Visual Politics in American Dance Film: Representation and Disparity

Cara Hagan

doi:10.18061/ijsd.v8i0.5360

Abstract

This article explores stylistic and demographic commonalities in American dance film through the curatorial lens of American Dance Festival’s Movies by Movers, an international dance film festival. While calling into question how the dance film community can be more aware of the culture created on screen by makers and presenters, I reveal instances of representational disparity found in American dance film while examining the relationship of dance film to ideologies perpetuated by mass media and the world of professional dance.

Highlights

This article explores stylistic and demographic commonalities in American dance film through the curatorial lens of American Dance Festival’s Movies by Movers, an international dance film festival
I’ve begun to notice the stylistic and demographic commonalities seen across dance films as possessing a particular kind of visual politics
To further define the term in this context, I consider visual politics to refer to the people and situations we see on screen with respect to the culture created by dance

Summary

Introduction

This article explores stylistic and demographic commonalities in American dance film through the curatorial lens of American Dance Festival’s Movies by Movers, an international dance film festival. For dance film that means that while we strive for our art form to be an experimental, open-source platform, the challenges to stylistic and demographic diversity found in mainstream media and professional dance are our own.

Results

Conclusion