Taylor 1

IsabelleTaylor

ProfessorAmyWilkinson

DANC314

11November2016

RacisminDance:PoweredbyPrivilege

Formanyindividualswithinthedanceworld,racismisnotanissuethatcommonly

comestomindwithintheirprofession,butthatisbecausealargemajorityoftheconcertdance

worldiscomposedofwhitefaces.Unfortunately,racismissodeeplyimbeddedintheroots

dance,especiallyballet,thatwhiteskinisnotjustthenorm[anymore],buttheuniform

(Frank).Uponreadingthisstatement,alongwiththeadditionalthreearticlesprovided,Irealized

thatintodaysdanceworldprivilegeplayssuchasignificantroleinbecominganaccomplished

dancer;thissomethingthatneedstobeeliminatedimmediately,notonlyintermsofjusticeand

equality,butforthesakeoffurtheringtheprogressionoftheart.

Tobeginwith,racismisnolongerasstraightforwardasitwasinthepast;ratherthan

direct,evidentactsofaggression,ithasbecomemoreconcealedanddeeplyrootedinthe

traditionofdance.Tobeginwith,inordertoreachaprofessionalstatusinalargemajorityof

concertdancegenres,itisrequiredthatdancersthatreachadvancedproficiencyinballet.This

meansstrivingtoachievetheaestheticsofaprimaballerina:white,heterosexualwoman

(Daly).Takingthisintoaccount,dancerswithlighterskintonearemoreacceptedbecausethey

areabetterrepresentationofthetraditionalaesthetic.Thiswhitewashedmindsetiseven

translatedinsomethingassimpleaspinktightsandshoes,whicharecomponentsoftheclassic

balletuniform.Ineffortstomatchtheprimaballerina,thecolorofballettightsandshoesare
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meanttoelongatethelinesoflightskinneddancers;andwhiletheseinnocuousseeming

traditionsmaynotbeconsciouslyhateful,theyareexclusive(Frank).Whenblackdancersare

requiredtowearpinktightsandshoestheyareforcedtowearadifferentrace.Despitethis,they

stilldon'tmeetthefullcriteriaoftheballeticonbecauseitisdesignedforawhitewoman,and

thisistheprivilegethatrulessuccessindance.Unfortunately,thisprivilegeiswhytherearesuch

fewblackdancersseenonstage.EvensomeblackdancerssuchasMistyCopelandwhogain

notorietyareoflighterskintoneandare,thus,closertothewhiteaestheticsofballet.Thisbeing

said,IamnotputtinganylessvalueonMistyCopelandsblackrepresentationinthedance

community;butitisalsoimportanttounderstandprivilegedoesholdpower.

Consideringblackdancerswhereexcludedfromthedanceworldforsuchalongperiod

oftime,theydevelopedtheirowncompaniessuchasAlvinAileyandDanceTheatreofHarlem;

andfrompersonalexperience,thisisincrediblyempoweringforprospectiveviewers.For

example,whenIwasinthefifthgrade,myparentstookmetoseemyfirstAlvinAiley

performance;Iwascompletelycaptivated,andrealizedIwantedtopursuedancebecausethat

wasthefirsttimeIcouldpicturemyselfonstage.WhilecompaniessuchandAlvinAileyand

DTHareoutstanding,theyshouldnotbetheonlysourceofblackrepresentationindancenor

shouldtheybetheonlycompaniesblackdancersfeeltheyareabletopursueprofessionalcareers

within.Therefore,insteadofcompaniesandaudiencesbeingdefinedbytheirracialmajority,the

dancecommunitycanbecomemoreraciallyinclusiveinordertoreachbroaderaudience.In

addition,thisallowsforfurtherdevelopmentofdanceasanartform,consideringithasthe

capabilitiesofeducating,andinspiringmoreindividuals.
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Overall,racismisquiteoutdated.Americahasenduredsomuchracialtensionoverthe

centuries,andithasonlyinhibitedprogress.Although,dancehasthecapabilitytotranslate

intrinsichumanemotionthroughmovementmakingitauniversallyunderstoodlanguage;so

audiencescanwitnessdancebecomingmoreraciallyinclusive,Iamconfidentthosepositive

sentimentswilltranslatetosocietyasawhole.
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WorksCited

Daly,Ann."TheBalanchineWoman:OfHummingbirdsandChannelSwimmers."TheDrama

Review:TDR31.1(1987):8.Web.<http://www.jstor.org/stable/1145763>.

Frank,Priscilla."WhyAreThereSoFewBlackBalletDancers?"TheHuffingtonPost.

TheHuffingtonPost.com,n.d.Web.10Nov.2016.

Thompson,Candice."WhenDiversity'Isn'tEnough:HandlingDiscriminationwithinBallet

Companies."DanceMagazine1Apr.2016:n.pag.Web.

Woodard,LaurieA."BlackDancers,WhiteBallets."TheNewYorkTimes.TheNewYork

Times, 14July2015.Web.10Nov.2016.