Ballet Pedagogy and a “Hard Re-Set”: Perspectives on Equitable and Inclusive Teaching Practices
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2023-01-01
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In her scholarship on pedagogy, Gloria Ladson-Billings describes COVID-19 as a call to re-set education using a more culturally relevant pedagogy. As ballet teachers and researchers working in higher education and pre-professional settings, we teach a form of dance often associated with the characteristics of white supremacy. Through this collaborative institutional ethnography, we generated methods for posing questions, critiquing choices, and imagining alternatives to create more equitable educational settings. We connect the process of addressing and challenging systemic exclusions in ballet with tangible steps toward creating more inclusive classes and performances that value the joy and pleasure in moving.
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Mattingly, K, K Beckford, Z Bibler, P Cunningham, IA Harrison and JM Jackson (2023). Ballet Pedagogy and a “Hard Re-Set”: Perspectives on Equitable and Inclusive Teaching Practices. Dance Chronicle, 46(1). pp. 40–65. 10.1080/01472526.2022.2156747 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/27923.
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Iyun Ashani Harrison
Iyun Ashani Harrison is a dance maker, educator, and executive director of Ballet Ashani. Born in Saint Andrew, Jamaica, Harrison first trained in acting, classical ballet, modern technique, and Jamaican folk dance. He graduated from the Juilliard School (BFA) and Hollins University (MFA).
Harrison danced with the Dance Theatre of Harlem under the artistic direction of Arthur Mitchell. At the Dance Theatre of Harlem, he developed a love for neo-classical ballet and dancing choreography by George Balanchine, Glen Tetley, Michael Smuin, and Billy Wilson. This experience profoundly influenced Harrison's movement aesthetic and laid Ballet Ashani's foundation.
Harrison's professional credits also include Ballet Hispanico, Buglisi Dance Theatre, Ailey II, National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica, and guest appearances with Connecticut Ballet, Flint Institute of Music, Collage Dance Collective, Seattle Dance Project, and St. Louis Black Repertory Theater. With these companies, he danced choreography by Jirí Kylián, José Limón, Paul Taylor, Alvin Ailey, Lar Lubovitch, Donald Byrd, Edwaard Liang, Talley Beatty, and George Faison. Harrison's television credits include PBS' Setting the Stage 2007, NBC's 20th Hispanic Heritage Awards, PBS' Who's Dancin' Now? – Arts Education in Your Community and The South Bank Show in England.
A precursor to Ballet Ashani, Harrison founded and served as the executive director and resident choreographer for Ashani Dances (2011 – 2018). The Seattle Times wrote of Harrison, "Ashani Dances showcases an artist of diverse talents with sophisticated musical tastes and an understanding of how to use a bare stage to full effect." Most recently (2021), Harrison moved his company to Durham, NC, rebranding it Ballet Ashani – A Contemporary Ballet.
Harrison's choreography has been commissioned by the Juilliard Dance Ensemble, Ailey School, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Collage Dance Collective, Men in Dance, American Dance Festival, Boost Dance Festival, University of Florida, Henderson State University, Pomona College, Goucher College, Webster University, Cornish College of the Arts, Jamaica School of Dance, and University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, Barbados.
Harrison has held several academic positions, including professorships with Cornish College of the Arts, Goucher College, Webster University, and Pomona College. In addition, he has taught on the faculties of Pacific Northwest Ballet, Peabody Conservatory, The Ailey School, and Maryland Youth Ballet.
Harrison is the co-author and co-editor of Antiracism in Ballet Teaching (Routledge) and the creative behind Giovanni's Room, a ballet adaptation of James Baldwin's novel (currently touring in the US).
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