Taken from Misty Copeland’s website.
BY: Madeline Elkes, SUMMER 2020 COLLABORATOR AT POWER IN PLACE
Being a part of the dance community for 10 years, I believe that it is one of the more accepting industries in terms of race and gender inclusivity. People are held to the standard of their talent, not to the color of their skin or sexual orientation. To succeed in dance is to succeed in utilizing resources and connections. However, selective access to resources has left certain parts of the dance world lacking diversity. Black and white dancers have prospered in dance, but dance opportunities can be hard to find for those with limited financial and social resources. This burden of the opportunity gap is often felt by African Americans, especially in the ballet industry. Although diversity is expanding in certain styles and at the top dance companies like Alvin Ailey, American Ballet Theater, and New York City Ballet, the ballet world in particular is still predominantly white [1].
Misty Copeland was the first African American female to become a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theater after 75 years of ABT’s existence [1]. She started her ballet career at 13 years old living in a motel room with her mom and five other siblings [2]. Copeland was pegged as a natural prodigy, and was later offered full scholarships to study at the San Francisco ballet School and the ABT summer intensive program. She soon joined the ABT ballet company, and was then promoted to principal dancer, a feat unfortunately unheard of for an African American woman before then [3].
Copeland has not only made history for her role as a principal dancer, but she has influenced the modern ballet world to push for diversity. Her proven success as an African American female ballet dancer, who proudly identified as black, has defied the traditional stereotypes of a white, stick-figure ballerina. Most importantly, she has been outspoken about her race.There were successful African American ballerinas who performed with major companies in the past, like Raven Wilkenson, Virginia Johnson, Janet Collins, etc.. However, they were asked to hide their blackness as much as possible to please the white audiences [3]. In the 1950s, Raven Wilkenson was not allowed to tell people that she was black since she was lighter skinned. She was also required to “white-up” before going on stage with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo [3]. This was not enough to claim the dance world as equal, and Misty Copeland filled in many of the gaps that Raven and other black ballerinas had experienced. “They [audience members] want to see something beautiful but they also want to see themselves up there,” said Misty Copeland as she discussed the importance of a diverse audience in TIME video [4].
Misty Copeland has paved the way for ballet dancers and choreographers to pay attention to opportunities and minority representation in ballet companies. Training a dancer can take around 10 years, so recruiting black dancers must come at an early age, to offer them the dance education they need. Of course, we run into the issue that so many ballets are “white ballets,” such as Swan Lake, the Nutcracker, and Giselle, where the main ballerina has a pale glow to her [3]. The ballet industry, and the dance industry, have come a long way in improving accessibility and race equality, but the industry still has to work to ensure that the dance community is free of racial biases.
References
[1] Kourlas, Gia. "Push for Diversity in Ballet Turns to Training the Next Generation." The New York Times. October 30, 2015. Accessed June 18, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/arts/dance/push-for-diversity-in-ballet-turns-to-training-the-next-generation.html.
[2]"The Official Website of Misty Copeland." Misty Copeland. Accessed June 18, 2020. https://mistycopeland.com/. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/15/opinion/black-dancers-white-ballets.html.
[4] TIME. "Misty Copeland On Changing the Face of Ballet | TIME 100 | TIME." YouTube. April 16, 2015. Accessed June 18, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddarrb8u7p8&feature=youtu.be.
[3] Woodard, Laurie A. "Black Dancers, White Ballets." The New York Times. July 15, 2015. Accessed June 18, 2020.
Madeline is a junior at Middlebury College majoring in Economics with a minor in Math. She is involved in Debate club, a dance club, and Middlebury Women on Wallstreet on campus. She was a dancer for many years, and is passionate about career equality, especially for female ballerinas.