For more than 25 years, the Vancouver Tap Dance Society has been a home to a uniquely American art form, tap dance. Through education and performance, we have cultivated a local scene, supported local practitioners, and connected our community with internationally known tap dance artists (many from America). American art forms like tap dance are born of a history that the joy and beauty experienced while encountering these art forms often belies.
The structural and systemic legacy of that history is ongoing. And it’s not pretty. The imbalances and abuses of power that continue to affect people in America are saddening. The fact that these imbalances and abuses affect different races disproportionately is sickening.
As a community that has found great joy in tap dance, we find it necessary to do what we can. We don’t presume to know what will be most helpful in this current moment. What we do know is that enough is enough.
As we continue our work to celebrate tap dance we will continue to teach about the people, to name names, and recognize the past (as honestly as possible) so as to imagine and work towards a better future.
