Getting down, feeling white?
the pedagogy of the internet for dancing race
pp. 103-109
in: Sarah Travis, Amelia M. Kraehe, Emily J. Hood, Tyson E. Lewis (eds), Pedagogies in the flesh, Berlin, Springer, 2018Abstract
Since the inception of online video-sharing platforms in the mid-2000s, dance has held a vibrant presence in cyberspace. This chapter investigates how the pedagogy of sharing and learning dances through the Internet affects the embodiment and racial performance of whiteness and blackness. The author argues that the 'splayed-out sensorium" of digital enmeshment extends the reach of white bodies. It enables them to more easily overcome the dissonance of "feeling white" which can occur when learning dances that signify blackness. Simultaneously, Internet circulation can augment dance's ability to form black collectivity and provide a platform for commentary to disrupt the reach of white bodies and the power of the white gaze.