On September 4th, Governor Newsom signed AB2257 which modifies AB5 and creates several exemptions from the stricter requirements around independent contractors and employees. Read the full bill here. What does this mean for artists? Check out Californians for the Arts resource page.
Creating New Futures: Working Guidelines for Ethics & Equity in Presenting Dance & Performance
Dance artists across the country are collaborating to reimagine a more equitable and ethical dance world. Be a part of the conversation! Join the Creating New Futures facebook group, check out their in-progress working document and watch their Real Talk forum reflecting on their process.
Want to share the importance of dance education with your administrator?
Sometimes we need help talking to school administrators and other leaders about the value of arts education. Create CA offers a few resources here, including a short video to share to help you advocate for what you do.
Black people have the right to be free
Educating is a vocation rooted in hopefulness. As teachers we believe that learning is possible, that nothing can keep an open mind from seeking after knowledge and finding a way to know.
– bell hooks
Dear Luna Community,
As a children’s dance education organization dedicated to equity, we believe Black children have the right to be free.
Engaging in anti-racist work is an ongoing learning process. The process of writing this message, as a group, at Luna, has revealed that as an organization, we have a lot of work to do. We are on a continuum of learning and are dedicated to continually challenging our assumptions and biases in an effort to dismantle white supremacy culture.
Anti-black racism is a local and global issue that operates on many levels – internalized, interpersonal, structural, and systemic.There are many layers of unlearning and healing that must happen in solidarity with one another in order for liberation to occur.
We recognize people have been doing this work for a long time. Below is a list of several resources Luna faculty have learned from and would like to share to support all of us along our journey, wherever we are. We welcome the process of learning as we dive into these resources with you.
Together in the movement,
Luna Dance Institute
Aiano Nakagawa, Cherie Hill, Heather Stockton, Jochelle Pereña, Nancy Ng, Patricia Reedy, Samia Karimi
Anti-Racism Resources for adults:
- 13th (documentary)
- Scaffolding anti-racism resources (resource doc)
- White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo (book)
- Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad (book)
- The History of the Police (PDF)
- A Guide to Allyship (resource doc)
- Politically Reactive with W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu #53: What did we learn? With Alicia Garza and Wyatt Cenac (podcast episode)
- Reading List: Is This Moment Radicalizing You? (twitter thread)
- The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture by Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun (book excerpt)
Anti-Racism Resources for Parents and Educators:
- Your Kids Aren’t Too Young to Talk About Race: Resource Roundup (resource page)
- We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom by Dr. Bettina L. Love (book)
- bell hooks Teaching Trilogy: Teaching to Transgress, Teaching Critical Thinking, Teaching Community by bell hooks (books)
- What if All the Kids Are White: Anti-Bias Multicultural Education with Young Children and Families by Louise Derman Sparks and Patricia G. Ramsey (book)
- Killing Rage by bell hooks (book)
- Raising Free People: Fare of the Free Child with Akilah S. Richards (podcast)
- Teaching Tolerance: Race & Ethnicity (website)
- Embrace Race (website)
Anti-Racism Resources for Children:
- Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness by Anastasia Higginbotham (children’s book)
- Woke Kindergarten by akiea “ki” gross (online resource for adults and kids)
- 31 Children’s Books to Support Conversations on Race, Racism, and Resistance
Black-focused Resources:
- Family-Care, Community-Care and Self-Care Tool Kit: Healing in the Face of Cultural Trauma by the Community Healing Network and The Association of Black Psychologists, Inc.
- Community Healing Network (building the movement for emotional emancipation across the African Diaspora)
- The Wellness of We (daily recorded practices in joy, wellness, and love led by black people)
- 44 Mental Health Resources for Black People Trying to Survive in This Country
- Ourselves Black (includes articles on black parenting)
Ways to Support:
Luna Dance Shares Inquiry Project Podcast
In celebration of Bay Area Dance Week 2020, Luna Dance Institute faculty, Cherie Hill, Aiano Nakagawa, and Patricia Reedy share inquiry projects in a recorded podcast. The Dance Teaching Artists explain the organization’s inquiry-based approach, and share recent projects, taking a deeper look into self-derived questions from practice. Topics include child-centric instruction, and researching and defining organizational culture.
Click here to listen to the podcast.
Go here to view project citations and resources.
Online Resources for Dance Educators during COVID-19
Teaching artists, dance educators, and dance leaders are sharing so many tools to help us stay connected and creative right now. On this page you can find some produced by Luna, our alumni, and our community partners and teachers. This list is not exhaustive! We know you may be bombarded with so much through email and social media, and so we are curating this collection with our Luna dance educator community in mind. However, if you’d like to share a resource that is helping you, please share by emailing Jochelle, jperena@lunadanceinstitute.org. We’ll be updating each day.
Resource: Advocacy in a Minute videos from NDEO
Advocating for dance can just take a minute – it doesn’t always have to be a big action, and it certainly doesn’t need to feel intimidating.
The National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) has been filming 1 minute advocacy videos as mini pep talks for all of us. Take a peek here for some inspiration!