Among the many hasty, erratic, morally dubious actions Donald Trump took in the last month, was to name himself chairman of the board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Why? “Some of the shows were terrible.” Had he actually seen any of their shows? “No.” I know it seems crazy for Don to be heading up a famed performing arts center — he’s so obviously a visual arts guy, what with his being in a lengthy orange period — but I guess those baby fists need something to do while President Musk is at work. Are we despairing over this hostile takeover? Well, yes, quite frankly. But artists are cultural warriors! So they’re despairing and channeling the outrage into the most potent protest possible: a dance! (Please note that I’m pronouncing it as “DAHnce!”) Yes, it’s true. After a couple rehearsals over Zoom, an ensemble of 34 stood outside the Kennedy Center on Monday and performed an act of protest against Trump’s moves:
Protesters chanted across Washington, D.C. on Monday to demonstrate against executive orders signed by President Donald Trump. But outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, one of the performing arts landmarks of the United States, there was a different kind of protest: a dance.
Thirty-four dancers performed The Nelken Line, a piece by choreographer Pina Bausch that pays homage to the seasons. It’s been performed widely since Bausch created it in 1982. There’s even a tutorial.
In the piece, dancers walk in a single-file line and make synchronized movements.
“It felt symbolic in that we’re moving in unison,” says dancer and educator Kelly King who organized the protest, “And there’s something just compelling to see a straight line of movers dancing this way in a march.”
The dancers are protesting the leadership changes at the Kennedy Center, which operates under a private-public partnership and receives some federal funding. Traditionally, it has a bipartisan board. But now the board consists of members appointed solely by Trump, with the president himself as the chair, which is the first time a president has served in that role.
King says, historically, the Kennedy Center’s dance offerings have been largely focused on “classical ballet and very white programming or European-based programming.” But in the past decade or so, she’s seen a shift that includes “many more contemporary works and some under the radar dance offerings that give both artists and audience an opportunity to expand their horizons. And that has been really exciting and encouraging to see.”
She and the other dancers are worried about whether that kind of diversity will continue under the new administration.
A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center tells NPR, “There have not been changes made to the Center’s dance programming nor are there any changes planned.”
King says the protest came together quickly. After spreading the word on social media, she set up two Zoom rehearsals. She chose the Bausch work because it’s simple enough that dancers of all ages and abilities could master it easily.
King says nobody at the Kennedy Center tried to stop any of the dancers, though a handful of security guards followed them as they danced around the perimeter of the building for about 30 minutes.
“They were unsure of what they were going to encounter with us,” says King, “And as I spoke to them individually and they saw what we were doing, they realized that we were certainly not a threat. And I think perhaps by the end they were entertained.”
Bravo! The way King describes the interaction with the security guards, I can’t help but picture this as the dancer equivalent of the iconic Vietnam War protest image, where a young hippie meets a row of bayonets with a single flower. Strength to the loving, compassionate, artistic resistance! I know I still have my jazz and tap shoes somewhere around this apartment, and I’m ready to be deployed as needed. In the meantime, man what a loss. Of course a lot of this is bigly payback for Trump, after his first term when he was too scared to attend the annual Kennedy Center Honors as presidents traditionally do — because he knew how much the artists despised him. And it’s also plain old xenophobia and homophobia (Trump made a big effort to target drag shows when he fired the entire board). I truly shudder to think of the programming that lies in store. Congrats, America, this is your new chairman of our national performing arts institution.
President Trump and his appointees are now solely in charge of the Kennedy Center. Performers protested by dancing.
Kelly King and Keira Hart-Mendoza Lead Dance Protest of the Kennedy Center over Trump administration takeover. – #dcdanceprotest dancinginthedistrict.com/2025/02/15/k…
— Dancing in the District (@isitmodern.bsky.social) February 17, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Kennedy Center ‘Abruptly’ Cancels Gay Men's Chorus Concert – per Francisco Salazar @OperawireNews https://t.co/Faq8L8hGI1 @Franalejo1989
— GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (@DorianAwards) February 19, 2025
Header photo credit: David Dowling/Dancing in The District
Good for them!
I saw more and more protests in the USA on Bluesky (apparently a lot of mainstream American media don’t pay attention to it?).
Anyway, check out the protests in Germany against the right wing party and Georgia (talking about the country here). There are massive protests going on in Europe. Serbia as well.
Recently South Korea as well.
Huge respect for Celebitchy for covering this!
Thanks, Kismet.
Something else we can all do (and what’s already happening in many countries, including the USA). Buy as little as you can from companies that are ruled by big hostile oligarchs.
The Kennedy Center is only partially supported by federal funds. Much, if not most, of the money is from private donations.
How can the McD addict who can’t properly apply his fake-tan makeup, usurp the board & effectively claim leadership? I don’t understand. What’s his next target? MOMA? The Met?
Does it take only a statement, “I’m boss now” to take over cultural institutions?
Seems like it :/
It’s a combo Kennedy Memorial and Arts Center so falls under so Federal regulations. Personally, I think he resented looking like an idiot 4 Kennedy Center Award Weeks in a row and this is just vengeance.
Thank goodness there are people protesting. It gives the sane among us some hope.
Can I put my tinfoil hat on for a moment? Not only has Trump taken aim at the Kennedy Center, but also the Kennedy Library in Boston, and the Presidio Trust in San Francisco. What do those place have in common, besides being in deep blue areas of the country? Think like a real estate developer/kleptocrat. They are all in prime waterfront locations in major cities. Sure, you can say he’s targeting the Kennedy Center out of animus but I’d bet money that he could care less about their artistic program (and is just using it as a smokescreen for his MAGA CULT) and more about their real estate. Cut off funding to all these places and maybe they will have no choice but to sell off their land – if not to him personally, then to the cronies who are lining up to stroke his ego and kiss his a$$.
There is precedent. The internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, and forcing them sell everything they owned, had very little to do with national security and a whole lot to do with white farmers wanting to get rid of their Japanese neighbors who controlled a lot of the best land in California and elsewhere.
My understanding is that Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg is going to meet Mango to discuss this—Mango must be salivating in reptilian anticipation.
My fear is that this cultural arts institution will be rebranded as the “Mango” Center for the Performing Arts.
Does he think this will gain him full access backstage so he can once again walk amongst naked and partially dressed women with no one to stop him?
Get ready for all of the Kennedy Center Honors to go to people like Kid Rock, Ted Nugent and Scott Baio. He’ll probably find a way to change the award so they don’t have to wear “rainbows” too.