CMU School of Drama


Monday, February 08, 2016

Northwestern Burlesque makes changes after concerns about inclusiveness, diversity

The Daily Northwestern:With Northwestern Burlesque surpassing 100 cast members for the first time this year, participants raised concerns that its solo and small group performances do not sufficiently represent different races, body types and experiences.

Following the concerns, the show’s directors said they are working to make the show feel more inclusive.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I want to comment on this article and discuss how interesting it is that North Western is listening to their audience after already casting a show. However, when I got to the comments of the article I am so hurt and I feel it would be wrong to address them. Yes there is a lot of vague ness in this article, and it is hard to see whether or not there were actually any injustices committed, as the author definitely dances around the subject. However, it is so harmful to assume that those asking for inclusion and diversity are doing so out of greed. These comments say that these people are demanding diversity because they aren’t as good as the non diverse people that did get a solo dance. It’s so ridiculous to assume none of them are, and also so harmful because for decades Burlesques were totally non diverse, they had an aesthetic they wanted to stick to, an aesthetic that strived on exclusion. And that was not that long ago. The fight for inclusion, not for better treatment for the diverse, but equal treatment, is still being fought. It is ignorant to write it off so quickly.