The California Dance Education Association’s (CDEA) 1-day Virtual Conference will take place on Saturday, February 5, 2022. The focus for the event is titled Grounded & Growing: Identity, Community, and Reflections and offers “stimulating masterclasses, panels, and short-form ignite conversations on the latest and greatest ideas springing from our dance education community”. The Keynote Speakers for the conference will include Deborah Vaughan, Co-Founder of Dimensions Dance Theater and Master Dance Class Teacher Cuauhtémoc Peranda! Registration is open until February 4, 2022
About Keynote Speaker Deborah Vaughn and Dimensions Dance Theater
Dimensions Dance Theater (DDT) is a professional dance company and school that was founded in Oakland in 1972 to promote the knowledge and appreciation of African-derived dance. Their mission is to create, perform, and teach dance that reflects the historical experiences and contemporary lives of African Americans. Under the continuing artistic leadership of co-founder Deborah Vaughan for over 35 years, DDT has become widely recognized for its presentation of both traditional African dances and contemporary choreography drawn from African, Jazz, and modern dance idioms. The diversity and inclusiveness of DDT’s repertoire are unique to the company and have contributed greatly to its reputation for innovative dynamism. DDT has also become known for its cross-cultural and issues-oriented collaborations — bridging cultural, racial, and ethnic differences through the arts. Since 1993 the company has spearheaded Rites of Passage, an educational program serving more than 850 children and youth each year.
About Master Dance Class teacher Cuauhtémoc Peranda
Cuauhtémoc Peranda (Mescalero Apache, Mexika-Chichimeca/Cano; & cihuaiolo butch queen) is a Critical Dance Studies Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Riverside (UCR). Their academic studies have been supported by the U.S. Department of Education Native American Studies Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (G.A.A.N.N.) Fellowship, the Dean’s Distinguished Doctoral Student Fellowship, the Max H. Gluck Arts Fellowship, the San Manuel Band of Cahuilla Indians Native Pathways Fellowship, and the UCR Dance Department Research Fellowship. Their research focuses on a critical review of the United States’ House Ballroom Scene, in particular the West Coast Ballscene, and how Queer, Trans* and Two-Spirit Black, and Blackened Indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere have deployed vogue as political resistance. They are the founder of the Graduate American Indian Alliance (GAIA) at UC Riverside and were an organizing member of the UC Riverside 2018 ¡Presente! Summit, and with Cal-PEP & Father Zander Lauren, organized the 2019 World AIDS Day Ball and Community Panel, in Oakland, CA.
Registration for the State Conference is open until February 4!
CDEA Member Registration
$100
Register
Non-Member Registration
$115
Register
Student Registration
$40
Register
To learn more about CDEA, please visit their website. Email: contact@cdeadance.org
Written and compiled by Jeff Slayton for LA Dance Chronicle from CDEA press release.
Featured image: Courtesy of CDEA
