Professor Kori Wakamatsu’s newly published article examines microaggressions in dance settings BYU dance education professor Kori Wakamatsu recently published a scholarly article in the Journal of Dance Education. Her article is titled Asian American Perspectives: From Microaggressions to Microprogressions - How Small Choices Can Make a Big Difference in the Dance Classroom. Wakamatsu started researching this topic about two years ago because she wanted to be able to more fully understand and explain microaggressions. She prepared to write it by studying different microaggressions. She also sat in on some of BYU’s race and ethnicity courses. The article explores how microaggressions can affect minority students in the dance classroom. Wakamatsu examines the idea specifically from the perspective of Asian Americans, outlining the different stereotypes that affect Asian Americans and how those stereotypes can show up in the world of dance. One example given in the article is the Chinese Dance in “The Nutcracker.” Wakamatsu’s article quoted journalist Jennifer Fisher, who said, “I ran into effervescent young ballet girls, most of them white, who dutifully told me that the Chinese Dance helped them ‘learn about other cultures.’ What I saw them learning was how to flatten anyone of Asian descent into a cartoon.” Wakamatsu has had personal experience with Asian American stereotypes throughout her life. She was born in Korea, but was adopted by an American family and grew up in West Valley, Utah. People tend to get confused by her last name, because it’s Japanese, but it actually comes from her husband, who is half Japanese, half white. She said the most common microaggression that she has gotten throughout her life was people asking where she’s from and automatically assuming she’s a foreigner. “I have a love/hate relationship with the ‘where are you from?’ question. I've gone through my own personal arc and journey with it. When I was growing up I actually really loved that question because I thought it was unique and special to say, ‘I was born in Korea, but I'm adopted,’” Wakamatsu said. “But it became a point of conflict for me my freshman year at BYU. You spend a lot of time getting to know people, and asking where everyone’s from, but if I ever said I was from Salt Lake or West Valley I would always get the second question, ‘no, where are you really from?’” In her article, Wakamatsu suggests replacing microaggressions in dance and other aspects of life with microprogressions, or small daily actions that challenge stereotypes. “The dance classroom is a fertile setting to pursue microprogressions and challenge microaggressions. The expressive use of the body through movement means that dance can distinctly address racial microaggressions,” Wakamatsu said in the article. This “forever foreigner” stereotype that Wakamatsu has experienced is one of five common Asian American stereotypes that Wakamatsu outlined in her article. The other four stereotypes are the model minority myth, the common characterization of Asians in American media, the expected conformity of all Asian Americans, and the invisibility of Asian Americans. “I hope the article helps increase awareness about personal biases. There's this stereotype that Asian Americans are the model minority, and I tried to make the point that even a positive stereotype can have limiting and negative consequences. I hope that teachers especially can have more awareness of that,” Wakamatsu said. Wakamatsu’s article invites dance teachers and professors to stop every so often and evaluate their own teaching. She lists several questions that teachers can ask themselves to become more aware of possible microaggressions they might be using when they teach. She also invites teachers to think about how they can better help the minority students in their classes to feel empowered. “Teachers are in a position of authority and play a critical role in diffusing and unpacking microaggressions that occur in the classroom,” Wakamatsu’s article reads. “The impulse might be to avoid or ignore these situations, yet dance educators have a responsibility to embrace the messy struggle of race-based discourse.”

Program will include compositions by director Kristen Bromley

COVID precautions create unexpected benefits for students and faculty

Y Digital campaign offers prizes to anyone who pledges to wear a mask on-campus and off-campus

Professor Brian Christensen’s expertise in ceramics, sculpture and 3D design has led him to ventures across the globe, including an excavation project in Egypt

Celene Mitchell is already forging her own path to a successful career in film

Founded by three BYU art alumni, Utah’s newest contemporary art platform aims to create opportunities for working artists within the state

Bronte Hopkins extends beyond her usual modern dance to teach new forms

The cast and crew will present three nights of livestreamed performances

EXHIBITION OVERVIEW A new exhibit will open up in the Museum of Art starting October 30 Victoria Sambunaris creates large-scale photographs that document the intersections of the natural and manmade within the American landscape. Each year, Sambunaris embarks on a lengthy journey on the road, using a large format wooden field camera to document what she encounters. With her photography, Sambunaris tries to capture the way in which humans inhabit the landscape, as well as highlight the beauty of the land and human interaction with it. Combining in-depth planning and research with a laborious mode of shooting and developing—sometimes waiting days for the right conditions—Sambunaris’s photographs communicate a deeply layered sense of place. Since 2002, Sambunaris has come to Utah numerous times to photograph the vast, complex, and beautiful terrain. This exhibition focuses on her photograph of Utah and the Western landscape. The large scale of her work simulates the actual environment, allowing minute details to materialize, subtle colors to emerge, and the viewer to feel as if they are standing in the place of the artist. This exhibition was made possible through the generosity of the: Marriott Daughters Foundation Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York The Lannan Foundation, Santa Fe, New Mexico Andrea and Patrick Lannan Michael Reynolds James Kelly Contemporary View more details at moa.byu.edu.

Emma Squire is a freshman at BYU with a passion for telling new, unique stories BYU freshman Emma Squire is a photographer, a storyteller and a finalist of the Fujifilms Students of Storytelling competition. Squire’s photo series about the history of prosperity is now being displayed on her own personal Fujifilms profile page. “The idea came during an art history class. I noticed in some paintings that items which symbolized wealth a couple hundred years ago are much cheaper and easier to come by today,” Squire said. “It started with just one specific image in mind, but it soon turned into a series.” Squire’s photo series was done in two parts. First, she researched different periods of history in various countries to identify items that portrayed wealth and status. She then photographed her interpretation of the modern equivalents of those items. Then, Squire shot images of modern prosperity, after interviewing individuals to get a feel for current symbols of affluence. “My art is either telling a story or trying to make a statement. I want the viewers to be caught up in the narrative, or to reflect on the message the image is trying to convey,” Squire said. Squire is one of 600 students to submit a project proposal to the contest. The 30 applicants who were chosen each received equipment to use in the preparation for their photo stories. Fujifilms held this contest as a way of discovering America’s next great storytellers. “I hope to be able to create work that I care about and can make a living off of. I don’t know what that looks like yet, but my ultimate goal is to create meaningful art that I’m proud of,” Squire said.

The lecture will take place on November 5 at 11 a.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall and will be streamed online