The Dance Union

Zorhan Mamdani is the next Mayor of these United States and j. (they/them) and Veronica (she/her) bask in the optimism of the many wins this election season.

*Correction: Zohran Mamdani is a Leo rising and has a Scorpio stellium*

The Dance Union

TheDanceUnionPodcast.com

IG: @thedanceunion

FB: www.facebook.com/TheDanceUnion/

*SUPPORT THE DANCE UNION PODCAST*

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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:

6 November 2025

j. (they/them) and Veronica (she/her) return from their summer hiatus and get cauught up on some of the latest news in dance.

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:

29 October 2025

Antuan Byers (he/him) led a reflective conversation with Nile Ruff (she/her) and Terrell Rogers (he/him), two members of DancersDeserveBetter (formerly Dancers of Dance Black Dance Theater), on their journey to unionize after being unjustly terminated and later coming to a settlement agreement with Dallas Black Dance Theater.

(recorded: January 6, 2025)

Hosts:

Antuan Byers (he/him)

IG: @antuanbyers

Nile Ruff (she/her)

IG: @nile.thelionking

Terrell Rogers (he/him)

IG: @terrellrogersjr

The Dance Union

TheDanceUnionPodcast.com

IG: @thedanceunion

FB: www.facebook.com/TheDanceUnion/

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*SUPPORT THE DANCE UNION PODCAST*

Patreon: www.patreon.com/danceunion

Venmo: @Dance-Union

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/

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*SUPPORT THE DANCE UNION PODCAST*

Patreon: www.patreon.com/danceunion

Venmo: @Dance-Union

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

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/

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*SUPPORT THE DANCE UNION PODCAST*

Patreon: www.patreon.com/danceunion

Venmo: @Dance-Union

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EPISODE RESOURCES

Executive Summary Support - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AWe6PFkmveMdwzRlyT4wULuhVWupJ-2n/view

NYSCA - https://arts.ny.gov/nysca-grant-opportunities

NEA - https://www.arts.gov/grants/grants-for-arts-projects

NEFA NDP - https://www.nefa.org/NationalDanceProject

MAP Fund - https://mapfund.org/

Cultural Development Fund

https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/cultural-funding/programs-funding.page

Cultural Assembly - https://theculturalassembly.com/

CUNY Dance Initiative https://www1.cuny.edu/sites/dance-initiative/

Find Your Representatives - https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

SC Arts Alliance - https://scartsalliance.com/

Performing Arts Alliance (their website is currently down)

Dance/USA - https://www.danceusa.org/

Book: Careers in Dance - https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/careers-in-dance-best-practices-and-strategies-for-a-fulfilling-professional-life_ali-duffy/26194271/item/83599055/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pmax_non_scarce_used_nca_22292660096&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&utm_content=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-e6-BhDmARIsAOxxlxXbiV07RfHtp8yJVj4QvjfQe2qu3iWaqba8rvwPGTO07h9TkH9uTyAaAugkEALw_wcB#idiq=83599055&edition=29147672

Dance/NYC Campaign - hub.dance.nyc - Our NYC Dance

Resource: Contract language - Dance/USA - https://www.danceusa.org/technical-and-standardization-documents

NYC Dance 2023 Report: https://hub.dance.nyc/state-of-nyc-dance-2023-report/

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

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

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

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/

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*SUPPORT THE DANCE UNION PODCAST*

Patreon: www.patreon.com/danceunion

Venmo: @Dance-Union

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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/