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When the 92nd Street Y was a hub for Black innovation in dance

JL;DR SUMMARY This article highlights the 92nd Street Y's unexpected role as a hub for Black innovation in dance, particularly during the mid-20th century. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Performing Arts92nd Street YCivil Rights MovementInclusivityCultural HubAlvin AileyModern DanceBlack DanceJewish InstitutionHistorical Venues

Places mentioned

New York City, New York, United States
"My friend and classmate Rennie McDougall published his first book, Nonstop Bodies: How Dance Shaped New York City."
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
"(Rennie is from Melbourne, and first came to New York to join a dance company; he now insists hes a former dancer.)"

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This item was indexed and curated by Cairo, JL;DR's web crawler.
Cairo Item ID 82387
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2026-05-16 05:31:08 UTC
Curated 2026-05-16 08:30:41 UTC