Fields of Interest
Biography
Juliet is a dance scholar and artist whose work centers partnered social dance practices and their theatrical expression, with particular emphasis on Latin American and Afro-diasporic traditions in the United States. She examines how commodification, globalization, and recontextualization in competition alter social dances traditions and shape experiences of gender, race, and ethnicity.
Her first book, Glamour Addiction: Inside the American Ballroom Dance Industry (Wesleyan, 2006) won the 2008 Congress on Research in Dance (CORD) Outstanding Publication Award. Her second book, Spinning Mambo into Salsa: Caribbean Dance in Global Commerce (Oxford University Press, 2015) chronicles histories of salsa and mambo dancing in New York, South Florida, and Los Angeles. Her research on rumba, salsa, swing, ballroom dance, and tango has appeared in: TDR: The Drama Review, Dance Research Journal, the Journal of Dance Education, Dance Research, The Dance Chronicle, The Oxford Handbook of Dance and Competition, The Oxford Handbook of Dance and Ethnicity, The Routledge Dance Studies Reader, the Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism, and Making Caribbean Dance: Continuity and Creativity in Island Cultures.
Juliet is also a filmmaker who specializes in choreographic editing (creating choreography through the editing process). She is currently working on Faces of Contemporary Tango, a series of video portraits of tango artists in Buenos Aires that portrays tango as a living tradition that, although in dialogue with its rich history, is also forward-facing, contributing to creation of a contemporary world where gender roles are evolving and innovation thrives. Juliet is an avid dual-role practitioner of Argentine tango.
Juliet is also building a Social Dance Pedagogy Co-Laboratory to investigate application of critical pedagogy theories to social dance teaching, bringing her own teaching and writing on issues such as open-role dancing and affirmative consent in the classroom into dialogue with work of community-based social dance teachers.
Juliet has a Ph.D. in Dance History and Theory from the University of California at Riverside and a B.A. in Women's Studies from Harvard University. She served on the Congress on Research in Dance Board of Directors from 2008-2011. She was appointed as a Donald E. Petersen Endowed Fellow for 2013-2016 and a Floyd & Delores Jones Endowed Professorship in the Arts in 2020.
More info at: www.julietmcmains.com
Research & Creative Work
Selected Research
- McMains, Juliet. Director. Encuentro Triunfante. 3m 25s. 2024.
- McMains, Juliet. Director. External Links. 3m 49s
- McMains, Juliet, director. Habitando el silencio (Inhabiting the Silence). 5m29s. 2023
- McMains, Juliet, director. Contacting Tango: Portrait of Irina Jabsa & Guadalupe Santiago. 3m32s
- McMains, Juliet. “Femininity and Female Empowerment in Commercial Dance: Shakira and J. Lo at Super Bowl LIV.” In Dance in US Pop Culture, edited by Jennifer Atkins. London and New York: Routledge, 2023.
- McMains, Juliet. “Fostering a Community of Consent in Social Dance Communities.” Journal of Dance Education, January 2021. DOI: 10.1080/15290824.2020.1851693. Download PDF (182.85 KB)
- McMains, Juliet. “Queer Tango Space: Minority Stress, Sexual Potentiality, and Gender Utopias.” TDR: The Drama Review 62, no. 2 (2018): 59–77. Download PDF (824.34 KB)
- McMains, Juliet. “Rebellious Wallflowers and Queer Tangueras: Female Leaders in Buenos Aires’ Argentine Tango Scene.” Dance Research, 36, no. 2 (2018): 173–197.
- McMains, Juliet. “Re-Claiming Competitive Tango: The Rise of Argentina’s Campeonato Mundial.” In Oxford Handbook of Dance and Competition, edited by Sherril Dodds, 306–330. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.
- McMains, Juliet. Spinning Mambo into Salsa: Caribbean Dance in Global Commerce. Oxford University Press, 2015.
- Four to Tango, choreography by Juliet McMains with Conrad McGreal, Greg Rolnick, and Nicole Adams, performed at Gould Hall, Seattle, WA, May 24, 2014.
- McMains, Juliet. “Hot Latin Dance: Ethnic Identity and Stereotype.” The Oxford Handbook of Dance and Ethnicity, edited by Anthony Shay. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2013
- McMains, Juliet and Ben Thomas. “Translating from Pitch to Plié: Music Theory for Dance Scholars and Close Movement Analysis for Music Scholars.” Dance Chronicle, 36, no. 2, (2013): 196–217.
- McMains, Juliet. “Queer Tango Embraces: Female Homosociality in Buenos Aires’ Tango Scene.” Paper presented at Decentering Dance Studies: Moving in New Global Orders, joint conference of Congress on Research in Dance and Society of Dance History Scholars, Riverside, CA, November 16, 2013.
- McMains, Juliet. “Current Problems & Methods in Dance Reconstruction: Focus on Cross-Cultural and Social Dance Reconstruction.” Roundtable in conjunction with Danielle Robinson and Clare Parfitt-Brown, presented at Society of Dance History Scholars Annual Conference, Toronto, June 2011.
- McMains, Juliet. “Kineschizophonia in Latin Dance Music.” Paper presented at Dance and Music: Moving Dialogues Conference. McGill University, Montreal, February 17, 2011
- McMains, Juliet, Clare Parfitt-Brown and Danielle Robinson. “Current Problems and Methods in Dance Reconstruction: Focus on Cross-Cultural and Social Dance Reconstruction.” SDHS 2011 Conference Proceedings, edited by Ken Peirce, 123–140. Toronto, CA, June 23–26, 2011
- McMains, Juliet. “From Pitch to Plié: Music Theory for Dance Scholars and Close Movement Analysis for Music Scholars.” Paper presented with co-author Ben Thomas at the joint meeting of Congress on Research in Dance and Society for Ethnomusicology, Philadelphia, November 19, 2011.
- McMains, Juliet. “Rumba Encounters: Transculturation of Cuban Rumba in American and European Ballrooms.” In Making Caribbean Dance: Continuity and Creativity in Island Cultures, edited by Susanna Sloat, 37–48. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2010.
- McMains, Juliet. “Reality Check: Dancing with the Stars and the American Dream.” The Routledge Dance Studies Reader, 2nd ed., edited by Alexandra Carter and Janet O’Shea, 261–272. London: Routledge, 2010
- McMains, Juliet. Solo un fantasma, (UW Faculty Dance Concert, Meany Studio Theatre, Seattle, WA 2010)
- McMains, Juliet. “Redirecting the Paths of Dance Migration through Hyperlinks: How the Web Shaped Salsa Commerce, Community, and Technique.” Paper presented at Society of Dance History Scholars Annual Conference, Stanford University, 20 June 2009.
- McMains, Juliet. Ritmos de posibilidad, (UW Faculty Dance Concert, Meany Studio Theatre, Seattle 2009)
- McMains, Juliet. “Dancing Latin/Latin Dancing: Salsa and DanceSport” Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader, edited by Julie Malnig, 302–322. Indianapolis: University of Illinois Press, 2008.
- McMains, Juliet. “Followers on the Dance Floor/Leaders in the Dance Industry: A Cross-Generational Comparison of Female Pioneers in 1950s Mambo and 1990s Salsa.” Paper presented at Congress on Research in Dance Annual Conference, Hollins College, Roanoke, VA, 15 November, 2008.
- McMains, Juliet. “From Mambo to Salsa: Dancing Across Generational Divides.” Paper presented at Society of Ethnomusicology Annual Conference, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, 26 October, 2008.
- McMains, Juliet. “Finding the Beat: Rhythmic Controversies in the Salsa Dance Industry.” Paper presented at Congress on Research in Dance Annual Conference, Barnard College, 9 November, 2007; Paper presented at the International Congress on Music, Identity and Culture in the Caribbean, Centro León, Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, 14 April, 2007.
- McMains, Juliet. “Brownface and Dancing with the Stars: Reality Television and Off-stage Dance Realities.” Paper presented at Re-Thinking Practice and Theory, Joint Conference sponsored by Centre National de la Danse, Society for Dance History Scholars, and Congress on Research in Dance, Pantin, France, 24 June, 2007.
- McMains, Juliet. Fragments of Salsa History, (UW Faculty Dance Concert, Meany Studio Theatre, Seattle, WA 2007)
- McMains, Juliet. “Rumba Encounters: A Dialogue between Guaguancó and International Style Ballroom Dancers.” Paper presented at Congress on Research in Dance, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 3 November 2006; Paper presented at the World Dance Alliance Global Assembly, York University, Toronto, Canada, 21 July 2006.
- McMains, Juliet. “‘Authenticity’ in the Contemporary Salsa Dance Industry.” Paper presented at the Latin American Studies Association Conference, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 15 March 2006.
- McMains, Juliet. Glamour Addiction: Inside the American Ballroom Dance Industry. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2006.
- McMains, Juliet. “Playing with Structure: Improvisation in Partnered Social Dance.” Workshop presented at Congress on Research in Dance Annual Conference, Florida State University, 5 March 2005.
- McMains, Juliet. “Social Dancing or Theatrical Representation of Social Dance? Conflation as a Marketing Strategy in the American Ballroom Dance Industry.” Paper Presented at the Society of Dance History Scholars Conference, Duke University, 19 June 2004; Paper Presented at the Popular Culture Association National Conference, San Antonio, TX, 10 April 2004.
- McMains, Juliet. “‘Latin’ American Dance: Salseros and Ballroom Dancers.” Paper Presented at Congress on Research in Dance Annual Conference, New York City, 27 October 2001; Paper Presented at American Studies Annual Conference, Washington, DC, 9 November, 2001; Paper Presented at Southern American Studies Bi-annual Conference, Tallahassee, FL, 7 February 2003
- McMains, Juliet and Danielle Robinson. “Swingin’ Out: Southern California's Lindy Revival, 2000.” I See America Dancing: Selected Readings, 1685–2000, edited by Maureen Needham, 84–91. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2002.
- McMains, Juliet. Squint, (Short Film Directed by Tony Griffin, won Malibu Film Festival)
- McMains, Juliet. “Brownface: Representations of Latin-ness in Dancesport.” Dance Research Journal, 33, no. 2 (2001): 54–71
- McMains, Juliet. “Brownface: A New Performance of Minstrelsy in Latin American Dancing?” Paper presented at Dancing at the Millennium Conference, Washington, DC, 22 July 2000.
- McMains, Juliet. “Dancesport Lifestyle: The Glamorous and the Grotesque in Competitive Ballroom and Latin Dance.” Paper presented at Dance Under Construction, Second Annual Graduate Student Dance Conference, UC Riverside, 11 March 2000
- McMains, Juliet. “Swinging Out: Southern California's Lindy Revival.” Paper presented with co-author Danielle Robinson at Dance Under Construction, Second Annual Graduate Student Dance Conference, UC Riverside, 11 March 2000.
- McMains, Juliet. “Brownface: A New Performance of Minstrelsy in Competitive Latin American Dancing?” Conference Proceedings: Dancing in the Millennium An International Conference, compiled by Juliette Crone-Willis, 12–316. Washington DC, 19–23 July 2000
- McMains, Juliet. “Corporeal Negotiations in Ballroom and Latin Dance: The Glamour Class.” Paper presented at Congress on Research in Dance Annual Conference, Pomona, CA, 3 December 1999; Paper presented at Cultural Dance Studies Conference, UC Los Angeles, 6 March 1999.
- McMains, Juliet. “Fostering a Community of Consent in Social Dance Communities.” Journal of Dance Education, forthcoming.
- McMains, Juliet. “Three Hip Bumps and Two Head Whips: Shakira, J. Lo, Intersectionality, and Female Empowerment at Super Bowl LIV.” In Dance in US Pop Culture, edited by Jennifer Atkins. London and New York: Routledge, forthcoming.
- McMains, Juliet. Director. Faces of Contemporary Tango. https://www.facesoftango.art/
Courses Taught
Autumn 2024
Spring 2024
Summer 2023 Full-term
Autumn 2022
Spring 2022
Winter 2022
Summer 2021 Full-term
Spring 2021
Summer 2020 Full-term
Winter 2020
Autumn 2019
Summer 2019 Full-term
Spring 2019
Winter 2019
Autumn 2018
Summer 2018 Full-term
Spring 2018
Winter 2018
Autumn 2017
Summer 2017 Full-term
Spring 2017
Autumn 2016
Summer 2016 Full-term
Spring 2016
Winter 2016
Resources & Related Links
News & Events
Related News
- Videodance Portraits with Professor McMains - September 11, 2024 - 2:11pm
- Professor McMains' Dance Films Featured Locally and Globally - November 7, 2023 - 12:31pm
- Ephemeral Altars, Lasting Impact - July 19, 2023 - 9:43am
- Articles by UW Dance Professor and Alumni published in innovative Dance Textbook - June 21, 2023 - 9:17am
- Celebrating Pride Month - June 20, 2022 - 3:56pm
- DANCE 345 Emphasizes the Plurality of Dance History - January 26, 2021 - 12:45pm
- McMains with Moses; RMK Around the USA - December 9, 2020 - 2:52pm
- Cool Courses Winter 2021 - October 29, 2020 - 4:12pm
- Spinning Mambo into Salsa: New Book by Award-winning author and UW Dance Faculty Member, Juliet McMains - April 24, 2015 - 12:32pm
Related Events
- UW Dance Presents Concert - January 17, 2025 - 7:00pm
- Audition for UW Dance Presents - September 26, 2024 - 6:30pm
- Activators Workshop - May 13, 2023 - 12:00pm
- Dancer Audition for UW Dance Presents Concert - October 4, 2021 - 6:00pm
- UW Dance Presents - March 12, 2021 to March 28, 2021
- Call for Dancers: UW Dance Presents - October 12, 2020 - 11:55pm
- Best Seat in the House - May 5, 2020 to June 2, 2020