The Dance Union Favorite 

Through their podcast, The Dance Union, Melanie Greene and J. Bouey have been confronting racism in the dance world, and highlighting the experiences of Black artists, since 2018. Their episodes cover a variety of topics and issues, ranging from mental health and sexual harassment to advocating for fair pay. In early June, in response to a piece written by artist Nana Chinara called “An Open Letter to Arts Organizations Rampant With White Supremacy,” they decided to organize an online townhall to continue the conversation and take steps toward direct action. That first meeting, “Town Hall for Collective Action: Dismantling White Supremacy Within Dance Institutions,” had nearly a thousand attendees, either live on Zoom or watching on YouTube after the event. “The Town Hall’s intention is to hold a space for our dance community to express their anger, witness the grief of our community, and synthesize that information into action,” Greene and Bouey wrote on The Dance Union‘s Instagram in a post before the event. “We see this, and future town halls, as a space to stay connected with the current organizing work and to galvanize our dance community to take action.” They’ve since hosted a second town hall, which covered topics in mental health, dance education and organizing demonstrations.