Stepping Sustainably: The Potential Partnership Between Dance and Sustainable Development

Abstract

Focusing specifically on dance, this study explores the relationship between the arts and sustainable development. Very little academic work has been conducted about artists’ role in sustainability, a field that is characterized by intersectionality and cross-disciplinary work. This paper seeks to begin to fill that research gap. It determines two ways that dance artists can interact with sustainability: the operations approach and the artistic approach. Highlighting four organizations — Arts Council England, Kidd Pivot, Eiko & Koma, and Vertigo Dance Company — that have made strides in these two approaches, the study concludes that dance could be a tool for sustainability advocates to better communicate material to non-scientific audiences. Introducing environmental material through dance or other artistic mediums is a way of reframing conversations so that they appeal to broader audiences and target different types of solutions. A true shift toward a sustainably minded society will come from many sources, including a shift in cultural values about consumption and humankind’s relationship to the natural world. Art is a driver and creator of culture.  If combined effectively, the arts and sustainable development could help to shift our society in a sustainable direction.