1st Edition
Black Queer Dance Gay Men and the Politics of Passing for Almost Straight
This book is a groundbreaking exploration of black masculinity and sexual passing in American contemporary dance.
Based on ethnographic fieldwork in New York City, the book features keen observations and in-depth interviews with acclaimed dancer-choreographers Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden Co-Artistic Directors of Complexions Contemporary Ballet and Ronald K. Brown, Artistic Director of Evidence. Black Queer Dance examines one of the most visible crucibles for masculinity—the male dancer—and illuminates the contradictory and conditional acceptance of black gay men’s contributions to American modern dance. The book questions the politics of "coming out" and situates a new framework of "doing out" for understanding marginalized black LGBTQ people in the 20th and 21st century. Narratives of black queer male dancers’ performance of identity reveals the challenges posed navigating strategic gender performances in a purportedly post-gay and post-race American culture. Broomfield demonstrates how the experiences of black queer, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary men expose the illusions of all masculine gender performances. Drawing on masculinity studies, dance studies, critical race and performance theory, and queer studies Black Queer Dance implicates the author’s embodied history, autoethnography, memoir and poetry that shines light on how black queer men offer an expansive vision of masculinity.
This book will be a vital read for graduate and undergraduate students within dance and performance studies.
Acknowledgements
Prologue
Introduction
Chapter 1. Passing for Almost Straight and Strategic Performances of Masculinity
Chapter 2. Breaking the Fourth Wall of Gender
Chapter 3. Just Like a Girl
Chapter 4. “Carrying On” Through the Silence: Alvin Ailey’s Black Queer Legacy
Chapter 5. Policing Masculinity: What Gender Nonconformity Can Teach Us in the Classroom
Epilogue
Index
Biography
Mark Broomfield, PhD, MFA, Associate Professor of English, and the Founder and Director of Performance as Social Change at SUNY Geneseo, is an award-winning scholar and artist with publications in the areas of race, gender, sexuality, dance, and ethnography. Broomfield was born in London, England to Jamaican parents who emigrated to the Bronx, New York.
''Black Queer Dance is a meticulous exploration into the lives of black male dancers. With vibrant narratives, Broomfield’s scholarship allows the black queer dance experience to shine. This book is the light. I can’t wait to see how powerful the next generation of dancers become after reading this book.''
Harper Watters, First Soloist, Houston Ballet
“Black Queer Dance is the book that we didn’t realize we needed. Deftly navigating the terrain of lived experience, queer theory, and masculinity studies, Broomfield introduces a framework to help us think about gender performativity beyond received cultural binaries that reduce queer black men to mere spectacle. To riff on a popular black colloquialism, he clearly understood the assignment.“
David Ikard, Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies, Vanderbilt University
