Dear Dance Community... Good Dancers Don't Always Make Great Leaders.

Just like DIVERSITY and INCLUSION, the words LEADER and TEACHER/Choreographer should not be used interchangeably within the dance community.

Being a good choreographer or a popular dancer within the community does not make you qualified to be out front and presented as some type of leader. Thousands of follower or center front row spots at Vibe does not mean you are qualified to work with children, lead teams, or be given power. The dance community is guilty of putting “favorites” and popular dancers into roles of leadership without proper accountability, when at best they should only be teaching their choreography, making their concept videos and focusing more of their time on working on themselves.

Real effective leadership is much bigger than that.

Leaders, especially those working with children, are quite literally molding the future of the dance world. That is NOT something to be taken lightly.

Leaders create safe spaces for dancers to learn, grow, and become better HUMANS. Not create teams to place themselves out front like tyrants and dictators.

Leaders assure that dancers are heard regardless of the situation. They do not dismiss their dancer’s stories or experiences.

Leaders hold themselves accountable BEFORE they can point a finger at someone else. You can’t lead with mud on your face.

Leaders not only STEP BACK so black dancers’ voices can be heard, they continue to remind their teams the of importance of the black experience and the culture in which they are visitors to.

Leaders STEP UP to support victims, demand no less than justice for all involved, and seek the truth before anything else regardless of the PERSON or SITUATION.

Leaders remind their teams that sexual assault as well as the BLM are integral aspects of the dance world and are just as important if not more important than learning the next 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Leaders put time into not having reactionary responses, dismissals without research and blind support of whoever tf it is, because sometimes it’s bigger than if someone was your homie or your teammate.

Leaders teach respect, consent, appreciation, and honesty and a host of other LIFE essentials BEFORE they EVER teach a dance step. They remember that dance is one of the most venerable art forms in the world, and every dancer they come in contact with, deserves to be treated with not just respect but basic human decency as they are literally giving a part of their soul every time they dance.

Leaders push the community as a whole forward. They are not always the most popular, or the most well-known BUT they are surely the most important. They are the foundation of what makes the community a COMMUNITY.

The truth is, some of your faves are hot steaming trash. Not because they aren’t good dancers, not because they are not talented at what they do, BUT because they are flawed humans who were given platforms and power to feel as though they were above basic decency, above criticism and above using that power for good instead of evil. But the higher the pedestal the harder they fall.

I hope everyone in the community (and the entire dance industry) not only take time to reevaluate their faves, their friends and THEMSELVES, but also, more importantly, takes more time to decide what qualifies someone as a person to be looked up to, idolized, and adored. Then decide if a person is qualified to d be a leader, a teacher, should be working with kids, and has done enough work on themselves to justly stand upfront and really LEAD.

There is quite a lot of talking happening within the dance community now, as people are finding power in their voices and telling their stories. These conversations are often shocking, disheartening, and difficult to digest, but should NEVER stop. Newsflash: Dancers are people too. And there isn’t a single one of us who is above criticism.

However, the true test will not be on how quickly we are able to cancel someone after all of this is said and done, but in how we can successfully create a dance community where stories like these become fewer and far between and every single dancer knows what is unacceptable and will no longer be tolerated moving forward.

Period.  

We all love to say “dance is life”. Well, what’s happening right now, is as real LIFE as it gets.

Keep applying pressure on their necks but be check yourself too.

PS. Finding justice does not always have to be loud to be effective. Justice doesn’t point fingers at one movement and then turn its back on the other. If your goal is not to support the victims, move the culture forward, and create a better stronger, and safer dance community, move aside.