Nancy Dobbs Owen
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Contributions to DEI; Statement
As an artist, activist, educator and student mentor, issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion have been central concerns in my creative output, classroom pedagogy, classroom culture, and the manner with which I engage students, academic institutions and the world at large.
I earned my MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts with a Performance Creation Concentration at Goddard College. My focus throughout was on how the systemic abuse cycles, combined with a lack of representation (sexual, racial, gender-based and cultural) lead to ingrained leadership imbalances and a culture of abuse and harm to dancers, institutions, and society as a whole.
I regularly participate in Continuing Education classes (Steps Foundation, NDEO), Industry workshops (Dancscend, Minding the Gap, AEA), and DEI seminars hosted by my institution(s). Reconciliation and the realignment of teaching and power structures is an ongoing process.
Representation and integrity fuel my work as a choreographer and director. I cast my pieces with dancers and actors that represent the actual world. If the piece is culturally or racially specific, then I cast performers from that ethnic background and collaborate with experts in any dance form that is beyond my expertise. For example, I directed a play set in the years after World War II. A soldier returned to the United States haunted by ghosts from Japan. The Japanese characters were all played by Japanese actors and we brought in a Butoh expert to choreograph and educate the dancers on that art form. Any work that is not specific to a culture is cast without regard to race, religion, sexual or gender identity, body type or any other external factor. This focus on inclusion is also reflected in my hiring of faculty and the acceptance of students into our program.
My course work focuses on a reconciliatory pedagogy that seeks to redress the exclusion of any contributors to dance other than white western culture. Semesters are built around central themes such as the contributions of the global majority, issues of cultural appropriation and a realignment of the language and importance placed upon western art forms.
This focus translates to a brave classroom space. Students are encouraged to use their voices, to speak of their experiences and to experiment with both movement and inspiration. Consent is essential in my classrooms. I continue to break down the traditional hierarchy of classical ballet. I have reworked dress codes, cover the mirror when at all possible, and do not use touch. Students who have felt abused by ballet and western dance throughout their training find a new and welcoming classroom. This approach has resulted in a significant drop in attrition among under-represented students in our program over the last two years.
I earned my MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts with a Performance Creation Concentration at Goddard College. My focus throughout was on how the systemic abuse cycles, combined with a lack of representation (sexual, racial, gender-based and cultural) lead to ingrained leadership imbalances and a culture of abuse and harm to dancers, institutions, and society as a whole.
I regularly participate in Continuing Education classes (Steps Foundation, NDEO), Industry workshops (Dancscend, Minding the Gap, AEA), and DEI seminars hosted by my institution(s). Reconciliation and the realignment of teaching and power structures is an ongoing process.
Representation and integrity fuel my work as a choreographer and director. I cast my pieces with dancers and actors that represent the actual world. If the piece is culturally or racially specific, then I cast performers from that ethnic background and collaborate with experts in any dance form that is beyond my expertise. For example, I directed a play set in the years after World War II. A soldier returned to the United States haunted by ghosts from Japan. The Japanese characters were all played by Japanese actors and we brought in a Butoh expert to choreograph and educate the dancers on that art form. Any work that is not specific to a culture is cast without regard to race, religion, sexual or gender identity, body type or any other external factor. This focus on inclusion is also reflected in my hiring of faculty and the acceptance of students into our program.
My course work focuses on a reconciliatory pedagogy that seeks to redress the exclusion of any contributors to dance other than white western culture. Semesters are built around central themes such as the contributions of the global majority, issues of cultural appropriation and a realignment of the language and importance placed upon western art forms.
This focus translates to a brave classroom space. Students are encouraged to use their voices, to speak of their experiences and to experiment with both movement and inspiration. Consent is essential in my classrooms. I continue to break down the traditional hierarchy of classical ballet. I have reworked dress codes, cover the mirror when at all possible, and do not use touch. Students who have felt abused by ballet and western dance throughout their training find a new and welcoming classroom. This approach has resulted in a significant drop in attrition among under-represented students in our program over the last two years.