Kennedy Cannon
It’s More Than Dance: An Interview with Kennedy Cannon (Black Dancers in Higher Education Series)
By Camryn Eaglin
What does it look like when students have a safe space for important dialogue in higher education? Is it freeing? Does it create more conflict and division? Is it unifying? I think artist citizenship can be put into perspective and placed into importance when conversations are had amongst a community. This can help you become increasingly aware of what implications your art has, what your artistic presence means in your community, and what your own identity lends to your work and the perception your art has on others. Being a black dancer - or a group of black dancers - can be automatically looked at as a “statement.” Some would say all art is political, so as an artist and as a black artist, how does one approach their creativity and artistry in a predominantly white institution? How do dance departments create a safe space for black artists?
Our next interview in the series Black Dancers in Higher Education is with Kennedy Cannon. She is a junior BFA Dance Major at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). She is also receiving a pre health certificate in pre occupational therapy and is minoring in African and African Diaspora Studies.
This is one of two students from UT Austin that I have interviewed. Be sure to read the final interview following this one.
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Camry Eaglin (CE): How many dancers are in your class? How many are dancers of color and how many black dancers?
Kennedy Cannon (KC): It’s about 15 of us as a rough estimate. I want to say there are five black dancers in total. As for POC, there are dancers that are Asian, Hispanic, and Biracial. However, I would say our program is still majority white dancers.
CE: Why did you choose to pursue a higher education in dance?
KC: I come from a strong background of dance. My dance teachers in high school and my dance teachers throughout my childhood had their masters in dance, went to a college to pursue dance, or went to a small certificate program that was related to dance. I’ve also always wanted to go to college because my family is full of educators and have all been to college. I think what made me really realize that I could major in dance and be successful was in high school. As a kid, it was recreational, but once I got into high school and started working with guest artists and different types of dancers from around the world, I was like, “Well I should go to college for dance.” It also helped that these guest artists I was working with had their undergraduate degrees in dance. So that was the inspiration and motivation for me to later major in dance.
CE: Does your department have professors of diverse cultural, ethnic and racial backgrounds?
KC: I think that depends on what college you’re in because there are multiple colleges here at UT but speaking for the dance department, I want to say no. Of course we are getting there by having black professors, Latinx professors, and other minorities. But as of right now I wouldn’t say it's too diverse because UT Austin in its whole population is only about 4 percent black. So this reflects in the faculty as well. I will say that the college of fine arts (COFA) has made efforts to bring in guest choreographers for us to work with, and they try to hire on faculty that are minorities, but I would still say there's some work to do. Actually our department head, Charles O. Anderson, is black. He is very experienced and well respected.
(Fact Check: As of 2020, UT Austin’s population of black students is 5.3%)
CE: Does your program bring in guest artists in a variety of dance styles, techniques, and movement philosophies?
KC: I can definitely say there is that, and I don’t think it only comes from the performing opportunities. It also comes in forms of...for example -- I took a course on dance history. For us to really understand and immerse ourselves into a style of dance and its background, the teacher would bring in guest teachers for us to take class with for that day and we had to write an observation on how we felt about it. I felt it was very useful. So I will say they do a great job of bringing in a diverse background of multicultural people for us to work with.
CE: What dance classes are you required to take and what other dance courses are available?
KC: So there’s a lot of courses we are required to take. We are supposed to take contemporary and ballet. For your first two years, it’s required that you take both technique courses, both semesters. But when you get to your junior and senior year you can figure out which one you’d rather take. Last semester I only took contemporary, but this semester I’m only taking ballet. You can flip flop or you can still do both, whatever works in your schedule. The older you get it’s not much of a requirement to take both.
We have to take Pedagogy which is teaching us about how to teach dance and what to incorporate in our classwork. Then we have to take two sections of Dance History where we learn about all the different types of dance and where the background stems from. We have to take a course freshman year about how to write research papers on dance and art. And then we have this class called PDPR, and it’s a class you sign up for to perform in our main stage shows. You have to do 5 semesters of that. Since I started freshman year I’m basically done. I just have one more semester of it. You can also opt to take breaks; you don’t have to do it for five semesters straight. It's whatever works with your schedule. Of course we also have choreography classes. You have to take Choreography 1 and 2. That’s where you learn how to tap into your artistic abilities through choreography and figure out, “Do I want to be a choreographer or the one who is choreographed on.” From what I can think of, those are the main required courses.
CE: Are you content with the variety of dance styles and techniques offered in your program or do you wish there were some adjustments in what is required of students?
KC: I wish I had the opportunity to take more styles of dance. Contemporary and Ballet we would say in the dance world are foundations but I feel for people who have other interests outside of those two styles, they have to venture out and pay for classes outside of the department. We’re college students so we don’t have salary jobs where we can always just go and drop $25 for a class. For me personally, I don’t mind the styles we are consistently offered but I also came from a fine arts school where we had a different master class each day from someone new. So we were taking our contemporary and ballet classes but also some days we would have an Indian class, folklorico class, a jazz class, or a hip hop class. So I can say that sometimes I do wish we had more styles of dance because now our only outlet to taking another style consistently is a summer intensive or outside dance project.
CE: Are your dance concerts well-rounded in a variety of dance styles? Or does your department have a very specific lane in terms of thematic or signature movement quality?
KC: I’ll say it’s stylistic. All the productions I’ve been in have been primarily ballet and contemporary. It reflects the classes that we take regularly. However, there was a house routine once and a hip hop breaking routine and that was a nice switch up, but they usually make it the opener. So it’s hit or miss. If they have a good run that night then everyone remembers it but if they don’t then they’ll remember the longer drawn out ballet pieces. Specifically Charles O. Anderson incorporates storytelling and African diaspora movement in his pieces. So of course we get the African contemporary, Afro fusion mix from him but that’s not across the board. My freshman year I had him for a full semester so I was able to tap into that and some of that was my background. So I would say it’s stylistic but it does have its moments. Charles would put on a piece and there's the African fusion that’s showcased. Then the rest of the time it would be -- “You can tell this is contemporary, you can tell this is ballet, and you can tell this is contemporary ballet.”
CE: Does your department explore and help facilitate real conversations and art about social issues like racial inequality, body image, gender, sexuality, etc.?
KC: I would definitely say this department does a great job of that. We have town halls to discuss it. I know as soon as we came back when this school year started, all of quarantine there were racial tensions, and I mean it’s nothing new; it’s just something that was brought up because we’re in a pandemic and people actually have time to sit and reflect. So we had many conversations about what’s going on in the world and ways to educate yourself and ways for people to be hyper aware and sensitive to the issue. I would say our department does a very good job addressing societal issues and also talking about where we stand as artist citizens in this world cause it’s like, they’re not the future -- we are. Once we’re into our career, we have the power to change these systems and make it better. We always have conversations about that, and I can’t say that other departments are doing the same thing. This department does a very good job of having outside conversations, town halls, and incorporating it into the classroom as well.
CE: What is the environment like in your department? How do you interact with one another, or just the overall student culture? And, what about the student to teacher culture in general?
KC: I’ll say the teachers are very open and show themselves as a support system and they’re really there for us. If we need something, if we have any post grad questions or questions on what we are doing currently, they will do their best to help us find our way without forcing anything upon us. As far as the students, it’s more community based but we are also in college so it has its own cliques. I won’t say it’s drama filled; it’s more like everyone finds their own groups. But if we have to work together we can make it work. It’s not like, “Oh she’s in that friend group and I’m in this friend group so I can’t work with her.” It’s not too high school. It’s like, “I know we’re not in the same friend group but we’re both in this process so we’re going to make it work.” I’ve also found myself making friends with people I usually don’t talk to in different rehearsal processes. Everyone has their own cliques but when it’s time to be a community people know how to come together.
CE: Have there been experiences where you’ve felt alienated or different from other dancers in your department?
KC: I would say of course, and that just comes from being black in a predominantly white institution and in a predominantly white major also. I don’t know if I’ve felt alienated but there have been times where I haven’t been my best artistic self and have been compared to another student who is the exact same race as me. I just feel like everyone is their own dancer so no one should be compared, but I have experienced comparison throughout all of my dance career. I have overcome it of course but I just think it’s even worse when it’s between two black people versus it’s between me as a black student and someone as a white student. I hate to say it but that’s something that comes with the game for us to be compared to our counterparts. It kind of makes you feel like, “What are you doing that I’m not?” Personally for me, I can handle being compared to a white student because it’s like -- I’m my own dancer and that’s a systemic difference -- I’ll find my own path and they’ll find their own. But when you’re compared to a black dancer, you can often cross paths or be considered for the same thing just because you are both black. Why can’t we all be the best?
CE: Overall, how has your experience at UT Austin been thus far? Has it differed from your expectations or is it what you thought?
KC: I think it’s different and what I’ve expected at the same time because I come from a conservatory background. It’s just dance, dance, dance. We also didn’t talk about dance history and if we did it was very brief. It only uplifted one race and one group of people and didn’t represent all parts. That’s what’s different for me here. I was expecting that same environment but I’ve come here and it’s not like that. In the midst of finding out all of these things about dance I have figured out my artistic challenges and my artistic wave. It’s different but it’s been a good difference. I’ve definitely learned a lot of things about myself because I’ve been exposed to many different things. So I’ve found out -- Kennedy likes more things than just dance. I feel like sometimes at a conservatory you can get caught up in making dance your identity. Dance is just one thing that is a part of me. Also, I wanted to expand myself, and I really feel like I’m starting to figure out who I am as an artist. I really have a place in this dance world opposed to me coming in like dance was just survival of the fittest. I’ve found out there are so many more options in dance than just “dance.”
CE: What are your goals in the future?
KC: Right now I’m on the fence between doing occupational therapy and being a dancer. I’m in the process of figuring out how I can blend the two because I have a passion for both but with the way those fields work, it’s like I have to do one without the other. So I’m just trying to figure out how I can do both. Also lately I’ve been thinking about grad school because for occupational therapy you have to go. Then for dance, I wasn’t really aware you could go back and get your MFA to become a professor or even be someone’s artistic director. I didn’t know that was the path that led there. The MFA is a shorter program so I’m thinking I can get my MFA in about 2 years. I want to see where God aligns me in a year or two and see what happens as far as dance. I could step into my biggest dreams during that time. I try to be very optimistic when it comes to dance because a lot of people have a very pessimistic view of it. I just feel like you can be successful, make great money, and still do your passion.
Kennedy Cannon
Camryn Eaglin is a dancer and writer earning a Bachelor of Science in Dance and a minor in Broadcast Journalism from Wayne State University. She is currently an intern with Life as a Modern Dancer.
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Related posts:
5 Questions for Camryn Eaglin, Life as a Modern Dancer Intern
Organization Spotlight: C.A.A.C (Collegiate Association for Artists of Color)
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