all the theater groups and what not."

Investigations into the College's allocation of space are taking place, including the proposal to renovate Hales Gym and Crane Pool.

But dance majors think that will take too long. Whitson said, "The Warner gym expansion isn't going to happen for 10 years. That name and that project keeps getting thrown up, but they're not talking about the fact that [the space is] needed right now."

She explained the difficulty in locating space, particularly for people of color's extracurricular activities. "If you're in a choreography class, or if you're a major, you can get space, but how many people of color are in those classes? And that's not fair to those people," Whitson said.

Almiron said, "All problems with space come through the base level of how the theater and dance department are set up. If it's set up under Eurocentric white supremacy, then obviously, people of color aren't going to have access to those resources.

"Taking that into account, modern and European forms will get the priority on the institutional curricular level over the professors who serve other communities. But in my experience as an African American Studies major, not a Dance Major, the issue, everyone wants to say, isn't racial. Just ask yourself, 'who normally gets space?'" he said.

Moser said, "When we had a dialogue last spring, a lot of the theater kids were talking to Colors of Rhythm, saying, 'you are not alone.' Somehow, they thought they were singled out when they couldn't get space in the building, but that's an ongoing problem for everyone. It's created a tension between curricular and extracurricular and that shouldn't be there. The extracurricular groups need their own spaces that they control."

Almiron said, "We can agree to work on getting space as long as we can all agree that space is racialized, and that if there's a hierarchy of entitlement to spaces that is based on curriculum, that that curriculum is Eurocentric and racist."

African American Studies professor James Millette said of the situation, "Students were saying that there was some cultural insensitivity in the dance section of the theater and dance department. And I'm not sure that that problem of cultural insensitivity has been resolved."

Furthermore, he proposed there was a fundamental conflict in the concept of "dance."

"There is a problem, centering on the question: 'What is dance? What is legitimately perceived as dance?' I think that dance needs to be multicultural. That dance can't only be whatever is described with an Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American, European, definition," Millette said.

"I think that in the same way that we found it necessary to argue for the specific introduction of programs in African American studies and Black studies, and in the same way that people now are discussing questions about comparative American studies program, with a view of broadening the curriculum - the same way dance has been broadened."

On future discussions, Millette said, "There's been talk. I wouldn't say there's been dialogue. We haven't sat down with the theater and dance department and discussed what dance is, but I think that that might be a useful exercise."

Addressing the definition of dance as a historical educational tool, Almiron said, "Dance is part of a ritual. Dance is a form of oral history for traditional cultures, for people of color, for everyone. If there's no assertion to dance, then you won't ever know that history."

Whitson said, "They need to definitely review the petition again and find out where students were coming from."