I grew up in the studios of a classical ballet school. My love and passion for ballet began when I took my first dance class at age three and has continued to flourish since that day. The discipline, technique, hard work, dedication, and grace that ballet demands have become the foundation of who I am. The time I have devoted to ballet and things I have learned have given me a sense of culture and identity, but have also opened my eyes to something that ballet lacks. I have traveled to numerous cities to perform and take ballet class, including New York City, a leading capital of dance. I have met thousands of other dancers, often dancing alongside them in master classes and conventions. I have taken classes from hundreds of ballet professionals, have studied ballet in a variety of capacities, and have been to countless ballets and other dance performances. However, I can count the number of African American ballerinas that I have interacted with on one hand.
image: Ivey Paulsen
This year, with the growing conversation about racism in the United States, my experience with ballet brought me to ask, why are there so few African American professional dancers? Why does an artform that spans across cultural lines show little to no diversity? In an effort to better educate myself, I spent four months researching the experiences of African American ballerinas and the reasons for their absence in the professional ballet world. Through learning and understanding I hoped to find ways in which I could change the dynamic and begin to make a difference within a sphere that I care deeply about. What I discovered both fascinated and surprised me. I will be sharing some of my findings with you, but I hope as you read, you will feel inspired to recognize the inequalities and injustices that exist in the areas of society that you participate in. I believe that as we develop an understanding for these individual systems, we can begin to chip away at the barricade of racism and inequality and find little ways in which we can make needed change.
The experiences of African American ballerinas differ from dancer to dancer, but one theme rose loud and clear out of my research and investigation of the topic: African American artists are set at a disadvantage, and the ingrained racism in the ballet culture keeps the system thriving and reproducing. As I read, interviewed, and analyzed, I discovered myths that surround African American dancers, as well as simple inequalities that could be done away with that would change the dynamic of the ballet world.
Myth #1: The African American Body is not Built for Ballet
Ballet is seen as a Eurocentric art. In applying this notion, society has created an idealized aesthetic that predominantly includes, and caters to, white artists. The aesthetic has led to a stigma that African American artists are not seen as “classical,” and therefore are not capable of successfully performing a “classical” art. The roots of this stereotype are found in the “ballet body,” a picture developed by George Balanchine.
George Balanchine is an American choreographer, viewed as the father of American Ballet. He developed the style and technique that we see performed in the United States today. Balanchine is credited with developing the “ballet body” through his emphasis on bones. The skinny body with long legs, feet with high arches, and white skin, evolved to become not only desired, but the norm for ballet dancers. This mold excludes the often more muscular physique of the African American dancer, and is seen as the only body type that can accomplish the delicate movement of ballet.
image: George Balanchine surrounded by dancers
But, there is research that challenges Balanchine’s accepted philosophy at its very core. Balanchine drew inspiration for the ballet style that he developed from African dance. He put an African aesthetic on white dancers and taught America to accept a technique that rejected the bodies on which it was founded upon. The ballet body, and the idea that a dancer must fit perfectly into the cookie cutter in order to be successful, is flawed at its foundation. Realizing and acknowledging this fact should make us, as American participants and consumers of art, acutely aware that there is no physical formula for a dancer. African American dancers do belong in ballet, in fact, their African heritage is in the blueprints of it.
Myth #2: African American Dancers Cannot Effectively Perform Classical Ballets
There is a notion that an African American ballerina is a “hybrid” concept. If something is hybrid, it is the combination of two unlike things that don’t necessarily go together, making something entirely new and different. This idea of the hybridity of an African American dancer is founded not only on the ballet aesthetic, but on history and culture that differs from that of European performers. It creates the feeling, for dancers and audiences, that an African American dancer does not belong in classical ballet, and that African American artists who perform classical ballets make the performance noticeably different from the same ballet, danced by white dancers.
However, Dance Theater of Harlem, an all African American company, did a performance that they called Creole Giselle. They followed the same story line and did the same choreography done in the European classic ballet Giselle, but they changed the setting and set the story in the South. Research on this performance showed that it was not racially distinct from the same ballet performed by white dancers, concluding that the same technique and choreography can be taught to, and mastered by, dancers of any race.
image: Creole Giselle, © Dance Theater of Harlem
Although ballet originated in Europe, it does not consist of rigid criteria that dictates who can perform its demanding technique. Ballet is an art that any person should be able to identify with and relate to. In fact, ballet has the potential to bring people together, to blur cultural differences, and create a platform for communicating important messages. With its power to invite emotion and change, dance could be a medium for healing the effects of racism on its dancers and audiences. Welcoming diversity in ballet could be a way of overcoming stereotypes and injustices that could move out beyond the field of dance, if, as a society, we allow it to.
Small Inequalities That Fuel the Bigger Problem
The myths surrounding African American ballerinas can be debunked. When they are, it seems obvious that these artists should be seen, welcomed, and celebrated on professional ballet companies. So why aren’t they? The individual experiences of African American dancers tell a story about the harsh environment created by the ballet community that combines to deter African American artists from pursuing careers in ballet.
Another challenge faced by African American dancers is the lack of resources necessary to get a ballet education. Ballet training is very expensive and is not a possibility for all families. Without receiving foundational technical training at a young age, African American dancers have a minimal chance of being accepted into higher education dance programs that funnel into professional companies. With the availability of African American-specific scholarships, grants, and financial aid, we could see more young African American dancers entering the ballet world, hopefully continuing into the professional sphere later on.
image: Kara Roseborough in Black Ballerina, Basil Clunie
I talked with one of the most talented dancers I have worked with, Kara Roseborough, about her experience as an African American professional ballerina. She told me about times when she felt particularly excluded because of costuming. The ballet look is very uniform. Ballet shoes, tights, and tutus are typically supposed to match the skin color of the performer. But these necessary pieces are not typically made or sold in darker skin tones. Kara has been asked to cover her shoes in make-up that matches her skin tone and has been asked to pay extra money to dye tights and elastics. This is a typical struggle faced by African American ballerinas. The lack of resources that these artists deal with spreads a message that they are not wanted or needed in the ballet field. Making these products available is one simple way that the starkly white nature of ballet could be redesigned.
In my research I came across a publication that talked about children’s literature. This journal discussed the fact that among all the children’s books that tell stories of ballet, very few feature African American ballerinas. Children learn from the books that we read to them when they are young and the shows that they watch on T.V. When African American children find themselves missing from the ballet conversation, they are less inclined to want to be involved. Seeking out, and encouraging, literature that includes the voices of African American dancers could have a profound impact. We also need to tell the stories of African Americans in the dance field, creating role models for aspiring dancers to look to. If the picture of African American ballerinas is normalized, hopefully more young dancers will see that their dreams are possible!
So, What Now?
image: Misty Copeland, first African-American Principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre
There are simple ways that you can support African American dancers. First, you can watch performances, support, or donate to professional companies that include Black artists. Here is a list of companies that feature African American dancers:
You can also donate to performing arts foundations that help aspiring African American ballet dancers with the financial strain of ballet training, auditioning, uniforms, costumes, travelling, etc., This is a short list of programs that accept donations:
- The International Association of Blacks in Dance
- Ballet in the City
- Chocolate Ballerina Company (This program also accepts donations of pointe shoes, ballet slippers, leotards, costumes, tights, etc.)
If donating isn’t a possibility, you can write to professional ballet companies asking about their diversity initiatives and expressing your desire to see more Black dancers on stage. Make your voice and opinion heard!
Ballet might not be something that you feel drawn to. That’s perfectly fine, it isn’t everyone’s one true love. But the underlying principle that comes from the African American presence and experience in ballet is applicable outside of dance studios. There is no cookie cutter for a successful dancer, but there’s really no cookie cutter for a successful person in any endeavor. Anyone with drive, talent, motivation, and passion as the potential to accomplish greatness, regardless of race. I encourage you to think about the places where you see racism and inequality and educate yourself. Become familiar with the experiences of minorities, notice and abandon stereotypes, and find the simple ways that you can make a difference. If we are all dedicated to reforming the circles in which we run, we can bring about a greater change.
image: Ivey Paulsen
Sources:
Atencio, Matthew, and Jan Wright. “‘Ballet it’s Too Whitey’: Discursive Hierarchies of High School Dance Spaces and the Constitution of Embodied Feminine Subjectivities.” Gender & Education, vol. 21, no. 1, 2009, pp. 31-46, https://www-lib-byu-edu.erl.lib.byu.edu/cgi-bin/remoteauth.pl?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=35537734&site=ehost-live&scope=site, doi:10.1080/09540250802213123.
Gaiser, Carrie. “Caught Dancing: Hybridity, Stability, and Subversion in Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Creole Giselle.” Theatre Journal, vol. 58, no. 2, 2006, pp. 269-289,392. Performing Arts Periodicals Database, https://lib-byu-edu.erl.lib.byu.edu/remoteauth/?url=https://www-proquest-com.erl.lib.byu.edu/docview/216067150?accountid=4488.
Heinecken, Dawn. “Contesting Controlling Images: The Black Ballerina in Children’s Picture Books.” Children’s Literature in Education, vol. 50, no. 3, 2019, pp. 297-314, https://www-lib-byu-edu.erl.lib.byu.edu/cgi-bin/remoteauth.pl?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1224247&site=ehost-live&scope=site http://dx.doi.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/10.1007/s10583-018-9345-y.
Knight, Saleemah E. The ‘Non-Traditional Ballet Body’ in the Ballet. Edited by Jennifer Fisher., University of California, Irvine, United States — California, 2013. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, https://lib-byu-edu.erl.lib.byu.edu/remoteauth/?url=https://www-proquest-com.erl.lib.byu.edu/docview/1412687432?accountid=4488.
McCarthy-Brown, Nyama. “Dancing in the Margins: Experiences of African American Ballerinas.” Journal of African American Studies, vol. 15, no. 3, 2012, pp. 385-408. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/stable/43525500.