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Exploring the Transformative Power of Dance Classes in Prisons

Exploring the Transformative Power of Dance Classes in Prisons
June 7, 2023


In April 2020, one of the inmates, Gales, talked about how he and his peers continued practicing their dance moves while in quarantine, locked up in their cells all day long. Despite their limitations, they expressed a desire to create dance videos on TikTok and “take over the world.”

Later, in June of the same year, another inmate, Webb, shared how he and Gales managed to dance together on the prison yard. He was also permitted to visit the art room. Throughout the year, his art pieces were showcased in galleries in Los Angeles and on the internet. His mother, Gina, was moved by the artwork, which communicated her son’s pain.

However, plans to resume the dance classes through 2020 and 2021 kept getting canceled due to various reasons. Several students were transferred to other prisons. However, by fall 2021, Chamblas and Roy resumed teaching the course together at the Chino lower-security facility, where Webb was moved due to good behavior. The focus of the class shifted slightly towards addressing past trauma and how it affects the body. Chamblas recounted an incident where a new student released a repressed memory of childhood abuse during a trust exercise where Chamblas took his weight. The student’s body appeared agitated, and he declared that he wanted to hit Chamblas.

During a visit to the class in September 2022, some men shared their experiences with abuse and discomfort with physical interaction. Bolin, a former member of the Aryan Brotherhood, had been convicted of murder in 1981. He spoke about how he had enforced racial boundaries in prisons like San Quentin and how he struggled to cope with physical contact.

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