Dance is a form of art where the artists are always present. In a dance performance, the artist himself becomes the art; they portray their feelings, ideas, and artistic abilities through themselves. Dissolving the identity and personality and mixing with the movements in the eyes of the audience to create art can be considered the goal of the performance. However, due to centuries of slavery and racism, the Black dancer is not invisible to the public and, thus, cannot easily disappear in the art of contemporary dance.
Compared to the noticeable Blackness, white invisibility is an issue many are unaware of; A Black artist will not escape the audience’s gaze, always perceived as Black. An abstract dance performed by a white dancer, dispersing in the movements, has the privilege of having no meaning. Black dancers will always be accompanied by their race, heritage, and history. Decolonizing dance and, furthermore, society is a never-ending process. A Black person is a constant reminder of the events of the past; they cannot be erased from people’s minds. The traces of suffering and pain left on the history of Black people will always shift the attention from the meaning or the lack of it in a dance, despite the quality of the performance. Contemporary dance is a space for white people because whiteness is invisible to the audience; it does not convey any message or remind them of any historical events.
In contemporary dance, the artists convey their ideas through dancing, merging with the movements. Making the audience lose the artist in dance and see only the art is the goal of such a performance. However, a Black dance can never escape the audience’s gaze for the reason of who they are. Being Black would always convey a message of race and history, not letting the artist tell a different kind of story through their dance.