The Dance Union Podcast

Care, A Creative Practice

Angel Glasby (she/they) and Ke’Ron J. Wilson (she/they) hold a tender conversation about creating environments of care for trans dance artists in rehearsal, and how that care enriches art. Through their lens, we begin to see where the intersection of Black trans and non-binary experiences is situated in the larger landscape of dance. Though transphobia and real tangible harm are inflicted on trans people, Angel and Ke’Ron hold the joy that persists just as close and tenderly.

(recorded: April 15, 2025)

Hosts:

Angel Glasby (she/they)
IG/TikTok: @delicatedelusion

Ke’Ron J. Wilson (she/they)
IG/TikTok: @keronjwilson

The Dance Union
TheDanceUnionPodcast.com
IG: @thedanceunion
FB: www.facebook.com/TheDanceUnion/
.
*SUPPORT THE DANCE UNION PODCAST*
Patreon: www.patreon.com/danceunion
Venmo: @Dance-Union

Teaching Dance with Cultural Respect

j. (they/them) and Veronica (she/her) reflect on the harms of entering the role of a dance educator without the proper knowledge and community understanding of the culture that surrounds the dance form being taught, especially in relation to underground dance styles. How has the structure of a dance lesson changed with time? What are the repercussions of centering ballet in the professional dance industry? 

The Dance Union
TheDanceUnionPodcast.com
IG: @thedanceunion
FB: www.facebook.com/TheDanceUnion/

*SUPPORT THE DANCE UNION PODCAST*
Patreon: www.patreon.com/danceunion
Venmo: @Dance-Union

HOSTS

j. bouey
www.jbouey.com/
IG/Twitter: @j_bouey
Patreon: patreon.com/S_A_T_U_R_N

Veronica Jiao
veronicaraejiao.com/
IG: @vrjiao

Edited By: Jon Reyes

Recording date:
18 April 2025

What Is Happening to Dance Funding?

This week, we are grateful to be joined by Bex Ferrell (they/she), Assistant Professor in Arts Management at the College of Charleston, and Candace Thompson-Zachery (she/her), the Co-Executive Director for Dance/NYC! What is happening to dance funding right now, both in the micro- and macrosphere? Where is there funding still? While the funding from the NEA is a concern for many industries, how does that funding compare to that of private donors? What would it mean to have wage and working standards in the arts? Why is data important for funding and how do we create a narrative out of it that will appeal to our local governments? Join us for this episode for an insider’s perspective on advocacy for arts funding!

(recorded: March 19, 2025)

Hosts:

Bex Ferrell (they/she)
SM: @fdance

Candace Thompson-Zachery (she/her)
SM: @candacecreates

The Dance Union
TheDanceUnionPodcast.com
IG: @thedanceunion
FB: www.facebook.com/TheDanceUnion/
.
*SUPPORT THE DANCE UNION PODCAST*
Patreon: www.patreon.com/danceunion
Venmo: @Dance-Union
.
EPISODE RESOURCES
Executive Summary Support - drive.google.com/file/d/1AWe6PFkm…LuhVWupJ-2n/view
NYSCA - arts.ny.gov/nysca-grant-opportunities
NEA - www.arts.gov/grants/grants-for-arts-projects
NEFA NDP - www.nefa.org/NationalDanceProject
MAP Fund - mapfund.org/
Cultural Development Fund
www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/cultural-…ograms-funding.page
Cultural Assembly - theculturalassembly.com/
CUNY Dance Initiative www1.cuny.edu/sites/dance-initiative/
Find Your Representatives - www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member
SC Arts Alliance - scartsalliance.com/
Performing Arts Alliance (their website is currently down)
Dance/USA - www.danceusa.org/
Book: Careers in Dance - www.thriftbooks.com/w/careers-in-da…dition=29147672
Dance/NYC Campaign - hub.dance.nyc - Our NYC Dance
Resource: Contract language - Dance/USA - www.danceusa.org/technical-and-st…zation-documents
NYC Dance 2023 Report: hub.dance.nyc/state-of-nyc-dance-2023-report/

 

Release date:

31 March 2025

Identifying Cults and Grooming in Dance

TRIGGER WARNINGS: CULTS AND GROOMING

In what ways can we identify dance and entertainment industries as cults? How do these industries groom us to accept a specific type of abuse or neglect while working in those industries? 

Veronica and j. discuss what constitutes a cult and grooming, their own experiences with it in and outside of these industries, and the importance of also anchoring ourselves in communities outside of the dance and entertainment industries as we are navigating them. 

The Dance Union
TheDanceUnionPodcast.com
IG: @thedanceunion
FB: www.facebook.com/TheDanceUnion/

*SUPPORT THE DANCE UNION PODCAST*
Patreon: www.patreon.com/danceunion
Venmo: @Dance-Union

HOSTS

j. bouey
www.jbouey.com/
IG/Twitter: @j_bouey
Patreon: patreon.com/S_A_T_U_R_N

Veronica Jiao
veronicaraejiao.com/
IG: @vrjiao

Edited By: Jon Reyes

Recording date:
11 March 2025

Resilient Dance Industries

In this episode, j. and Veronica are joined by Stacey Badgett Jr. to talk about funding and community in the arts. With funding being rescinded for the arts, how will the structures that the dancers in the dance industry, having some of the smallest amounts of funding, be adapted to other sectors of the arts and entertainment industries? In what ways has the dance community been the backbone for the arts industry as a whole? How do you protest in these industries with the constraints of capitalism? And why is learning to be conscious and intentional about your relationships intrinsically linked to community building?

The Dance Union
TheDanceUnionPodcast.com
IG: @thedanceunion
FB: www.facebook.com/TheDanceUnion/

*SUPPORT THE DANCE UNION PODCAST*
Patreon: www.patreon.com/danceunion
Venmo: @Dance-Union

HOSTS

j. bouey
www.jbouey.com/
IG/Twitter: @j_bouey
Patreon: patreon.com/S_A_T_U_R_N

Veronica Jiao
veronicaraejiao.com/
IG: @vrjiao

Edited By: Jon Reyes

Recording date:
3 March 2025

Can We Televise The Revolution?

Recorded the day after the Super Bowl, Veronica and j. share their own definitions and experiences of community, building on the work done by others long before the January inauguration, in response to the fear expressed and the calls for community that have spread across social media. They then analyze Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance, immediately posing the critical question: What did Kendrick mean when he said, “the revolution WILL be televised”? Through this central question, they unpack what it means to understand systems of oppression, especially in the context of cultivating relationships. 

The Dance Union
TheDanceUnionPodcast.com
IG: @thedanceunion
FB: www.facebook.com/TheDanceUnion/

*SUPPORT THE DANCE UNION PODCAST*
Patreon: www.patreon.com/danceunion
Venmo: @Dance-Union

HOSTS

j. bouey
www.jbouey.com/
IG/Twitter: @j_bouey
Patreon: patreon.com/S_A_T_U_R_N

Veronica Jiao
veronicaraejiao.com/
IG: @vrjiao

Edited By: Jon Reyes

Dismantling the Master’s House

We passed the mic to Mario Ismael Espinoza (they/them), who is part of the Entertainment Community Fund, and David Herrera (he/him), who discussed the creation and evolution of Herrera’s Latinx Hispanic Dancers over the last 20 years. Through this discussion, they unravel how Herrera’s perspective of his future career evolved as he began to envision the inception of Latinx Hispanic Dancers and began to understand what holes in the dance community he wanted the company to fill, especially in the Latinx community. All of these leads back to revisiting the question: Can the master’s tools dismantle the master’s house? 

(recorded: March 3, 2025)

Kayla Hamilton is a performance maker, dancer, educator, and consultant, who is a current Jerome Hill and Pina Bausch Fellow and is the founder of the recently formed “Circle O”, an organization centering BIPOC Disabled creatives. She is the co-developer of “Crip Movement Lab”, described as “pedagogical framework centering cross-disability movement practices for every-body” and has developed access center programming for several dance organizations in NYC.

Jerron Herman is a dancer/writer, who has premiered works at Danspace Project, Baltimore Museum of Art, LIncoln Center (digital), among others. His writings, including Art Papers and 3 Bodies, have been published across both nationally and internationally. Jerron is currently a part of INTERIM, described as “a boutique centering joy for disabled artists”, and has recently received the 2024 USA Fellowship and the 2023-24 Fellowship at NYU Center for Ballet and the Arts.

Hosts:

David Herrera
https://www.dhperformance.org/the-directors-

Mario Ismael Espinoza

The Dance Union
TheDanceUnionPodcast.com
IG: @thedanceunion
FB: www.facebook.com/TheDanceUnion/
.
*SUPPORT THE DANCE UNION PODCAST*
Patreon: www.patreon.com/danceunion
Venmo: @Dance-Union

.
Artists and Organizations Mentioned: 
https://www.dhperformance.org/
https://lovedancemore.org/
https://www.paramardance.com/
https://www.stephaniegarcia.art/
https://www.instagram.com/primerageneraciondance/
https://www.gabrielmatamovement.com/about-5

Yvonne Montoya - https://www.yvonnemontoya.co/
Dancers Group - https://dancersgroup.org/
Bridge Live Arts - https://www.bridgelivearts.org/ 
Omar Roman de Jesus/Bocatuya - https://www.bocatuya.com/
Rosie Herrera - https://www.rosieherrera.dance/
Vanessa Sanchez - https://lamezclasf.net/about/

 

Town Hall - Surviving Fascism

Fires, Inaugruation, and AI

From fires signifying the acceleration of the climate disaster to Trump’s inauguration and subsequent executive orders, 2025 is already giving us a premonition of what is to come. Join V and j. as they unpack what this might mean for our near future and how we can rely on community to keep a sound mind. Most of all, with how quickly AI becomes integrated into our everyday lives, how will AI shape a different reality via social media and how can we distinguish between AI and real humans? 

The Dance Union
TheDanceUnionPodcast.com
IG: @thedanceunion
FB: www.facebook.com/TheDanceUnion/

*SUPPORT THE DANCE UNION PODCAST*
Patreon: www.patreon.com/danceunion
Venmo: @Dance-Union

HOSTS

j. bouey
www.jbouey.com/
IG/Twitter: @j_bouey
Patreon: patreon.com/S_A_T_U_R_N

Veronica Jiao
veronicaraejiao.com/
IG: @vrjiao

Edited By: Jon Reyes

Defying Gravity and the Haters

THERE ARE WICKED SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE BEGINNING AT 21:30 AND CONTINUING UNTIL THE END OF THE EPISODE. 

In this episode, j. and Veronica analyze the lyrics of “Defying Gravity”, reflecting on their experiences as and understanding with Elphaba and Glinda. From scrutinizing the memes that are being made about Nessarose as a disabled character to discussing their own experiences with losing friends or attracting scrutiny because of being the person in the room to stand up against clear abuses of power, they peel back the layers of the story of Wicked, unfolding how experiences in their lives mirrored themes imparted from “Defying Gravity”. 

**TW for eating disorders starting at 53:00 and ending at 56:50

The Dance Union
TheDanceUnionPodcast.com
IG: @thedanceunion
FB: www.facebook.com/TheDanceUnion/

*SUPPORT THE DANCE UNION PODCAST*
Patreon: www.patreon.com/danceunion
Venmo: @Dance-Union

HOSTS

j. bouey
www.jbouey.com/
IG/Twitter: @j_bouey
Patreon: patreon.com/S_A_T_U_R_N

Veronica Jiao
veronicaraejiao.com/
IG: @vrjiao

Edited By: Jon Reyes