Diversity Through Dance Workshop Overview

This workshop combines movement, interactive group discussion, hands-on activities, and lecture to immerse us in embodied practices of cultural diversity. We will come to see and feel the ancient art of dance for what it is at its deepest roots: a vehicle for building human connection through kinesthetic empathy. If we move in sync, we feel in sync.

I teach this course, or components of it, at the K-12 and College Level. 

We will experience a repertoire of Latin dance moves such as Merengue, Bachata, Salsa, and Cha-cha to engage in joyful and rhythmic forms of cultural awareness.

We will question preconceived notions of dance as a talent reserved for the gifted, highlighting it instead as a means of universal connection. Our goal will be to become something more than temporary cross-cultural tourists: to permanently extend the borders of our embodied selves, while learning the deep value of having fun together and experiencing the great power of dance in breaking through barriers. We will help each other step out of our often deceptive cultural comfort zones into a new, open space of experiential connection, collective empowerment, and democratic understanding. Throughout, the deep power of music in motion will bring us to feel and see each other as one.

• No prior dance skills are required.
• This is an elective course for the Certificate in Diversity & Inclusion
• View upcoming sessions

Course Taught at: 

• Osher Lifelong Learning Institute @ UGA
• Lebanon Valley College
• The University of Georgia
• Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education (CLASE)
• Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute (LACSI)

Are you interested in offering this workshop at your conference or institution? Request more information.