Creating Happier, More Just Communities Through Dance

An Interview with Sarah Crowell

Sarah Crowell has worked at Destiny Arts Center—an Oakland-based organization that exists to end isolation, prejudice and violence in the lives of young people—since 1990 as a dance teacher, artistic director, workshop facilitator and program development director, and served as the organization’s executive director from 2002 to 2007. Here, she shares a few thoughts regarding the intersections of race, gender and dance.

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Where do you most commonly derive inspiration for your work? From personal, social or political matters (or a mix)?

My work is inspired by a mixture of personal, social and political matters. They are inseparable in life and thus, for me, in artistic expression. In fact, the performance work that I co-create with youth and other professional artists always contains a dynamic combination of all three. As an African American woman, I understand that to create art is to tell untold stories and to re-imagine our destinies.

Is it important to you to be identified as an African American dance artist, or as a female dance artist, or do you see the modifiers as a form of tokenism?

There is no way to separate my blackness and my femaleness from my art. That is part of who I am. It is important only because it is true. I create art from different perspectives and experiences. I work in deep authentic collaboration with artists of all backgrounds and ages. I celebrate differences in my art and I love being black. I have very little time to dwell on whether or not I am being put in the role of token or not. My art will always smash the idea of tokenism.

What changes do you perceive are necessary in the dance world in order to achieve a more universal and diverse representation of voices?

Dance of all forms, styles and histories need to be considered legitimate and honored equally. For example, hip hop and ballet require similar discipline to master, they have equally layered histories, and the dancer needs the same intensity and passion in both forms to be engaging to an audience.

What do you hope is your contribution to the dance world?

That people see the power and necessity of dance as a way to create happier, more just communities.

Sarah Crowell

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Sarah Crowell has taught dance, theater and violence prevention in schools and community centers since 1990. She directed the dance program at Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco, CA for three years, and directed an award-winning hip-hop dance ensemble at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts in Richmond, CA for five years. At Destiny Arts Center, Sarah co-founded the Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company in 1993, a troupe for teens to co-create original movement/theater productions. Previously, Sarah performed nationally with companies in Boston and the Bay Area, including Impulse Jazz Dance Company and Dance Brigade. She also directed and performed with the dance/theater company i am! Productions between 1994 and 2002, which featured a two-woman show called Portrait of a Girl from Nowhere… an urban fairy tale. The piece explored issues of bi-racial identity through modern and hip-hop dance, theater, poetry and song.