dances

Jill Vasbinder, University of Maryland, Baltimore County In January 2020, 14-year-old Jalaiah Harmon created what would become one of the biggest viral dance sensations on TikTok. But few users knew that Harmon, who is Black, invented the dance, which she dubbed the Renegade – at least not until a month later, when The New York Times drew attention to her case. That’s because a TikTok user had copied the dance, and it was that TikToker’s rendition that went viral. Because Harmon didn’t get credit, she wasn’t able to reap the benefits of more views and followers, which, in turn, could have led to collaborations and sponsorships. Harmon is only the latest in a long list of women and people of color whose choreography and dance work have been pilfered for profit – a story that dates back ...

In New Orleans, colorful street festivals celebrating death grew out of necessity, incorporating West African rhythms and syncretized dance. On a sweltering June evening, a crowd forms on the corner of Orleans Avenue and North Miro Street in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans. When the trumpets, tubas, and trombones lift up and wail, people start marching. Men in white T-shirts drenched in sweat; women in hospital scrubs and housekeeping uniforms having just come from work; an 8-year-old with a bright orange shirt and a bleached blond flattop, armed with a tuba twice his height, move in tight steps to the rhythm of the brass band. Handkerchiefs swing proudly in the air, doubling as sweat rags. The group makes it around the block and stops in front of a tan shot...

Tag: dances

TikTok Is The Latest Battleground – There’s A Long History Of Dances Being Pilfered For Profit

The City That Dances With Death