BYU | Brigham Young University: Guest presentation by Shawn Lent for Dance Majors and invited International Development students on January 25, 2018

1. A PLACE FOR DANCE IN NEW DIPLOMACY
AND PEACE
SHAWN LENT
BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY– JANUARY 25, 2018

2. EXPECTATION CHECK
Why this? Why now? Why us?

16. GUT CHECK
How do those examples make us feel?

17. THE START
MY MISSION STORY:
9/11 in East London

18. THE PRACTICE
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT,
NOT OUTREACH

19. THE PRACTICE
 Relevant, Responsive and Reciprocal | Often intergroup
projects
 Dance Intervention Model: context-specific, short-term
initiatives that become integrated into the local ecology, and
not reliant on one person or program → lasting impact.
 Aware of environment, tensions and privilege; respectful of
history and customs; resonating with population, place and
time; working as a partner rather than expert; and starting with
hosts’ vision, values/assets, needs/wants, and threats/fears.

20. THEORY BEHIND THIS PRACTICE
Bryan Stevenson’s Change Theory
 Proximity
 Rewrite the Narrative
 Hope
 Discomfort - the right to feel fear and
vulnerability (Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Theory)
Bryan Stevenson

21. THEORY BEHIND THIS PRACTICE
Address all types of conflict:
Violence Triangle Theory (Galtung)
1. Direct
2. Structural
3. Cultural

22. THEORY BEHIND THIS PRACTICE
Philosopher Richard Shusterman: somaesthetics
provides a new matrix for a positive body
consciousness and an “essential element in the
philosophy of nonviolence and the quest for less
violence against bodies.” (Fitz-Gibbon, 2012)
Phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty: “The
body is not only the crucial source of all perception
and action but also the core of our expressive
capability and thus the ground of all language and
meaning.” (Merleau-Ponty, 1962)
Richard Shusterman

23. OUTCOMES
 Reduction of prejudice and defensiveness | Kinetic Empathy
 Spontaneity | Release of inhibition
 Somatic awareness | Dance technique and cultural knowledge
 Sense of security | Trust of oneself and others
 Joy, humor, and confidence
 Place-making and place-sharing | Social interaction
 Less salient social identity | Pro-social behaviors

24. DANCE AS A HUMAN RIGHT
Cultural/Artistic Rights as Human
Rights
(UDHR Article 27)
Everyone has the right freely to participate in the
cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and
to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
Everyone has the right to the protection of the
moral and material interests resulting from any
scientific, literary or artistic production of which he
is the author.

25. BREATHING CHECK
Inhale | Suspend | Exhale

26. DANCE AS DIPLOMACY
Tracks of Diplomacy
 1: State-to-state (cease-fires and treaties)
 2: Institution-to-institution, Leader-to-leader
(academic, religious, NGOs, and other civil society actors)
 3: People-to-people (community and grassroots)

27. MOTIVATIONS?
COLONIALIZATION
COMPETITION
COMMODITIZATION
ENGAGEMENT

28. MOTIVATIONS
Why do artists want to work across
cultures and borders?
Any person who interacts with another culture facilitates a form
of cultural exchange, making artists de facto “cultural
representatives.”

29. MOTIVATIONS
 NATIONAL/POLITICAL INTERESTS: increase peace –> regional
stability, open new markets for U.S. cultural products, inform and
influence foreign publics, strengthen strategic relationships, policies
and more.
 ARTISTIC: find novel sources of inspiration, discover new ways of
working, learn from different cultural traditions, exchange ideas
with people whose worldviews differ, expand audiences/income,
and more.
 HUMANITARIAN/SPIRITUAL: connect with others, engage with
difficult issues, foster trust and mutual understanding, increase
capacity for positive change (without formal political agenda), move
in faith, etc.

30. POLICY
“An important objective for our staff in Washington and
for our colleagues in the 294 U.S. embassies and missions
around the world is to illustrate and explain the culture
and context out of which our policies arise. The official
document that provides us with the mandate, ability and
authority to conduct arts and cultural exchange programs
is the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961, also referred to as the
Mutual Education and Cultural Exchange Act.”
Jill Staggs, Program Officer, Cultural Programs Division, U.S. Department of State

31. FULBRIGHT-HAYS ACT OF 1961
“…authorizes the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to provide, by
grant, contract or otherwise, support to the following types of cultural programs:
Visits and tours abroad by creative and performing artists from the United
States; representation by American artists and performers in international artistic
other cultural festivals, as well as participation by groups and individuals from
abroad in similar tours and festivals in the United States.
The Fulbright-Hays Act stipulates that: all programs shall maintain their
nonpolitical character and shall be balanced and representative of the
diversity of American political, social and cultural life. Academic and cultural
programs shall maintain their scholarly integrity and shall meet the highest
standards of academic excellence and artistic achievement.”

32. POTENTIAL
“Dance is especially well positioned (pun intended) for
new diplomacy efforts to lead us towards peace. Dance
workshops and performance programs are effective
diplomacy tools because they can be shaped to meet a
variety of policy objectives, reach a wide range of
audiences and create on-going relationships between
countries. An aspect of new dance diplomacy that I
especially appreciate is the progress that we have made
in reaching audiences and students from diverse
religious, economic, ethnic and disability
communities.”
Jill Staggs, Program Officer, Cultural Programs Division, U.S. Department of State

33. SOURCES AND THANK YOUS
 Andrew Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Philosophy, Chair of the Philosophy
Department, and Director of the Center for Ethics, Peace and Social Justice
(CEPS) at SUNY Cortland
 Christine Merrilees, Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at SUNY
Geneseo
 Jill Staggs, Program Officer, Cultural Programs Division, U.S. Department of
State
 Stacie Williams, Reginald Harris, and Junious Lee Brickhouse
 University of Maryland’s “Dancers Without Borders” summit participants
 State University of New York (SUNY) Purchase’s “Dance, Diplomacy and Peace
for a New Generation of Artists” project collaborators

34. RESOURCES
 ShawnLent.com | ClydeFitchReport.com | Createquity.com
 Cultural Dance Diplomacy Toolkit by Battery Dance | Choreometrics/Global
Jukebox
 EmbodyPeace.com | DanaCaspersen.com/media
 U.S. Department of State and Affiliate Programming: ECA, DanceMotion USA,
BAM, Cultural Envoys, USIP, USAID, Fulbright, World Learning, IIE,
EducationUSA, etc.
 UN Alliance of Civilizations
 NEA’s white paper and webinars on Social Impact Design
 Mapping Art Projects with Societal Impact (MAPSI)
 United States Institute of Peace

35. Q&A | FINAL THOUGHTS