Black Dance and Dancers and the White Public
Drawing from Brenda Dixon’s essay about white critics in the discourse on black dance, I notice a connection to a discussion in my Middle East class. Dixon’s comment about the white public looking at black dance as a whole entity, “White public considers that, regardless of style, Black dance is what Black dancers do” shows how white critics ignore the complexity and diverse styles of black dance. It is similar to the Western media portraying all Arabs as religious Muslims. Furthermore, having the White public judge which Black dance is acceptable or not shows inequality. It is as if the White public has knowledge and cultural domination over black dance, but in fact, the white critics are viewing Black dance through their own perspective, not listening to the cultural context of Black dance itself. I believe viewing Black dance and understanding it requires greater understanding of the roots of the dance, the music as well as the societal elements.
It is true that the White public has incorporated Black dance as part of the culture, and I believe the White/Black dance fusion is a good exchange between different people and spreads awareness of each other’s ability in dance. Ironically, White public still alienates and isolates Black dancers on the basis of their appearance, and I believe it is unjust. As Dixon comments, “No dancer or choreographer wants a separate category created for his or her work.”
White critics should not judge Black dance by using the White dance language, instead, the White public must understand Black dance by learning the different languages Black dance incorporates and speaks. When this process of mutual understanding occurs, we no longer have to alienate black dancers and truly create a White/Black dance fusion involving people regardless of their race.
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