Whiteness and the Performance of Race in American Ballroom Dance

Bibliographic Data

ID2990893
AuthorsJoanna Bosse (0000-0002-7915-4832, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume120
Issue475
Pages19-47
Publication date2007-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of American Folklore (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-8715 • E-ISSN: 1535-1882
PublisherProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/jaf.2007.0002
OpenAlexW1966753427
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited47

Based on ethnographic fieldwork with predominantly white, middle-class, American ballroom dancers, this article discusses the ballroom as a site where problematic constructions of whiteness and otherness are embodied in performance. Through the genre classifications of "modern" and "Latin," whiteness is made universal and normative while the racial other is made particular and exotic, physical and sexual. The article argues that both dance classifications are manifestations of whiteness, mirrored reflections of one another that help to define whiteness by making invisible what whiteness is and explicitly pronouncing what whiteness is not

Art · Ballroom · Dance · Race (biology) · Sociology · Visual arts · Diversity and Impact of Dance · Gender Studies · Music History and Culture · Theater, Performance, and Music History

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