The Goethe-Institut Boston is delighted to host a discussion about diversity in dance with German author and journalist Alice Hasters and Kurt A. Douglas, Professor of Dance at Boston Conservatory.

Moderated by Peter DiMuro, Executive Director of The Dance Complex

Who dances and how, what we see as culturally and artistically relevant, is strongly influenced by racism – an assumption Alice Hasters is researching in her fellowship at the Thomas Mann House in LA. The notion that “Black people can dance, white people can’t” is particularly strong in multi-ethnic societies. In Western societies, dance seems to be something that is incompatible with power. The rich, the white, the male, the heterosexual, the old – they don’t dance – unless they have a stage or are not sober.
The conversation will focus on these questions:

To what extent does dance as a lived or as a non-lived practice shape black, white and other identities? Can dance be an instrument to dismantle and challenge positions of power? What does diversity in dance really mean? Is dance universal –can everybody dance? Or is dance an expression of your own specific identity?
Free and Open to the Public