--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: White performances were always dull in…" description: "\"White performances were always dull in comparison to the astonishing expressiveness of Black dancers. Behind the white person's inarticulate body were ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed3/jamake-highwater-26282_astonishing_white-performances-were-always-dull-in-c_2803031.png" --- # White performances were always dull in comparison to the… ![“White performances were always dull in comparison to the astonishing expressiveness of Black dancers. Behind the white person's inarticulate body were centuries of condemnation of dancing on religious grounds.” quote by Jamake Highwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed3/jamake-highwater-26282_astonishing_white-performances-were-always-dull-in-c_2803031.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed3/jamake-highwater-26282_astonishing_white-performances-were-always-dull-in-c_2803031.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed3/jamake-highwater-26282_astonishing_white-performances-were-always-dull-in-c_2803031.png) > “White performances were always dull in comparison to the astonishing expressiveness of Black dancers. Behind the white person's inarticulate body were centuries of condemnation of dancing on religious grounds.” [Jamake Highwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamake-highwater/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. White performances are seen as dull compared to the expressive power of Black dancers, whose bodies carry historic oppression linked to religious bans. **In simple terms:** Black dancers convey deep history and emotion, unlike white performers. Key Takeaway Acknowledge cultural depth in artistic expression. Themes culture art history expression Mood reflective critical Type cultural commentary philosophical When to use this quote - dance education - cultural festivals - art criticism - curriculum design Key Concepts racial dynamics performance theory colonial legacy Questions to Reflect On - How can we honor diverse artistic traditions? - What role does history play in performance? A Different Perspective Risk of stereotyping or oversimplification. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Comparison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparison/) [Condemnation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/condemnation/) [Dance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dance/) [Dancer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dancer/) [Dancing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dancing/) [Performances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/performances/) [Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious/) ## Related quotes > [I'm the only person on Earth who's not afraid to admit that black people are better dancers than white people! I said it, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-mencia/i-m-the-only-person-on-earth-who-s-not-afraid-to-admit-that-black/) [Carlos Mencia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-mencia/) > [I feel an obligation to use black dancers because there must be more opportunities for them, but not because I'm a black choreographer talking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/i-feel-an-obligation-to-use-black-dancers-because-there-must-be-more/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [I'm still trying to change the way people see black dancers that we can become delicate dancers, that we can be a ballerina,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michaela-deprince/i-m-still-trying-to-change-the-way-people-see-black-dancers-that-we/) [Michaela DePrince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michaela-deprince/) > [Europe is great, especially for dance. It's a lot more accepting than the U.S. - there I struggled with the fact that I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michaela-deprince/europe-is-great-especially-for-dance-it-s-a-lot-more-accepting-than/) [Michaela DePrince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michaela-deprince/) > [What passes for love is imperfect knowledge. Not knowing, initially, allows faithlessness to dress up as its opposite; casts the inarticulate as enigmatic, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/what-passes-for-love-is-imperfect-knowledge-not-knowing-initially/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/verbosity-leads-to-unclear-inarticulate-things/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [As far as rapprochements go, it's awkward and vague, but the advantage of being as emotionally inarticulate as we are is that it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tropper/as-far-as-rapprochements-go-it-s-awkward-and-vague-but-the-advantage/) [Jonathan Tropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tropper/) > [“We're the most aggressively inarticulate generation to come along since, you know, a long time ago!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-mali/we-re-the-most-aggressively-inarticulate-generation-to-come-along/) [Taylor Mali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-mali/) > [As a novelist, I suppose I can say that I'm highly articulate. But I know, as a person, in other ways, I'm not always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/as-a-novelist-i-suppose-i-can-say-that-i-m-highly-articulate-but-i/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) > [The mouthpiece of the half-inarticulate, all-suggesting music that is at once the very soul and the inseparable garment of romance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walther-von-der-vogelweide/the-mouthpiece-of-the-half-inarticulate-all-suggesting-music-that-is/) Walther von der Vogelweide > [Go out and speak for the inarticulate and the submerged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-aitken-lord-beaverbrook/go-out-and-speak-for-the-inarticulate-and-the-submerged/) [Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-aitken-lord-beaverbrook/) > [“Your scorn for mediocrity blinds you to its vast primitive power. You stand in the glare of your own brilliance, unable to see into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevanian/your-scorn-for-mediocrity-blinds-you-to-its-vast-primitive-power-you/) [Trevanian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevanian/) > [It's a very fascinating thing for an actor to play somebody who is suffering, and you have to express the suffering, but in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-marsan/it-s-a-very-fascinating-thing-for-an-actor-to-play-somebody-who-is/) [Eddie Marsan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-marsan/) > [Laughter is an interior convulsion, producing a distortion of the features and accompanied by inarticulate noises. It is infectious and, though intermittent, incurable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/laughter-is-an-interior-convulsion-producing-a-distortion-of-the/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [People like me write because otherwise we are pretty inarticulate. Our articulation is our writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/people-like-me-write-because-otherwise-we-are-pretty-inarticulate-our/) [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) ## More by Jamake Highwater > [“I have spent most of my adult life in a ghetto among countless other outsiders who have also learned how to talk through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/i-have-spent-most-of-my-adult-life-in-a-ghetto-among-countless-other/) [Jamake Highwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamake-highwater/) > [The story of dance in the Western world is as much an alternative vision of the events of history as is the folk history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/the-story-of-dance-in-the-western-world-is-as-much-an-alternative/) [Jamake Highwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamake-highwater/) > [“The wall that separates insiders from outsiders is not born of human nature but methodically built, brick by brick, by tribal convention. The "wall"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/the-wall-that-separates-insiders-from-outsiders-is-not-born-of-human/) [Jamake Highwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamake-highwater/) > [Dance in this century has remained primarily a personal ritual operating, like most avant-garde art, as an idiosyncratic form rather than a tribal expression…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/dance-in-this-century-has-remained-primarily-a-personal-ritual/) [Jamake Highwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamake-highwater/) > [At the root of all the various manifestations of dancing lies the common impulse to resort to movement to externalize emotional states which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/at-the-root-of-all-the-various-manifestations-of-dancing-lies-the/) [Jamake Highwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamake-highwater/) > [What dance achieves, what play and sex achieve are the same thing that poetry achieves. They transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/what-dance-achieves-what-play-and-sex-achieve-are-the-same-thing-that/) [Jamake Highwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamake-highwater/) > [For Indians, images are a means of celebrating mystery and not a manner of explaining it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/for-indians-images-are-a-means-of-celebrating-mystery-and-not-a/) [Jamake Highwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamake-highwater/) > [Some of the most popular discos in America and Europe were started as gay establishments, which began to open their doors to anyone who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/some-of-the-most-popular-discos-in-america-and-europe-were-started-as/) [Jamake Highwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamake-highwater/) > [In the New Hebrides, any dancer making a mistake was assaulted, wounded, and possibly killed by bowmen posted to keep careful watch for inaccuracies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/in-the-new-hebrides-any-dancer-making-a-mistake-was-assaulted-wounded/) [Jamake Highwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamake-highwater/) > [The nobility danced for the sake of social grace, to exhibit their finery...peasants danced to make themselves happy, to escape the routine of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/the-nobility-danced-for-the-sake-of-social-grace-to-exhibit-their/) [Jamake Highwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamake-highwater/) > [We often take for granted the notion that some people are insiders, while others are outsiders. But such a notion is a social contrivance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/we-often-take-for-granted-the-notion-that-some-people-are-insiders/) [Jamake Highwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamake-highwater/) > [Art is a staple of mankind... So urgent, so utterly linked with the pulse of feeling that it becomes the singular sign of life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/art-is-a-staple-of-mankind-so-urgent-so-utterly-linked-with-the-pulse/) [Jamake Highwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamake-highwater/) > [For the Indian,dance is a personal form of prayer. When the Eagle Dancer puts on his costume,when he begins to dance to the music,he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/for-the-indian-dance-is-a-personal-form-of-prayer-when-the-eagle/) [Jamake Highwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamake-highwater/) > [“Not everyone has a voice. Many outsiders cannot speak through walls, and, as a consequence, they become silent and invisible. Some give up their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/not-everyone-has-a-voice-many-outsiders-cannot-speak-through-walls/) [Jamake Highwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamake-highwater/) > [“People who exist at the margins of society are very much like Alice in Wonderland. They are not required to make the tough decision…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/people-who-exist-at-the-margins-of-society-are-very-much-like-alice/) [Jamake Highwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamake-highwater/) [Explore all 22 Jamake Highwater quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamake-highwater/) ## More Astonishing quotes > [It's astonishing what you learn and feel and see along the way. That's why a reporter's job, as you know, is such a joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-wallace/it-s-astonishing-what-you-learn-and-feel-and-see-along-the-way-that-s/) [Mike Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-wallace/) > [A man may perform astonishing feats and comprehend a vast amount of knowledge, and yet have no understanding of himself. But suffering directs a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-man-may-perform-astonishing-feats-and-comprehend-a-vast-amount-of/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [A first novel of astonishing force, craft and beauty, The Headmaster's Wager conjures up a dizzyingly evocative wartime Saigon in the story of Percival…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-y-k-lee-2/a-first-novel-of-astonishing-force-craft-and-beauty-the-headmaster-s/) Janice Y. K. Lee > [“What is astonishing is that we, who had no idea how anything was going to turn out, now know exactly what happened.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/what-is-astonishing-is-that-we-who-had-no-idea-how-anything-was-going/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [It's a great historical joke that when the Spanish met the Aztecs, it was a blind date made in serve-you-right heaven. At the time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-gill/it-s-a-great-historical-joke-that-when-the-spanish-met-the-aztecs-it/) [A. A. Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-a-gill/) > [It was astonishing when at one point, I got the idea of how to make artifical clouds with a collaborator, we had pictures made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/it-was-astonishing-when-at-one-point-i-got-the-idea-of-how-to-make/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [Although there may be nothing new under the sun, what is old is new to us and so rich and astonishing that we never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/although-there-may-be-nothing-new-under-the-sun-what-is-old-is-new-to/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [The astonishing thing for me is that I had a career before politics and I never thought about my colour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-gyimah/the-astonishing-thing-for-me-is-that-i-had-a-career-before-politics/) [Sam Gyimah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-gyimah/) > [“There is no denying it; one must admit that there is something astonishing about Christianity. 'It is because you were born in it,' they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/there-is-no-denying-it-one-must-admit-that-there-is-something/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [It's Twitter's combination of simplicity and complexity that is astonishing in the same way that minimalist sculpture was inspiring and enlightening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-goldsmith/it-s-twitter-s-combination-of-simplicity-and-complexity-that-is/) [Kenneth Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-goldsmith/) > [All that we don't know is astonishing. Even more astonishing is what passes for knowing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/all-that-we-don-t-know-is-astonishing-even-more-astonishing-is-what/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [Still more astonishing is that world of rigorous fantasy which we call mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/still-more-astonishing-is-that-world-of-rigorous-fantasy-which-we/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [“No one ever said aloud any of the kinds of things he was so constantly thinking, because no one in the parish, not Alice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/no-one-ever-said-aloud-any-of-the-kinds-of-things-he-was-so/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [If you worry less about what people think of you, you can pick up an astonishing amount of information about them. You no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/if-you-worry-less-about-what-people-think-of-you-you-can-pick-up-an/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [The Bureau of Justice reports that one in three black male babies born this century will go to jail or prison - that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/the-bureau-of-justice-reports-that-one-in-three-black-male-babies/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) Browse all 410 Astonishing quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "White performances were always dull in comparison to the astonishing expressiveness of Black dancers. Behind the white person's inarticulate body were centuries of condemnation of dancing on religious grounds.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jamake Highwater" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/white-performances-were-always-dull-in-comparison-to-the-astonishing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Astonishing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/white-performances-were-always-dull-in-comparison-to-the-astonishing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed3/jamake-highwater-26282_astonishing_white-performances-were-always-dull-in-c_2803031.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed3/jamake-highwater-26282_astonishing_white-performances-were-always-dull-in-c_2803031.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed3/jamake-highwater-26282_astonishing_white-performances-were-always-dull-in-c_2803031.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“White performances were always dull in comparison to the astonishing expressiveness of Black dancers. Behind…” — Jamake Highwater", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jamake Highwater", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamake-highwater/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "White performances were always dull in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/white-performances-were-always-dull-in-comparison-to-the-astonishing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamake-highwater/white-performances-were-always-dull-in-comparison-to-the-astonishing/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```