We first developed our anti-racism and education actions in March 2021. In the two years since we have learned so much. We have focused on our rooted dance practice by further honouring the dance’s history. We also started to integrate anti-racist approaches to our troupe’s governance, initiatives and goals. We still have so much to learn.
Our BLM, Education and History subgroup have been reflecting on our initial actions. What has become evident is that while we can focus on improving our cultural appreciation as a troupe, the context of the wider scene in which we dance has cultural appropriation and structural racism deeply ingrained. For this reason, our updated actions focus on harm reduction. This means both reducing future harm, and redressing past harms.
Our updated actions will help us to keep moving forward and keep us accountable.
Action 1: Learn the history of the dance’s movements and musical connection in order to preserve the original spirit of Jazz.
Our troupe leaders teach sessions which explore and celebrate the pioneers in Vernacular Jazz. We study historic clips of dancers, singers and musicians. We also develop our rooted Jazz disciplines such as musicality and improvisation. We will continue our history education during our practice sessions to honour and appreciate African American Jazz culture.
Action 2: Share how our education is influencing our dance practice.
We wish to share our Jazz roots education and inspirations with the wider community, inviting everyone to join us in our learning. We will do this by sharing our practice and what we have been studying during rehearsals on our social media channels.
Action 3: Share educational resources and research on Black female Jazz artists through history.
It is important to us as a femme troupe to spotlight Black women in Jazz history who are so often sidelined or erased. We are developing a project to share with the swing dance community which will celebrate the lives of Black female Jazz artists.
Action 4: Build on our internal resource on the dance’s history that troupe members can collaborate on and refer to at any time.
We will continue to share anti-racist, history resources with each other on our private Facebook group. This is an important part of our engagement with cultural appreciation for every troupe member.
Action 5: Donate regularly to Black community groups.
We donate 10% of our troupe members’ subscriptions to support Black community groups. In 2023 we will be selecting two new charities to support, one national and one international, giving 5% to each. We do not see this as a charitable donation, but as part of our wider commitment to reducing harms caused by structural racism.
Action 6. Curate useful anti-racist and BLM resources from within the swing dance community.
Sharing information on the dance’s history and anti-racist discussions within the dance scene today, we can help to reduce harms caused by the erasure of Jazz’s West African roots. Our website’s Resources page links to anti-racist arts organisations and discussions from the swing community. It also links to history resources available in books, articles, podcasts, and Instagram accounts. We will continue to add to this valuable resource page.
Action 7. Make conscious choices about the music we perform to, and the events we attend.
Who we promote and celebrate matters. To be mindful of the ways in which we can avoid our involvement with cultural appropriation within the swing dance scene, we will be asking a number of questions when choosing music and events.
What are the values of the musicians playing the songs we perform our routines to? What are the values of the event organisers, and the invited teachers and performers? What are the power dynamics at play at the event? Who benefits financially from the event? Is the artist or event taking steps to reduce instances of cultural appropriation?
Action 8. Identify and implement ways to create a welcoming and inclusive space for people of all backgrounds.
Creating a safe and welcoming troupe involves focusing on equity and harm reduction. Our decisions on where to compete or perform will always prioritise the safety of our troupe members. We do this to prevent harms to physical and mental health caused by racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism and any other form of discrimination. We will continue to offer discounted membership rates to troupe members who face financial hardship.
Action 9. Invite guest teachers from dance disciplines rooted in African American Jazz or Dance of the African Diaspora (DAD).
Broadening our dance practice is very important to us, as is celebrating dance teachers who share our values. We will aim to invite two guest teachers a year to our practice sessions.
The London Starlings 