Prof. Avelar, Prof. Deans, Prof. Desch to Present at NDEO

Professors Kiri Avelar, Joselli Deans, and Natalie Desch will be presenting together at the National Dance Education Organization’s 2025 Conference in Detroit.

Session Title: 

Dance Histories: Teaching and Learning from Diverse Perspectives

Session Description:

In this session, three dance professors engage in a critical conversation about their diverse approaches to teaching and learning dance histories as colleagues within the same university dance program. They delve into their dance lineages—specifically, Dance Theatre of Harlem, The José Limón Dance Company, and Ballet Hispánico—as a framework for exploring how they integrate their personal experiences, cultural influences, and embodied knowledge into their current teaching assignments in both undergraduate and graduate dance histories courses. Key issues discussed include the power and production of historical narratives, medicinal and healing approaches to histories, the role of dance in the (silencing of) archives, and the embodiment and choreography of histories. The presenters draw upon pedagogical strategies rooted in Chicana/Latina feminisms, border(lands) theory, intersectional methodologies, and the concept of "margin to center" as articulated by bell hooks.