Taking Butler's notion of embodied performativity in relation to education and global flow, this article uses one example of Samoan cultural dance within a community arts education programme to argue the need for localised, context- and culture-specific arts pedagogies which incorporate diversity in all its expressions, suggest an emerging "critical race pedagogy", and celebrate the power of difference rather than marketplace uniformity. Though this can be confronting especially for educators, it points to a new possibility in what might be considered a new "pedagogical imaginary", which extends the notion of "a new research imaginary" and in which cultural dance and other forms of creative cultural expression are productive pedagogical portals for both academic and intercultural learning. Drawing on both Australian and international trends in cultural and arts education policy, the author highlights the power of space and place-based learning that draws productively on cultural, gender and creative interventions. (Contains 1 note and 2 figures.)