Dance History Across Departments

This article contends that dance scholars must embrace the field’s inherent interdisciplinarity by teaching dance history beyond the context of traditional Dance departments, making dance more accessible to students regardless of field of study or prior experience. Drawing on the author’s experience teaching dance history in History and African American Studies, the article explores strategies for welcoming new students to the field across departmental contexts. It begins with activities and readings that familiarize students with the idea of thinking about dance. Then, it shares approaches for building a course syllabus centered on primary sources, diversifying the dance history canon, and challenging aesthetic hierarchies. Finally, it offers ideas for teaching dance writing in a manner that interrogates bias and empowers students to hone their own interpretive voices. Altogether, the piece emphasizes dance history’s potential to transcend conventional departmental boundaries and teach students to become more incisive, confident, and holistic thinkers

Art · Art history · Dance · Field (mathematics) · Interdisciplinarity · Media studies · Social science · Sociology · Visual arts · Diversity and Impact of Dance · History · Physical education and sports games research · Sports, Gender, and Society