In this paper, I discuss the difficulties faced by female-identifying dance students of color in Oklahoma higher-education. Due to the lack of educational training provided by higher-education dance programs, critical accessibility and an and share some of my own critical reflections on how educators have the ability to create an accessible and equitable experience within studio classroom settings. Speaking from the position of a researcher who belongs to the thesis demographic, my decade-long investigation into the experience of female-identifying Black and First American dance students within higher education dance programs highlights and uncovers traumas experienced by dance students within institutions in Oklahoma .