I went to a performance recently and while I appreciated the ability of every dancer onstage, I couldn't help but notice the lack of color...
I have been around this Artform for a long time and it hasn't changed....Why is it?
There are plenty of good black students in the Major schools,so why don't they continue or why aren't they encouraged?
ballet was always to me the thing that took riske..It was a story, so a choreographer or director could choose their own hero or heroine...
Why hasn't it changed?
I look at companies like Boston Ballet and New York City Ballet ,who used to have one or two people of color and now, Boston Ballet especially is very pale...
Wouldn't it be a good idea for the director of the company to look at the Demographics of the city and try to appease to everyone?If onel Black dancer is leaving, they should at least have a back up...
Poeple talk about missing the black dancers in the company and substituting them for the Asians and that isn't a good comparison aside from the non caucasian issue...
Am I the only one who sees this problem and is there any hope for improvement?
I'm just curious because I love Ballet, but I can't stand sitting in the audience without seeing someone black onstage...The dancing is fine, but there is no soul...,

It does seem strange.

I hope i am not opening a huge can of worms, but here goes. I do not agree that if a black dancer should leave there should be a backup of the same race. Why? It all goes to affirmative action, which i think serves it's purpose. But ballet is so highly selective and based so much on asthetics. It is very difficult for ANYONE to get a job right now, regardless of color. I just think that color of a dancer is really a non issue right now -In regards to getting a job. I do agree that it is strange and sad that you do not see more african americans in ballet... it adds diversity to a company. But as far as a company looking at the geographical demographics, i suspect that even if there was a wider diversity in a company that it would not effect attendence of performances. Ballet, unfortunatly appeals to some and not to others. If someone goes to a ballet they go regardless.

You did mention seeing very gifted black dancers in top schools. I dont doubt this, but in my own experience i can only recal a very few auditions where there was A black student. In my school, as well as several national schools that i attended there was no black students. I remember having a conversation with a roommate who was latin american about this very issue. Neither one of us could figure out why there were not any black students there. I do not believe that the AD's or directors of the school are being prejuduce, but selecting what they have available.

I do not really understand your statement, "I'm just curious because I love Ballet, but I can't stand sitting in the audience without seeing someone black onstage". I know the race issue is different for everyone, but (please no one 'yell' at me for saying this) i do not go to a basketball game and not enjoy it because there are no white atheletes. When i am there i am awed by their talent, their race never crosses my mind. To me, ballet transcends race and the beauty will be there regardless of who make up the company. If there is a black dancer, wonderful!!! But if not, i am still in awe of the performors (most of the time :rolleyes: )

Again, i hope my opinion does not offend anyone, i do not intend for it to. I am just sharing my thoughts.

I believe part of the problem with black dancers reaching professional level is that they generally have extremely flat feet which (for the women) makes pointe work very difficult.

Speaking from a South African point of view, I am often surprised at how little interest black people still show in ballet, despite genuine and ongoing effort on the part of companies like the South African Ballet Theater and Ballet Theater African to train and incorporate them. It is a pity, because most of them are very gifted in movement, rhythm and dance.

I will speak about the issue in the Black female dancer point of view, because , for evident reasons, the black male issue has a complete different dynamic. So here it goes:

I was not sure if I wanted to add on eland's observations which are clear simple facts :

But I had to say something since I am not sure I enjoy reading such shallow comments:


I have not yet been aware that extensive and serious research has demonstrated such nonsense. Not every "human raced" ballet dancer is blessed with P. Herrera's feet. Than again, some research seemed to have proven that the Asian hip joint is more mobile than any other. However in my Regression Analysis class, we have learned that it is extremely easy to make some variables appear to be strongly correlated to each other when they truly are not. It all depends on the model and perhaps the interest of the firm spending money on the research at stake.

Secondly THERE IS A HUGE CAN OF WORM and I sincerely think that unless "the people who hold the power and the key to make change happen" make genuine intelligent moves, nothing is going to change. This is precisely what feeds the worms and make them multiply exponentially, therefore making matters even worst.

I will not speak of the South African Situation, as I do not live there, but IT DOES NOT leave me perplexe that black children are not more keen in taking ballet in that country. From an outsider's point of view, let's not pretend that in a country where apartheid ruled until very recently and where a vast majority of the black population is still struggling with basic nutritional needs, that one should expect the rate of ballet class signup to increase linaerly in such a short time. I am sure that there were quite a few enrollment at first and after, some kind of stagnation. But I am sure that with the emergence of a middle class, a second boom is bound to happen. It always takes time to incur change in mentalities. I suppose this is part of human nature. Maybe in such countries where there exists sub-human poverty the solution would be more of something like a state-founded shcool just like in Cuba or soviet-era Russia. Where only the most naturally gifted sudents enroll and where the most excellent teaching could be available. But that's a different debate. If we look at the POB school and Company, there are many cases of problems regarding race. In the race issue, there is always two important variables: the observed facts and most importantly the reason unedrlying those facts. It is easy to state observations, but it takes courage to investigate as to why people behave the way they do.

Nevertheless, as for "the people who hold the power and the key to make change happen" I will define them by not only the AD, producers, etc..but even more importantly the ballet teachers. I have a tremendous respect for what they do, but I think unfortunately, they also have a huge responsibility when in that rare occasion a gifted young student appears in front of them in the form of a colored ballerina. And I am not necessarly talking about Sylvie Guillem type of overtly gifted body, more in terms of being gifted with a basic good "ballet body".That student will need uncomparable inner strength to overcome the obstacles that will lay in front of her on top of the other issues that a classical dancer normally deals with.
Part of the problem resides in the training years, IMO. And more importantly surviving them. Note that for my personal case, I am not in a professional school so not really dealing with a group setting. Would Misty Copeland would have made it if it wasn't for her teacher who put her under her wings? She benefitted from one on one training therefore probably gained strong self-confidence in her dancing capacities.Then again only she really knows....How about Aesha Ash. I would love to meet her to know how she coped with things.
Are biased teachers less inclined to teach and correct the black child because teacher "knows" that eventually that child is going nowhere in ballet? Of course I am talking about children who A priori have some good basic physical dispositions for ballet(turnout, flexibility, elongated body type.)
However even some minute sheltering in Ballet school will not help one deal with the jungle of the company world.


I don't know. It seems to be very complicated because ballet is based a lot on subjectivity. On what do AD's base themselves for casting? On their own perception of what Aurora looks like or on what they think the public to whom they sell the tickets to think what Aurora SHOULD look like?
It is very twisted and pervasive.
Heck even at University, I am in a very "cerebral" and "rationnal field", I have noticed some non Kosher things going on when I go speak to my Program Director. I must imagine how it might be for a black dancer in a classical professional school setting. The inner strength she must have. And the underlying knowledge that she has the RIGHT to be there regardless of what her peers/teachers think of her. And this is the hardest part, since ballet is extremely self scrutinizing. I have read stories about this classical dancer at POB and how she was somehow under Mme. Bessy's wing. But when came time for her to join the company, she was clearly left behind (although she joined she was basically stuck in the cdb 4ever until qhe quit). As a dancer you are always insecure about how you do what you do and how you look when you are doing those things so you constanly want to improve yourself.
I think surviving Ballet school is the first step.
Then surviving the Company world is another, since there the the business factor and revenue generating factor comes into play. Is the Company profitable? Is casting a black dancer in a soloist role judged too risky? Is the AD too coward to make a bold move that could therefore make the public not so much "shocked" next time it happens? Which reminds me of one time hearing on TV that putting a black model alone on the cover of a fashion magazine does not generate as much sales...therefore she should be on the cover with some other non-black girl. By the way this was before the industry discovered that actresses/singers could have the right to be on the cover of high end fashion magazines. And so what if the sales drop the first few times(I am convince that even if there is a drop, it will not be THAT significant or are people really going to boycott a complete production because Gamzatti is played by a black woman ?). Society could benefit of such moves in the long run. I am convinced that those decision makers do have a social responsability and should tend to educate the public especially if they hold the key to positive social change. But then again, do they want to do that? Can they afford to?It is too easy to act like an ostrich and pretend "it is not my job to do that". Hiding one's haed in the sand especially when one has they for change is detrementa for society.
Thirdly, I strongly believe that it has a lot to do with the way the society we live in portray black women in general. Can we really be anything else then a nanny, a compassionate best friend or as prostitute? Ballet is not the movies, but look at how mainstream Hollywood 's way of typcasting the black female actress (and this has been said by actresses who "made it"). Are the decision makers genuinely convinced the public is "ready" to accept that the black woman can represent the quintessence of female etheral lightness and purity, which seems to be the international symbol of being a ballerina?
I myself was involved in the modeling industry and I will always remember that (after having passed the audition process for some work) they have told me on set that I should act more like a street girl (I don't know how else to express this) and telling me expressively that the public wanted to see something "jazzier" out of me and to leave "noble maneurism" for the other (n-black) girls that were casted. (Believe me, no one wants to see me do HIP HOP )

Although I might not completly and textually agree that if [QUOTE]Black dancer is leaving, they should at least have a back up...[QUOTE] but I understand what could have been meant by such a comment. Maybe not the very next dancer to be hired should be of "colour" but it surely should be something the AD and company should consider in the future.
Let's have a positive and intelligent discussion, Please.
How do you all think should be done, constructively, to make change happen?
Or is change not that much seen as a good thing in the Ballet-decidors point of view?Or, (scary) Should change really happen? Are black children better off taking up nuclear physics in grad school even if it is not their passion as to minimize their risk of experimenting such behaviors?
I am really tired of hypocrisy underlying in ballet world. Let's not pretend that racism is over in that field. It is a plague that affects all society.

To my ear, these two comments are equal in generalization. The difference between them, however, is that while ostrich's can be countered by science and a quick glance at the feet of DTH dancers, eland's comment reflects a personal opinion/aesthetic, which may be closer the answer.

If you look at the people who are Artistic Directors of the major companies in America, many fall into two categories: former Balanchine dancers, mostly from the US, and European born (mostly) baby-boomers. Some fall into both categories. European-born baby boomers, like Boston Ballet AD Mikko Nissenen, were, on the whole, born and raised in primarily homogeneous societies where racism was largely (and sometimes smugly) seen as America's and South Africa's problem. Former Balancine dancers running companies today were likely colleagues of Arthur Mitchell, a NYCB Principal Dancer.

Dance is one of the few arts where the artist must be seen in order to be chosen. In his recent book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell writes about the change of the face of symphony orchestras in America, due to completely blind auditions. In many cases classical singers are first heard on tape, where an instant impression (for better or worse) is made on the Artistic Director, and s/he must undo his/her own positive impression upon actually seeing the singer's race, age, or weight. (Which isn't to say it doesn't happen, but the first impression is made blind.) Physical presence isn't necessary for any of the plastic arts. A painting hangs on a wall or a sculpture sits on a pedestal without the artist being in sight.

What dancers are chosen is at the behest of the taste and aesthetics of the Artistic Director, except where a specific type is needed to fill a role (ex: tall man to partner ballerina X). If it is true that black students are in the top schools, they are auditioning, and they are not chosen in direct proportion to either numbers or talent, then it is the AD's who are choosing based on a different aesthetic or, to an extent, the "personality" that they assume would be successful (at least according to their own definition).

Were a Marketing Director to say to an AD, "A black dancer would reach out to a new and underserved market," or anyone else to opine that by hiring a black (or Latino in some areas) would do wonders for community relations, what is the chance that the AD wouldn't respond with an argument about artistic integrity? Is it likely that an AD going to exclaim to the world, "I am a racist, and I think black women can't dance?" or even "My audience isn't ready to accept a black ballerina?" Until either black dancers publish their own experiences to the contrary, Arthur Mitchell or other prominent black dancers say s/he was used as a token, white colleagues "expose" specific examples of racism, or a tape is leaked of an AD making deliberately racist comments, we won't know if and how much of the artisitic decisions are made because of racism, and we can only speculate. The upshot is that AD's don't have to justify their hires.

Very interesting comments hockeyfan.
But you have hit THE most important aspect of racism because when you say that we cannot label an action of "racist" nature unless
this is precisely what makes such behaviors pervasive in nature. Untill the general population won't feel the need to have "proof on Camera" of such behaviors, we won't be going anywhere.

And this is ballet, where everything is so subjective. It is not appartment searching for which there is always a documentary that shows how some landlords change their minds about vacancy when they see a colored person arrive to visit.
I think also that an AD perpetrating (consciously or not) those behaviors also are intelligent enough NOT to say the real reasons underlying their actions.


there has been comments made at least by dance critiques in the Dunham era about how peple don't see ballet being interpreted in black bodies. Things have changed since them, but this was not SO long ago. The difference now is that it is no longer "permitted" to make such comments. Not very politically correct nowadays. But have the mind of people changed in such short time? The ambiguous nature of the problem also resides in the fact there is a lot left unspoken.

Hmm...speculations of course this is technically what it is. But it is evident there is a problem and although I am not neither a professional yet, neither had the chance and privilege to meet M. Mitchell healthy discussion is always a positive thing and at the very least helps the younger ones living through difficult experiences.
Any positive thaughts on how we can make things better?

I think Hockeyfan hit on the root of many problems in the ballet world, not just the issue of race, with the comment that "directors don't have to justify their hires". It is always, in the end, up to their personal taste and artistic vision for their company. I've witnessed several cases in which a dancer has sued or at least raised a public outcry for not being re-hired, claiming unjust (or absent) reason for their dismissal. The dancer was either injured, coming back from an injury, or returning from maternity leave. The director cited artistic reasons--- the dancer wasn't up to snuff and hadn't proved their ability to become up to snuff.

I may be naiive, but I think that most artistic directors in North America truly hire the best dancers they can find, regardless of race. I think the reason why there aren't more black and other minority ballet dancers at the elite professional level is because social pressures discourage them from seeking out and receiving the best training at a young age.

There still are problems. I know when talking about hiring dancers that the conversation will go when talking about dancer X: "He's black." The next response is always "That isn't an issue", but in a sense it is still an issue if it's mentioned.

At the same time, I wonder about the efficacy of looking at ballet in a microscopic fashion for traces of racism. With discrimination of all types, it's hard to know where to look. To take a neutral example, people often confuse personal animus with prejudice and think that because they don't feel any dislike toward (insert your favorite group here) they aren't prejudiced. This is why in courts, (disclaimer, not a lawyer, so I may mangle this) discrimination on a larger scale can be shown by mathematical patterns without reference to a specific incident. It doesn't matter if noone in a corporation said "I can't stand having old farts working here." If it shows from hiring patterns in a large company that there's a trend of firing 55 year olds and replacing them with 25 year olds, it's age discrimination. The actions matter most, no matter the sentiment. If the problem is systemic rather than personal, it's really important to bring it to people's attention in that way. Otherwise the response is "But I like old people". People understandably take accusations of discrimination personally and defensively; they stop listening, because they don't feel personal animus. So one has to continue, "I'm sure you do. But did you know your corporation has replaced 45% of the workers over 55 with workers under 30?"

Ballet is expensive to train with very little financial gain possible. I'm not denying the racial component, but the divide is as much economic as racial. How much are a year's worth of pointe shoes for training? Or ballet lessons? Without subsidy, it's out of reach for anyone out of the upper middle class.

Having talked out of both sides of my mouth (nothing makes me squirm more than this subject because yes, it does sound like personal accusations rather than systemic observations) the question I would ask is, do you think we need more minority students? Is there a problem getting them? If so, what do you suggest be done to increase the pool?

I find Sylphide's remarks very much to the point. Obviously many factors are involved in the 'whiteness' of classical ballet, and ballet companies and schools are not going to be able, on their own, to have much of an impact on larger historical, cultural and economic patterns. But there isn't a doubt in my mind that dancers of color who do succeed in entering the classical ballet world do so in the face of enormous prejudice conscious and unconscious, personal and systemic.

Since this is a difficult (painful) subject for most people, myself included, to address head on...I'll go further and admit that as a teenager I used to wonder "but can one really picture a black dancer as [insert name of this or that classical role]?" -- Stupid (or worse) as it sounds, I didn't really register the Dance Theater of Harlem as a counter example because I had only seen them dance Balanchine and other contemporary choreography and perhaps, unconsciously, because I knew it wasn't an integrated company. Fortunately, exposure to Christopher Boatright dancing Romeo with the Stuttgart Ballet and later to the thoroughly integrated National Ballet of Cuba dancing all the Classics (Swan Lake, Giselle, Coppelia) gave me an entirely different view of the matter--and I came to realize that what I had thought was a matter of "artistic" taste was really based in assumptions, habits, and prejudices that I had never looked at adequately. Of course, I speak only for myself -- but I think it wouldn't be a bad thing if the ballet world could broach these issues with a little less defensiveness.

One more example (it involves indirect reporting, but I hope moderators will let it stand): someone recently reported to me a dance commentator saying in private conversation that they didn't like Carlos Acosta in "prince" roles because he didn't have the right "face" for it...so I responded (sincerely) that I think Malakhov doesn't have a princely face--Malakhov has a kind of elfin, boyish face, with a not terribly 'noble' even slightly upturned nose. That is, Malakhov, too, is hardly Erik Bruhn. But of course what makes Malakhov very "princely" on stage has nothing to do with his face, but with his lines, his feet, his carriage--for that matter, with how he holds his head. In fact, Malakhov is one of my favorite princes! And it doesn't occur to anyone to comment on Malakhov having the wrong face or even consider his face a serious issue to raise. Well, I would say that likewise, whether Acosta is a great Prince or not has nothing to do with his face -- which many may find quite Princely -- but with how he inhabits the prince roles as a dancer, how he, as an artist MAKES you see him. I myself have only seen him dance Conrad in Corsaire and Basil in Quixote -- but based on those performances I certainly would like to see him as Siegfried or the Prince in Beauty.

One of Sylphide's points is that many dancers, at levels less exalted than Acosta's and especially young women, will be discouraged before they can ever even arrive at modest career success, and -- to put this in terms of my own examples -- this is precisely because too many teachers and artistic directors can't imagine even the most talented of them as having the right "face," or looking like the "princess," and not, in my judgment, for any good reason.

I should add that although my examples are personal (and include myself) I do agree with Leigh that it is, on the whole, more useful to broach this issue as a systemic problem rather than as a series of personal ones. I don't have answers to Leigh's final questions beyond the old chestnuts -- arts education in public schools etc. I suppose top ballet schools might set up special programs to do a little "extra" talent searching and recruitment among underrepresented groups. (Perhaps a board member of a top company with a school could be recruited to take a special interest in funding this...)

I have no doubt many companies would love to have black dancers if only for reasons of inclusiveness and giving audiences the feeling that ballet is an open world. Also it's not like there's such an excess of good dancers they're turning them away for silly motives.

In addition I would like to point out that in classical music, at the level of serious orchestras let alone soloist level, there are very few black participants either. In writing fiction and poetry however there are (not to mention the rock music business).

So perhaps it's not just a matter of the institutions being exclusive, but also a matter of preference on the part of the (non)-participants.

I know that would make it harder to blame people...

Allow me to say that Eland's remark that a company without black dancers lacks "soul" makes me really uncomfortable. That is really just half a step away from saying black people have this extraordinary sense of rhythm, because they're... black.

[Administrator's note: This is in response to sylphide's post. Cygnet originally quoted the entire post, which I've deleted. It can be read above. Ari]

^^^Well said, excellent post. Virginia Johnson, the first and founding prima
of DTH put it succinctly," . . . in order for a black woman to be a ballerina, she has to be a Super Ballerina," ie. better than the best. Arthur Mitchell began DTH as a response to the lack of opportunity for Black youth in Harlem in general and ballet in particular. He had to deal with the Southern audiences not wanting to see him period, let alone dance with Allegra Kent. At that point Balanchine put his foot down: "If Mitchell does not dance, NYCB will not dance."

Years ago, there was a dancer whose name I can't recall, who studied at White Lodge and Baron Court, where she was considered very talented. However, she wasn't considered suitable for membership in the RB corps. Of course, that could 've been for any number of reasons: budget, available openings, or simply she just wasn't good enough to join. Subsequently, she joined and thrived at DTH. And, like someone has already pointed out in this thread, the AD doesn't have to justify his/her hires.

Today, because of the variety of ethnic talent at Covent Garden, some British dance critics have dared to imply in some of their columns that the RB is gasp no longer 'English.' Many classically trained Blacks have chosen modern dance and its companies over classical ballet, such as Alvin Ailey Co., whose AD Judith Jamison is my Sorority sister. I think other ethnic groups such as Latinos, Asians etc., and yes some Blacks have proven that hard work and perseverence, in any endeavor, especially the field of classical ballet knows no color and that success is not a guarantee. I could be wrong, but IMO I've noticed that many continental European companies ie Hamburg and POB and others have been more egalitarian toward Black males than Black females. Has anyone researched that?

If English critics I have read have complained about Carlos Acosta or Angel Corella being not English in style, they've complained about Irek Mukhamedov and Ethan Steifel in the same way. The critics hailed Trinidad Sevillano as being a natural in Ashton. I do not believe this is a racially based criticism, it's a criticism that the company is not using English trained dancers or dancers that suit the style of the choreography. I don't think it serves the discussion to label it as such.

Herman Stevens mentioned the role personal preference plays in people's choices -- I would just supplement that observation by noting that preferences develop in particular contexts. Someone who finds they have to fight twice as hard to get half the recognition in any field -- say, the natural sciences -- may well "prefer" to opt out of it. Someone who doesn't get exposed to this or that art form (or sports activity) may well never develop a preference for it. The Ballet community alone can't begin carry the burden for the general neglect of the arts in American society at large, anymore than it call solve the problem of racism, but it might be able to do a little to make itself more inclusive without in any way giving up the classical ideal. And, the point, of course, is not to find people to "blame" but to ask, as Leigh did, if there aren't positive things that might be done to bring more talented dancers to the classical ballet scene...and, at the very least, to make sure that those who DO prefer it are not being unnecessarily discouraged.

Sorry to follow my own post -- I posted at the same time as Leigh and wanted to respond to his comment. The reason I reported the complaint about Acosta was because it specifically cited his "face" not his dancing as the problem. A broader criticism of dancers not fiting in the English style is, as you say, a different matter.

Leigh, we agree on this point. Please don't misunderstand me: I don't mean to imply that what they've written is racially motivated. I certainly hope it isn't. Why isn't RB using English trained dancers that 'get' their Ashton heritage? I think this trend, and the fact that RB has integrated to some degree in recent years answers their question. Are they willing to wake up and smell the coffee regarding the answer?

How about this as a reason why there aren't so many black children getting into serious ballet training programs:

Ballet training is hard enough as it is. Imagine dealing with the vulnerability and insecurity that must accompany being the only black child or teenager in a studio surrounded by Caucasian kids! I can see that being a tough psychological and emotional hurdle for an already-insecure teenager to overcome, and not a small player in discouraging minority kids from entering that studio in the first place.

There are so many outreach programs now that are trying to recruit underpriviledged kids (of any race) into dance schools. I wonder: Once those programs have had more years to work, gotten more minority kids into dance schools, will the ballet studio seem a more welcoming place?

My apologies for having misinterpreted you, Cygnet!

I'm not sure the outreach programs have worked too well unless they've been drastically changed lately. A lot of the outreach programs are dedicated to getting underprivileged and minority children introduced to ballet, which is fine in the sense of educating an audience (to use a phrase I recall being used) but I don't think most of them are equipped to handle mainstreaming those children into a serious program when it comes to the ones in whom a serious interest is awakened. Tuition? Shoes? The one program I've got any knowledge of (and this was some years ago) used to bus them in, gave them shoes and leotards and tights to wear when they arrived, took them back when the kids left, washed them and prepared them in a little bag with each kid's name on it and gave them back to them when they came back. I think a few eventually made it into the main school, but I don't know how many had families that would have been prepared to keep them in the school if no scholarships and/or supply stipends were available if their interest and ability were to have taken them that far. And the other thing I recall at the time is that there were children who became seriously interested, but thought that for the entire time that they had been taking a once a week introductory class, that they had been studying seriously; and weren't prepared for not being able to go into the main school. Not to mention the children who thought they were talented and weren't necessarily so but who had never received any real assessment of their dance aptitude before and were very disappointed to see that they wouldn't be able to enter a class with kids their own age. Sorry to ramble but haven't thought about it for quite a while so it's all a jumble.

Perhaps the difficulty you had in imagining a black dancer in a 19th century role, Drew, had to do with the fact that all the ballets that have come down to us from that time are very European. Maybe imagining someone of African descent as a European was too jarring. I don't think this is prejudice, exactly. Nineteenth century Europe wasn't integrated the way it is now; on the contrary, it was, culturally, very homogenous. (And this was a time of rampant nationalism, when the French would have been insulted to have been compared to Germans, etc., let alone non-Europeans.) Ballet isn't the only art struggling with color-blind casting. It's been an issue in the theater for years. (On the other hand, black singers have performed leading roles in opera for a long time.)

It's interesting that when the Dance Theater of Harlem staged its own versions of some 19th century works, they adapted them in various ways. With Act II of Swan Lake, all they did was substitute blue swan costumes for white ones, since Mitchell said that he thought white tutus would contrast too vividly with the dancers' dark skins. With Giselle the company went further, setting the story in the Louisiana bayou at a later time. I thought it worked wonderfully well.

My guess is that we as a society need some time to accustom ourselves to the idea of non-Caucasian performers in works that are regarded, culturally and historically, as artifacts of European civilization. Fifty years from now people may look back at us and wonder how backward we could have been.

I think many of you have provided various intelligent points on this issue. And by the way, Cygnet OH MY God! was Virginia Johnson really your sorority sister? That is just amazing!

I find Drew's comment particularly courageous. This is living proof that by having at least a minute inclination to mind openness, people's point of view can be wider, especially, in a ballet context, when a performance is delivered by an artistically accomplished dancer. The characterization of "a Prince" could therefore be achieved in a wider range of bodies than what could have been previously concieved, same logic for the Malakhov example, therefore not limited to the race issue. But the problem still resides. How does one get to the level of performing in a big company, if a majority of black kids are NOT in top rated ballet schools?even if (at least some) AD's would be positively enclined to choose some, given the fact some could/would present themselves at a company audition. The lesson from Drew's experience is clearly that change is bound to happen if we stimulate people's minds. Bravo to you.

So the bottom line is the ballet public open minded? I would like to think it is. I mean, this is the 21st century...
However, I don't necessarly agree to use the fact that the classical ballets
as a valid excuse. I am rather against such an excuse for peoplewho feel the right or need to "typecast" on the basis that history has not provided them with an alternative.
But there WERE people of African descent in Europe at that time!(although I am sure Ari did not necessarly imply there was 0). In France (Paris) there were few, but at the very least enough so that Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges was able to head a troop of 1000 "colored" men in the French Revolution! This is off topic but The Chevalier de Saint-George was such a violin virtuoso and a prominent composer that in 1775 the King of France wanted to appoint him as the Royal Academy of Music's AD and just a year (or 2?) later Noverre was to become the Ballet master of the POB....Hmmm I wonder what ballet would've looked like now if the King didn't meet strong oppositions regarding his intentions on nominating Saint-Georges ( ok, can I dream a bit???)

See, maybe I am totally off track, but when I first saw Les Sylphides, I was struck by the ideology behind the sylph, more than by "the fact she should be white because M. Fokine's environment was majoritarly white so therefore, sylphs for the next thousand years should be white". I mean I will always admire how some Asian countries have taken up ballet as part of there own culture, even if princesses in Europe's courts would not have necessarly looked like them. For me, the power of this art resides in the power of transcendance. The more an artist is "classically pure", the easier you should be able to believe his/her soul reflects on the "concept" or emotions underlying and motivarting the character they portray.

Finally, some of Leigh, Drew and Cygnet's insightful comments have made me realize that in conclusion, the very least I can do to make things a little better is to believe that if one feels the need for change, one needs to believe she has the power to make it happen( in her own environment, by concrete actions...)
Boy do I know what I will be doing next February!
Thanks to all for your replies(even if it was not my topic).

Oh and by the way, Eland how did you cope in ballet school? I am just sooo interested in hearing your story! (if you would like to share, of course )

I think it is important when reading these posts to understand that many of them reflect the racism in the society of the time under discussion and not the views of the poster. It's a crucial distinction. I cannot speak for Ari, but I feel confident that when she wrote: she was not saying that it was okay -- just that it was the mindset of 19th century Europeans.

I'm not sure we've come a very far way since then. I think ballet-dancing women of color face a double-whammy of sexism + racism. Ballet continues to favor an idealization of womanhood, and to too many ADs, that means fair-skinned. It cheats not only the dancers but the audience.

I hope you were not attributing such a sentiment to me, sylphide. The point I was trying to make was that we as as society may have trouble seeing non-Caucasian dancers in ballets that were made in Europe at a time when their culture was the opposite of diverse, and that this attitude is one that is in the process of changing. Such an attitude need not be racist: I remember when European critics wrote that (white) Americans couldn't dance the 19th century classics because they lacked the culture. (As recently as the 70s, Clive Barnes wrote that Balanchine preferred European dancers in his Liebeslieder Walzer because Americans just couldn't understand it -- a strange remark considering that Balanchine made the ballet for his own company and cast it mainly with Americans.) As I also mentioned, the debate over color-blind casting has been prevalent in the theater for some time now, but it's not unusual anymore to see non-Caucasian actors in Shakespeare.

Ari: this is precisely the reason why I do not usually participate in "intelligent" debate on important questions on the internet. Unfortunatedly, it will always be easier to talk about pointe shoes and the color of tutus.
People sometimes seem to think at one point that certain comments could be directed to them even though one has not explicitely said such a thing.So no, I was not attributing such sentiment to you. (Did I write such a thing?)
Rather, your comments stimulated my mind to further my own reflexions.
That is all.

I used to work with a fine African-American dancer, and she told me that the feedback from her peers (there were few) and contemporaries (there were many) showed a sharp disconnect. Her colleagues were all supportive but her African-American contemporaries were all opposed to her dancing in a ballet company. She said that she was called "Aunt Thomasina" a lot!

Now THAT is an interesting comment Mr. Johnson! I suppose part of the problem resides also in the fact that (black) could possibly face uncomprehension(sp?) from both sides. Dancing is perhaps for most a <lonely> search for expressive freedom through movement. I refer to it as lonely in the sense that one is constantly within herself, her body, and must forgoe many social activities in order to excell in the craft, even if there eventually is a socialisation process within a company and at ballet school.
However if your peers support you in your endeavors, it must make things easier. To whom do you turn to when you are alone in your quest?(I suppose boys in ballet must experiment such a thing, although they are generally more encline to be favored by the industry, they do not often receive general positive response from other non-ballet dancing boys.(but i will not get into that, I do not know the dynamics of this problematic).

Maybe the ones who <made it >or are most likely to <make it> are the ones who received support from their peers? Erika Lambe comes to my mind since she is the 3rd generation of pioneers in the performing arts. But I can't generalize with that one example that comes to my mind.

So 1 side (the n-colored, although not always the case, as in M. Johnson's example) tends to reject <does not see them as right for the part> and the other side( peers ) <do not seem to understand why they would pursue an art that 'rejects' them from within....>(which is a comment I have heard addressed to myself by some peers, although I am not yet near the professional level. but I must confess alot of my peers a actually proud of my achievements. Maybe there could be also a correlation with social economic factors...).
Hard thing to experiment when growing up...
No wonder so few make it to pro level.

Hi Sylphide! No: Virginia Johnson isn't my Sorority sister; Judith Jamison the AD of Alvin Ailey Dance Co. is. She was initiated into Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. as an Honorary Member several years ago during one of our national conventions. Other illustrious members from the opera world are
Beverly Sills (also an Honorary Member), and Leontyne Price who pledged
as an undergraduate.

Greetings Cygnet.
Woops...mistake from my part , I got too carried away.
Glad to hear about your other illustrious sisters too!
Really cool
Hope one day my school too will have such privilege.

greetings.I had heard that something nice had been said about me and I wanted to say thanks, but also to give a little insight to the topic...
Thank you for mentioning me in a positive way this ....I feel very fortunate to have had exapmles in my Grandfather, and my mother who made names for themselves in the Arts and consiquently exposed my sister and I to everything available..
I think it is extremely important for people to have examples but they don't always have to be of the same race...
I think there was a time when it was difficult for dancer of color to branch beyond Dance Theatre of Harlem because I don't think teachers really knew what to do with some balck body types..I think someone mentioned flat feet and for a long time, that was an issue so black dancers were encouraged to study Modern or Jazz.
I was growing up in a time where teachers were trying new things and students emulated the older dancers...If we were sitting around before class and someone was stretching their feet or something, we'd all try to see who could go the farthest...
I think ballet is just one of those Artforms that will always have a small number of black men and women simply because if the culture of it...
Someone mentioned a friend being called less than black because she was studying ballet and that still happens today...
If a black child from a not so priveledged upbringing wants to study ballet, I think many of them might be discouraged because there have been so few "success" stories and people still don't believe you can make a living being a dancer regardless of your race...It might become an issue of the first generation to go to college and they want to become a dancer instead. Their parents might not reallize that they can do both now adays...Have a career and prepare for the next is has and is still being done...
I think it is really important for Ballet companies to continue with outreach programs and dance camps that expose this to people who might not have had the exposure before...
Now that I am not dancing, I have been available to teach in the outreach program for boston ballet and it has been wonderful.One of the neatest things was going to the schools and selecting the students...there is a team of three dancers who bring pictures and talk about dance and I happen to be a dancer in one of the posters. I am doing a grande jete and the picture was taken at a good time...But I loved seeing the kids look at the picture and ask if it was me. That was their proof that they could start too...
I think that if lecture demos and things like that continue, more people might be inclined to start
As for the young black students and teachers out there...Keep going...
It isn't impossible and sometimes it can be amazing...
The bottom line is that you have to want it and go for it.
In terms of ballet companies and the lack of black dancers, it is a two way street.I think many black dancers don't audition for major companies or ballet schools because they fear there won't be a place for them or that they won't be given the same opportunities...You'll never know if you don't try. If one place doesn't work out, try andother before you give up...
The other thing is that you have to have something special. Because of affirmative action and things like that, black kids have usualy gotten into the ballet schools of their choice, but if you want to go anywhere with your career, you have to give people a reason to want to see you onstage.

Many thanks, rolande, for sharing your experience and your thoughts. Best of luck in your work with the Boston Ballet outreach program!

Greetings rolande:
:huepfen024: :huepfen024: :hyper: :huepfen024: :huepfen024:
What an honor!
Thanks SOOOOO much for sharing your thoughts. Those are precious words from someone who many of us have as a role model.
Can I frame your post?
Wow, I must imagine how it felt when you said:

That must indeed have been a special and heart warming experience and the very best of luck with your work. Seems to me you already started to plant the ballet seeds in some little heads.

A thousand thanks!

Thanks, rolande, for your post. It is good to hear some positive remarks about what can be done to change the current situation.

I appreciate the insights into Boston Ballet's outreach program. I wish all companies -- especially smaller companies, who often do not have huge performance demands and should be looking for all sorts of alternative venues -- would make this part of their mission. And not only to inner-city schools. More and more kids of all sorts of social background are being deprived of the arts. Iin my experience, performance by even a few magnificently trained ballet dancers is always captivating to young people, even if the kids are initiall uncomfortable or even dismissive.

All kids can appreciate the physical difficulty of ballet, and the artistry involved in performing well. They also benefit from the lessons about the dedication and hard work needed to produce art, glamour, and illusion. This could also be a way to get Ballet Guilds, and even major contributors with social consciences, involved.

Bringing a few reporters and photographers along on these excursions would be great publicity. Scholarship tickets to productions could help fill seats and also bring much-needed vivacity and variety to the audience, something often needed as hard-core ballet goers become increasingly gray.

I also agree with your advice about auditions: "You''ll never know if you don't try." Negative self-fulfilling prophecies certainly play their role in keeping people back.

Good luck in your new endeavors! This seems to me to be so important that I am going to start another topic (in Anyhthing Goes) asking for input about what outreach activities ather ballet companies are undertaking in their cities.

Great initiative Bart!

My five year old niece, a very enthusiastic and musical child, has begun pre-ballet classes. She is the child of a white mother (my sister) and a black father and is herself a black child.

Upon hearing that she was beginning ballet classes, my aunt, who was a professional dancer and is not by nature prejudiced, said "well - you won't see any chocolate drops in the corps of the Australian Ballet Company". She was not making a racist comment, but was simply making a statement of fact. There has never, to my knowledge, been a black dancer with the company and I don't expect to see one in the near future.

Do you place one black dancer in an all white corps, or as an AD, would you consider that this would be 'jarring' from a purely aesthetic viewpoint - just as you would not put one member of the corps in a red tutu when the rest are wearing blue? Is it more acceptable to place an Asian dancer in the corps as the lighter skin tone 'blends in more'? I don't have any answers here, but these were the types of questions that this personal situation raised in my own mind. I believe it is naive to claim that the colour of the skin doesn't matter when it comes to traditional classical companies. Companies have numerous rules when employing dancers regarding appearance - body shape, height etc - so why would the issue of colour be any different? Personally, I love to watch talented dancers of any colour, height, sex, race - but perhaps not everyone feels this way.

While the argument of economics and accessability may have some basis in fact, the same could be said for the cost of educating a lawyer or doctor.

NYCB presently has several African-American men in its corps and one (badly underutilized) principal. It has usually had one female corps dancer over the past 30 or so years, but does not at present.

Misty Copeland and Danny Tidwell, both of whom are black, are up and coming dancers in the corps of ABT. Danny, IMHO, has the makings of a fine prince. The interesting thing will be seeing if ABT's artistic direction shares my estimation of him and shows the courage (although it really shouldn't be considered that in this day) to push him in that direction.

When I look at a stage full of swans or shades, wilis or nymphs, I have never found a black one (or two) any more irregular or distracting than the occasional red head.

In the companies I see, this happens all the time. In the Dutch National, for instance, there are Asian dancers in all ranks, there are two fairly prominent Latin-American dancers, straight from the San Francisco Ballet, and a couple of dancers whom you would describe as black.

I think it's one thing to say "there aren't that many black dancers." It is however an entirely different thing to say ADs are deliberately keeping them out.

As I said before, I suspect companies, expecially US companies would love to have good black dancers in their line-up, for reasons of inclusiveness.

I forget if it was during ABT’s last Met Opera house season or the one before, but Misty Copeland was cast as a shade in La Bayadere, and during the part of the kingdom of the shades scene when they are all lined up doing those long balances she was front and center, right in the first row of dancers. I must admit that it was a little distracting, simply because your eye was constantly drawn to her rather than taking in the sweep of the whole scene on stage. But no more so than if she had been exceptionally tall or, as carbro said, a redhead! And what a beautiful dancer. One of the great pleasures of the past few ABT seasons has been watching her take the opportunities management has been giving her and make the most of them. At City Center she and another young dancer (maybe Grant DeLong?) were given the leads in a late season performance of Amazed in Burning Dreams and the audience just loved them. For some reason there were a lot of teenagers sitting in my vicinity and they just went wild for them. I still remember one girl behind me saying to another “ I wonder if she knows how beautiful she is, and how much we all love her”. I didn’t notice if the girls were black or white or another race entirely - but it was great to hear the excitement and adulation in their voices...

I think this isnt only an American thing. For instance I comb the corps in the POB videos to find anyone remotely Mediterranean looking (olive skin, curly black hair) and I see none.

Thank you, Danceintheblood, for your report, which shows that the old "aesthetic" argument in favor of lily-white (or at least pale) classical ballet is still alive, at least in Australia. If your aunt is correct, and this is artistic policy, shame on the Australian Ballet Company.

This is the same argument raised frequentlyat the time of Balanchine's integration of NYCB with Arthur Mitchell -- and which has finally ceased to be respectable in this country. Red tutus are things. No human values are violated by requiring that a professional dancer wear that a color. Skin color, on the other hand, is a human quality that cannot be changed (unless we're going to require white make up was done earlier in the 20th century). There is NO "purely aesthetic viewpoint" possible, given the damaging history of the world as regards to "racial" distinctions. It's time for fans of classical ballet to get over it, as others have in virtually every other area of artistic performance, worklife, education, and so many other formerly segregated fields.

Nobody seems to have any trouble with dancers of European descent dancing La Bayadere, which, last I checked, was not set remotely close to Europe. There are other examples as well.

This whole issue is so complex I don't know where to begin. And I suspect that's the basic problem: no one knows where to begin, and everybody is afraid that if you just begin somewhere it won't do any good because there are too many influences.

But, I'll hazard a guess and say the best solution is for companies to hire more diversely, even if they perceive they are "dropping their artistic standards" at first. They need to create a market, or of course young people of color are not going to waste their time and money getting trained. Will this turn off the patrons? If so ... they need to find some new patrons. I'm guessing that some expert PR would take care of this anyway.

Finally, I'll say that while it is not what I'd call racially balanced, the Joffrey has a noticeable number of non-white bodies on stage, and every year it seems to bring at least one or two dancers of color into the apprentice program. I really, really appreciate this commitment.

A historical note. One of America's very first male dancers, trained well enough to partner Fanny Elssler in the 1840s and later a noted teacher, was George Washington Smith, whose ethnicity is recorded in history books as "mulatto." Audiences of the day accepted him as Albrecht and James. (Apologies if Smith has already been mentioned on this thread.)

Forgive the self-citation , but I had an afterthought :

The nature of ballet is changing. ABT aside (infuriatingly so, but that's a different topic), most American companies depend less and less on the rigidly heirarchical ballets in the 19th century style with a corps of 24 "perfectly matched" ladies. The tendency in new ballets seems to bend toward either small corps deployed in less regimented choreography or ensemble works in which each dancer is a distinct individual. The (mis)perceived need for pigment conformity is less and less relevant, anyway.

National Ballet of Cuba, at least, performs the 19th century classics with an integrated corps. It's not as integrated as it was when I first saw the company in the late 1970s, but it's a lot more integrated than any American company I know. (It's not the ballets that are the problem.)

Cuba has long been a mixed race society, and the ranks of National Ballet of Cuba show this well. The Company, exquisitely trained by Alicia Alonso, has been losing dancers to companies worldwide over the last half dozen years. Among them are the Feijoo sisters (Lorna in Boston and Lorena at SFB), Carlos Acosta, and Karel Cruz, a gorgeous, tall, elegant dancer in the PNB corps. Three of the 14 principal dancers in Miami City Ballet are from Cuba. (Three more are from Latin and South America.) While this is sad for Alonso, it is a privilege for the audiences who have "stolen" them. It's hard to imagine that the NBdC can hire everyone from the school, even with the "defections." And the opportunity that companies in the US and Europe can offer is immense, particularly when a dancer can support not only him/herself, but also help to support his/her family and the school that trained him/her. (Even if the value of the US dollar has diminshed.)

Dance Theatre of Harlem has a roster of 45, and has had a number of difficult times over the past few decades. It's hard to believe that at any of several points, at least some DTH dancers wouldn't have left for the opportunity to dance in other companies that are more stable -- and in places less expensive in which to survive than NYC -- and given the small number of places in the Company available to each graduating class, that there aren't well-trained black dancers (particularly women) who, while their first choice is DTH, wouldn't want to dance with other classical companies.

All companies with schools want to train their own dancers, but looking at the rosters of Companies across the US, most have hired European and Asian dancers as well as American dancers who've performed with other companies. They comprise dancers from every level of the hierarchy, including, most significantly, the corps. It's not entirely a matter of "not invented here" (or "until we can grow our own.")

I'm completely puzzled by this. "Young people of color are not going to waste their time and money" training for ballet (it's your assumption), and nonetheless companies should hire iffy dancers and just turn up the PR machine a couple notches and people will love it?

If so why do ballet anyway? It only gets in the way of the PR...

Houston Ballet has several black dancers (including one, Cleopatra Williams, who went to my school for all but her last year of training!) and really -- I don't see the problem. They dance in the corps, they dance as soloists, Lauren Anderson danced both as Cleopatra (who they say looked Greek) and every other possible classical role.

I don't really think it's so much of an issue. Like Treefrog said--does La Bayadere ring a bell? What about any other number of ballets where clearly, there can be no historical accuracy with an all-white cast?

I really don't see this so much as racism; I see it more as talented black students who are interested in dance being turned to modern, jazz, and hip hop simply because of greater amounts of black role models there.

Marenetha, thanks for your reply about Houston. Your last paragraph has a ring of truth and sense to it.

Yesterday I went to the recital for the Pacific Northwest Ballet Seattle School's Creative Movement and Pre-Ballet II classes at the Phelps Center (among other things, where the Seattle PNB school is located.) The Creative Movement kids are 5-6 years old and the Pre-Ballet kids are 7. Among them I saw a handful of Asian girls, 3 or so black girls, and two (maybe three?) boys out of 48 kids listed on the program. (And if I were the lone boy in the Creative Movement IV, and, indeed, I did have a little ball of white feathers stuck to the back of my tights for "Ducks in a Row," -- it was hard to tell for sure from the back row -- I would refuse to go back.)

After each group of children performed, they sat on the floor in front of the chairs set up in the main studio, where by the end, they had prime seats to watch 16 Professional Division students perform excerpts from Paquita. To me it looked like an all-Caucasian group of PD students. I raise this, because two of the points of the recital are 1. to show the parents how many of the PD dancers started in these programs and 2. to show the children what they should and could aspire to.

Those interested in the implications of this topic for ballet should have a look at the London Times interview with Carlos Acosta (May 15, 2005, LINKS). He makes some interesting comments near the end. (It's a great interview, too.)