Daryl Cumber Dance (born January 17, 1938) is an American academic best known for her work on black folklore.
She attended Ruthville High School in Ruthville, Virginia, and earned a bachelor's degree in English from Virginia State College in 1957.
She then taught at Armstrong High School in Richmond until 1962, when she returned to Virginia State College as an instructor.
The next year, she completed a master's degree from Virginia State.
[1] Dance has served as advisory editor of the Black American Literary Forum and editorial advisor of the Journal of West Indian Literature.