Choreographer and professor Thomas F. DeFrantz is anexpert in African American dance and performance. He directs the SLIPPAGE Lab (slippage.duke.edu), which combines performance and technology to amplify the voices of queer and racialised communities in society. Prior to his current role at Northwestern University, he has been a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Duke University, consulted for museums on the history of African American ballroom dance, published several books on Black dance and performance theory, and mentored a generation of young artists and scholars. design.northwestern.edu/people/profiles/defrantz-thomas.html