Anti-Racism Statement & Resources

This Document is in progress and published here for review/comment.
If you are interested in giving us feedback, especially if you are a person of color, we welcome you to fill out this survey:
https://forms.gle/qkWEZwoJKhaGjXYX7

Anti-Racism and Fusion Dance NYC

We believe that we unfortunately exist within a pervasive system of racism in our country. While we have a zero tolerance policy for any kind of harassment, we believe that it is necessary at this time to elaborate on our beliefs and efforts to specifically be an anti-racist organization.

What is anti-racism? Anti-racism is the policy or practice of opposing racism and promoting racial tolerance. 

In the dance spaces of Fusion Dance NYC, we seek to model social norms that reflect our values.  These values may or may not be what we experience in our everyday lives outside of the dance space, but we hope that by living out these values together we can help inform the world outside of our dance community. We can make a difference to the general public, one interaction at a time.  

Your Agreement:
By entering the dance space of any Fusion Dance NYC event, you are agreeing to strive towards the normalization of anti-racist behavior. 

Our Commitment and Actions:
We as an organization will work to provide you opportunities to learn about anti-racism, we are challenging our staff to be active participants in the journey towards anti-racism, and we will support those who bring attention to racist behaviour or comments in our space. 

Process and Conversations:
We acknowledge that regardless of one’s own race or ethnicity, individuals are at various points along an anti-racist journey.  We understand that bias can be unconscious or unintentional and that racism is the combination of social and institutional power plus racial prejudice.  Identifying these two specific forms of oppression and disparate outcomes do not automatically mean that those involved intended negative impact, but nevertheless harm is done. Having these conversations requires courage, respect and compassion, and may not always be comfortable.  We encourage attendees and organizers to be introspective and critically think about their actions, both before they make them, and when feedback is given.  It is a gift to be given the opportunity to see how someone else might hear your words or actions, regardless of your intent.  

If anyone notices or experiences racism, or harassment of any kind, you are asked to bring it up to our staff so we can monitor and take action on the interactions happening in our space.  

Respect and Values:
With the highest form of respect and dignity, without shame or hatred, we ask you to hold each other accountable in this dance space we have created together.  We can all strive to be better, together. 

Here are some of the values we have always worked to normalize through our dance space.  Each of these values is an anti-racist statement in itself:

  • The freedom to move all of our body parts, individually, in partnership, and as a group
  • Freedom to move our hips without considering it a sexual statement
  • Consider all dance forms as equally valued and equally based on technique
  • Personal freedom to make our own choices about who and when we touch people
  • Exhibiting emotion through movement
  • Touch and communication amongst all genders, sexual preferences, and skin colors
  • Intimacy, sensuality, and sexuality are all separate concepts, to be combined as you wish at the appropriate times
  • The intimacy and gained empathy of connecting to other humans through movement and music is a gift and should be treated as such.

For more information on expectations when attending our dances, please check out our Brave & Safe Policy. If there are parts of this statement that you don’t understand or have questions about, try reading some of the material provided below, and then feel free to reach out. 

Anti-Racism Resources

There is an excellent collection of resources on anti-racism from Dance NYC.

Direct Link, with PDF to Download:
https://www.dance.nyc/for-artists/resource-pages/RacialJusticeResources

To make it less overwhelming, we have highlighted some resources by copying them below:

Essay by Robin DiAngelo: White Fragility
– A shorter version of her book.

For Black Folks

For BIPOC Folks

  • Join the artEquity community as they share strategies for interfacing with white leadership; what to do when sh*t goes down; how to navigate white women and their tears; how to cultivate BIPOC solidarity; and how to know when it’s time to go.
    • Friday Forum Sessions 1:30p – 3:30p ET – Registration is required for all sessions and open to all BIPOC.
    • Sunday Support Sessions 1:30p – 3:00p ET  – Registration coming soon.

On Asian Americans and Black Solidarity

On Latino/a/x Experiences and Black Solidarity

On Arab Americans, Afro-Arabs, and Black Solidarity

On Disability and Race

For LGBTQ+ Folks

Guided Self-Reflection

Go to the site for much more:
Videos, Listening, Places to Donate, Workshops to Attend, Organizational Resources, etc

Fusion Dance NYC is only facilitating the sharing of information. We bear no responsibility for the accuracy or legality of content on external sites. Please contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.