Whiteness of Dance: what is it really trying to say

Leeann Barrett
When I think about the words like “whiteness” and “dance” my mind immediately goes to ballroom dancing. I think this crazy because dance and music are supposed to be universal elements. I think that the idea of white and dancing has been embeded into me over the yrs. When we watch dance competitions on the television, other than the newly made ones, you mostly see white people dancing. Only once in a while will you see a Latino and it is a miracle if a black person is present. I can only remember seeing a Black person once or twice. In the Article “Whiteness and the Performance of Race in the American Ballroom” by Joanna Bosse when talking about ballroom dance says “The social group with whom I worked was predominately white, with East Asian and Asian American dancers constituting approximately one- eighth of the clientele and a very small number of other minorities…. I encountered only six black ballroom dancers and even fewer Latin American and South Asians.” (28).
It is interesting how the North Asians or more present than the South Asians. North Asians are lighter than the ones in the south. So this whole thing is based on color. Not on skill. This actually says something about the larger community Bosse says that “Most of the dancers were members on economic or intellectual elite and both men and woman held positions as entrepreneurs, lawyers, doctors, CEO’s, small business owners…”(28). In our society many minorities do not get the opportunity to get to these positions. So even dance id for a select few in America. The dance comes off as showing that you have some status or a place in society. It shows that you are so accomplished that you have time to learn this dance just to show how much of a great person you are. Minorities in America are trying to get a degree not busy trying to flaunt their wealth in a dance.
When Bosse is describing the woman in the dance she says “woman modern dancers perform in pastel or sherbet- colored ball gowns, tight in the bodice with fuller, flowing skirt and adorned with feathers, sequins, or jewels. The hair is usually swept high in the head in a French twist or bun and is generally dyed to platinum blonde if possible. Make up, like hair color, tends to gravitate towards extremes of either powdery, porcelain white (if coupled with dark hair) or deep, bronze tan (if couples with blonde hair).”(31). This is what the ideal female looks like in America. Woman should have a tight waist, long hair, blonde, and white. The dress, sequins, feathers and jewels can be seen as the thing that females put on from day to day that is consider high fashion or fashionable. One thing I thought about when reading this part are the Disney movie. The only person of color that you find dancing in a ballroom is Pocahontas. Other than that everyone is white with pale whit skin. Cinderella is the best example of this, (she also reintegrates the idea of the American dream). She has blonde hair, pale skin, jewelry, a tiara and a light blue dress that has a corset built into it. And because of this she is the belle of the ball. Everyone stops to look at her come down the steps as the moonlight gleams on her. With Pocahontas, in the second movie, she is taken to England where she is dressed in a puffy shirt and squeezed into the dress. Her hair is also put up into a bun and adorned with beads and jewels and he face is painted white. Just as the article said it is to be done when paired with dark hair. So even if you aren’t white, to perform or take part in activities that go along side the ballroom dancing , like meeting the king/ queen, as a minority you have to conform to their way in appearance too.
To me this is a way to control other people and conquer them in saying that we are better. This ballroom dance symbolizes “civilization” and the Europeans imposing there ways on others. The dance symbolizes wealth and prosperity. It also shows that you are someone in society to have mastered and to have learnt this dance. To me this dance is somewhat like colonization or reason which was given to justify colonization. This dance is taught in the hopes to bring culture and to civilize the people who are watching. Giving them an example of what they are to be and probably what they will never become.