We at CMDance believe that Black Lives Matter, Latin Lives Matter, Indigenous Lives Matter, Asian and Pacific Islander Lives Matter, and LGBTQIA+ Lives Matter. We recognize the pain and anger of communities of color and diverse gender orientations and would like to see an end to the systemic exclusion that has plagued this country. We also recognize that, as a voice in the community and as a provider of arts education in Colorado, it is our responsibility to seek out and empower more diverse voices and artists, especially within the art forms originating from these communities, such as Blues, Latin, and Swing dances and music. We are committed to creating a world where diverse people do not fear for their lives or livelihoods.
We pledge the following:
· We will continue to retool our curriculum to amplify the crucial role diverse people and cultures have played in creating the art forms we provide in our educational programs.
· We will further seek out diverse artists to teach those classes, develop our curriculum, and broaden the influence of peace, education, and culture in reducing and eliminating exclusion based on race, culture, and ethnicity in the worlds of dance and music.
· We are committed to providing ongoing training to equip our staff to identify and combat interpersonal and structural racial inequity.
Our mission of creating healthy, thriving communities through world-class arts education programming includes and relies on people from diverse cultures. We will not stay silent while any lives are being treated with lesser significance. We ask you to join us as we work to create a more equitable society where skin tone does not mean a difference in life quality and opportunity.