DANCE/NYC 2021 SYMPOSIUM
Lead Corporate Sponsor Con Edison

Justice Track
A Reckoning of Power, Accountability, and Gender Equity

Wednesday, March 17/ Thursday, March 18/ Friday, March 19/ Saturday, March 20

Featured Speakers:

Lauren Wingenroth, Editor in Chief, Dance Teacher and Dance Business Weekly, Senior Consulting Editor, Dance Magazine (moderator)
Germaul Barnes, Choreographer, Director, Master Educator, Scholar, Designer and Curator of Contemporary Improvisation for Black Men
Lady Krow, Dancer and Visual Artist
Leslie Scott, Founder Youth Protection Advocates in Dance (YPAD)
Linda La, Artistic Activist, Transgender Advocate, Performance Poet

Presenter from The Actors Fund: Mario Ismael Espinoza, LMSW, Dancers' Resource Social Worker, The Actors Fund
Mental Health Support Clinicians from Okay Let’s Unpack This:
Catherine Drury, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Psychotherapist
Anginese Phillips, Licensed Creative Arts Therapist, Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist, Co-Director of Full Force Wellness & Dance Repertory

I came to the party late, but the DANCE/NYC 2021 SYMPOSIUM went out with a bang! Justice Track – A Reckoning of Power, Accountability, and Gender Equity closed out the four-day event, whose mission was to promote and encourage the knowledge, appreciation, practice, and performance of dance in the metropolitan New York City area.

The panel started out by introducing themselves with detailed descriptions of what they look like, where they were, identifying gender pronouns, and able/disabled status. Present throughout the entire discussion were ASL interpreters. Inclusion was the name of the game. And in case you were thinking that dance is just a fluid movement of toned bodies, extravagant costumes, and melodious background songs, this panel quickly dispelled that notion. They discussed oppressive practices, such as sexual harassment, gender inequity, body obsession, and putting health on the back burner because the show must go on. At times, the exchanges were raw, vulnerable, frightening, thoughtful, and inspirational. In the Chat Room, Mental Health Clinicians stood by providing self-care advice and resources to help those who may be triggered by the revelations. No quick fixes were offered but the event left participants with the feeling that they were not alone and that there were advocates working to reimagine the dance ecology. Powerful!

- Laurie Lawson -