It is easy to view dancing as frivolous, reserved for parties and cheesy lyrical performances. However, dance has a long history of being imbued with hidden meaning, and often, inspiring oppressed groups to rise above. 

Even now, within the Black Lives Matter protests that occurred after the death of George Floyd, dancing functions as a way for marginalized communities to make themselves seen, transforming the act into its own form of resistance. Performing anything from ballet to improvised hip-hop, dance is a peaceful way to showcase the real bodies being affected by global issues, and to turn ugly and painful experiences into something beautiful.  

Dancing can also empower others, connecting individuals to their culture in a meaningful way. Lucas Lin ’27, a member of Lunar Productions Club, a traditional Asian dance club at Bronx Science, said that he feels more connected to Chinese culture because, “The lion dance is a big part of Chinese culture during Lunar New Years’ celebrations, and it is what most people dance to.” Through the Lunar Productions Club, he is able to learn more about and personally engage with his ethnic background. 

Shubham Patel ’24, a member of the South-Asian heritage club at Bronx Science, NASHA, shared a similar sentiment. “For us, it is a form of expression towards God,” he said, further showing that dance has significance across many cultures. 

The Cakewalk

One of the earliest known examples of dance being used as a form of protest is the cakewalk. The Cakewalk is described in oral histories as being similar to a grand-promenade dance, wherein couples would perform and compete against each other for a cake. 

Slave owners at the time forced their slaves to perform the dance in order to humiliate and degrade them. However, even though this dance was intended to be dehumanizing, those performing the cakewalk would parody the dances they had seen their white slave owners engage in. The idea that a dance meant to mock slaves ended up as a mockery of the slave owners is not only a show of resistance, but is also incredibly ironic. 

While this parody might seem harmless and unimpactful, considering that being a slave meant being severely punished for any insubordination as well as being viewed as less than human, this act of mockery carried a lot of significance. Through the cakewalk, a wronged community legally considered to be property was able to gain back some of the power they had been stripped of. 

The Cakewalk lives on in modern dances like the Lindy Hop, which began in the 1920s in response to the Great Depression and contains many of the Cakewalk’s signature moves. The Cakewalk and Lindy Hop heavily influenced the formation of hip-hop, in both inclusivity and creativity. Both are very free and loose styles of dance, with a lot of it being improvised, as opposed to dances like ballet which are carefully choreographed. Lindy Hop and hip-hop were also both meant to be dance forms which stuck it to the man, and were a safe space for Black people. 

Irish Dancing

Unlike some of the other aforementioned dances, Irish Dancing did not start out as a form of protest. It was merely a cultural tradition that existed peacefully until the British colonized Ireland in the 1640s, although the exact date is unclear. This conquest was justified by the Elizabethans with the argument that in the 1100s Ireland had been partially conquered by the Normans, who had ruled England centuries before, therefore giving England ownership over Ireland. In 1695, the Penal Laws were passed, committing genocide against the Irish by suppressing Irish culture. Gaelic, the language originally spoken in Ireland, was banned, along with Irish folk tales, Irish music, and Irish Dancing. 

In spite of these attempts at cultural erasure, the Irish fought back in subtle, yet meaningful ways. Irish Dance teachers, who were each referred to as The Master, would travel from town to town wearing bright clothes and carrying around a staff.  They would secretly teach members of the village traditional Irish dances, with one myth being that they would tie straw to one foot and hay to the other so young dancers could differentiate between their right and left. The Master would stay with a family for free room and board, and were held in high regard by the Irish. 

Were it not for these teachers, Irish Dancing most likely would have been lost to time, similarly to the ways in which Gaelic went extinct. In this way, Irish dancing continues to be a symbol of empowerment for Ireland, representing a way in which the Irish were able to fight back against British colonization.  

Eventually, in 1800, the Penal Laws were lifted, leading to the Great Gaelic Revival. All aspects of previously suppressed Irish culture boomed in popularity, and by 1930, the Irish Dancing Commission was created, serving as a governing body over dance competitions and teacher certifications.  

One of the theories behind why Irish dancers keep their arms by their side as they dance involves a subtle form of defiance. It is believed that, when Queen Elizabeth I, who was responsible for many of the oppressive policies enacted in Ireland, requested Irish Dancers to perform for her, these dancers refused to raise their arms before her to show their lack of respect. Instead, the dance was entirely performed with their legs and feet, and continues to look like that today. 

Even now, after Ireland successfully gained its independence from Britain and is free to practice cultural traditions, Irish Dancing continues to hold an inherent power. Ireland is not known for its food, with any attempts at culinary excellence being prevented by the potato famine and widespread poverty the country experienced for so long. Gaelic is a dead language, and even with the current movement to revive it, English remains the dominant language of Ireland. 

In contrast to other aspects of Irish culture, Irish Dancing lives on. There are local, regional, national, and international competitions every year, with competitors from all over the world, not just Ireland. The silent resistance of keeping Irish Dance alive echoes in every competition which would not be possible without those brave souls. 

Ghost Dance 

In 1889, the Ghost Dance originated in the Paiute Tribe in North America after a member named Wovoka spoke of his religious visions. The tribe viewed these visions as special signs, and after Wovoka spoke of a ritual dance that he claimed to have seen in his visions with his tribe members, the dance became widespread throughout the community.

At a time when white settlers were intentionally competing to exterminate every last buffalo in an attempt to weaken Native American populations in the American West, hope was hard to find. As such, many tribe members clung to the idea that, through this dance, the Buffalo population would be revived, the Paiute Tribe would be restored, and white settlers would stop attacking the Native Americans. 

White settlers quickly became threatened by this movement, and were unsettled by the idea that Native Americans were not passively assimilating into American culture, but were instead wholeheartedly holding on to their own. While a simple dance may seem insignificant, white people were so terrified of Native-American resistance that U.S. Indian Service Agent James McLaughlin ordered an arrest on the Native American chief Sitting Bull due to the belief that he was a part of this Ghost Dance Movement. More than forty Sioux agents – civilians authorized by the government to interact with the Sioux tribe – showed up at Sitting Bull’s door. After Sitting Bull refused to be detained, he was shot and killed instantly by one of the Sioux agents at the scene. 

A mere two weeks later, on December 29th, 1890, the U.S. Army and the Sioux tribe began fighting. These battles were prompted both by outrage over Sitting Bull’s death among the Sioux tribe as well as fear of further attacks by the U.S. government. There are no reliable records, but it is believed that over 300 Sioux were killed, many of whom were women and children desperately attempting to seek shelter from the brutality. This mass murder is now known as the Wounded Knee Massacre, and has been the source for many Native American protests in the years since, including a standoff with federal agents at the original site in 1973. 

Modern Day

Dancing continues to be a source of power, both on small and large scales. As Vedika Jain ’24 said, “ I do think dancing makes me feel empowered, because after three hours of dancing, I feel accomplished. Not only does it empower me, but it is also something that I enjoy. It is also a good way to relieve my brain from stress and to just express myself.”

During the George Floyd protests in early 2021, Utah saw hundreds of protesters marching through the streets and dancing to music blasting from a stereo. The group was known as Dance Dance 4 Revolution, and the idea behind the movement was to resist police brutality and advocate for Black lives, while simultaneously bringing a community together through dance. 

Through playing joyful music and exuberantly dancing through the streets, those protesting police brutality are brought closer together. And as we have seen through the Cakewalk, Irish Dancing, and the Ghost Dance, nothing is more powerful, and more threatening to those in power, than a united community. 

Performing anything from ballet to improvised hip-hop, dance is a peaceful way to showcase the real bodies being affected by global issues, and to turn ugly and painful experiences into something beautiful.