Dance creates change in underserved communities. It is not just performance art; instead, dance becomes ministry.1 In 2016, during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, I created my first site-specific dance film, Reverse,2 set in Watts and Compton, California, and featuring students from the University of Los Angeles, California (UCLA) and The Watts Willowbrook Boys & Girls Club (WBGC) culminating in a public performance at UCLA, and catching the eye of The New York Times.3 As this project shows, dance films educate audiences on social justice issues, and bridge the gap between communities, cultures, and academia through the principles of public humanities: cultural empowerment, social cohesion, inclusive representation, civic engagement, and public discourse.
