Rooted Leaders: Camille and Christina
Breaking the Silence in the Dance Community
What does relationship violence look like for teens in the dance community and how can we help to end it?
Christina and Camille teamed up to help understand why there has been so much silence around this topic in their community of dance teams even when the need to address relationship violence has been evident to them.
“With the right support from adults and leaders from our community, we can build
a foundation for understanding and empowerment.”
KEY STAKEHOLDERS
Constituents: Teammates and Friends on Dance Teams Christina and Camille attended a community forum called Brave Space where they joined 15 other members of the Southern California dance community to address the ongoing incidents of relationships violence. They followed up after the forum and conducted 5 one-on-one interviews with friends on their dance teams in the South Bay and San Gabriel Valley regions to better understand: (a) what they think relationship violence looks like, (b) why there has been a lack of conversation on the topic, and (c) what kind of resources they need to feel comfortable discussing and addressing relationship violence.
Allies: Team Captains, Parents, and Influential Leaders
Team Captains are allies because they can help change the culture of a team by speaking up and being an advocate for the needs of their fellow teammates. Parents and caregivers can be allies by trusting and listening to their teens, and being a source of support when they’re needed. Influential leaders can help create accountability and call in teams to take action around the issue. They can also help us to lead workshops or conversations that can attract large numbers of dancers in the dance community.
Decision Maker: Studio Owners and Team Directors
Camille and Christina will benefit greatly from gaining the support of these decision makers to provide permission and feedback about their plans to address relationship violence. These decision makers have access to large networks and modes of communications with families who are involved in the teams and studio programs.
Figure 1. Quote from one of the interviews with a peer from the dance community. There is a strong need for adults and leaders to step into the conversation and help youth feel that they are supported.
Figure 2. Overview of outcomes and suggestions that were made at the community forum that Camille and Christina attended.
Figure 3. Quote from another interview with a peer from the dance community. We need to start the conversation and continue holding space so that healing can take place and helpful solutions can be created.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Camille and Christina made the following recommendations for addressing relationship violence in the dance community based on their experiences and community assessments.
Provide support and education around relationship violence to teens in the dance community in order to reduce the likelihood of violence in the future. After conducting interviews with our stakeholders, we were able to gain more insight into the perspectives surrounding relationship violence and how to approach the conversation with teen dancers. It was interesting to unpack how the existence of the topic is known within the socal dance community, but not discussed with youth/teens. At such a developmental stage, it’s pivotal to have these discussions.
A simple action that youth dancers can take to address the issue is to start asking questions. By self-educating on community news or looking into general information through online resources, asking questions stems from curiosity and genuine interest to learn more on the subject. From there, one can then begin to analyze the spaces they occupy to determine what needs to change and begin to formulate actionable steps that can be taken to achieve it.
To address the issue, adults can work toward creating a safer environment for the youth. Establishing a supportive space lays the foundation for starting a conversation between older and younger community members. It’s crucial that adults make an effort to seek knowledge on the issue so that they can provide resources and further the discussion when the time comes. Although it may not be a quick process, it’s pivotal to begin taking these steps in order to improve the current conditions.
Develop a workshop series or conference that empowers dancers to understand relationship violence and how they can help end it. Some workshop topics can include confidence-building, tools for discussing relationship violence, and understanding healthy relationships.