by Shaté L. Hayes | Oct 26, 2023 | News, The Latest
On September 26, 2023, Dallas-based photographer and Brown Girls Do Ballet (BGDB) founder TaKiyah Wallace-McMillian debuted her first book, The Color of Dance: A Celebration of Diversity and Inclusion in the World of Ballet. Published by Black Dog & Leventhal, the...
by Julia Rosica | Aug 4, 2020 | Dance History, Instagram, The Latest, Training
Pointe shoes, with their ability to elevate a dancer both literally and metaphorically to a superhuman realm, are the ultimate symbol of a ballerina’s ethereality and hard work. For students, receiving a first pair of pointe shoes is a rite of passage. The shoes...
by Nile Cappello For Dance Spirit | Jun 15, 2020 | The Latest, Training
Implicit bias and racial stereotyping are rampant in the dance world . That’s a fact dancers of color have always known. But the anti-racism protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd—protests whose effects have reverberated through a myriad of...
by Lydia Murray For Dance Magazine | Jun 14, 2020 | Career, Instagram, Profiles
On June 4, Pacific Northwest Ballet corps member Amanda Morgan posted an Instagram video of her impassioned speech at a Seattle protest in response to George Floyd’s death. After introducing herself to the cheering crowd as the only Black ballerina in her...
by Chava Pearl Lansky | Jun 8, 2020 | Dance Spirit, Instagram, News, The Latest
Updated on June 12, 2020 Last year, in a segment on “The Today Show” on diverse shades of pointe shoes, Dance Theatre of Harlem artistic director Virginia Johnson reflected on the groundbreaking 1970’s-era performance, when DTH founder Arthur...
by Chyrstyn Mariah Fentroy | Jun 4, 2020 | Career, Dance Magazine, Dance Spirit, Instagram, News, Profiles, The Latest
I remember the first year that I competed at the Youth America Grand Prix. I was 17 years old and particularly excited to be participating in a competition that focused on ballet. First up for my age group was classical, where I danced Kitri’s Act I variation...
by Amy Brandt | Jun 3, 2020 | Dance Magazine, Dance Spirit, Dance Teacher, News, The Latest
In 1984, Dance Theatre of Harlem co-founder Arthur Mitchell took one of ballet oldest surviving ballets, Giselle, and gave it a uniquely American twist: He moved the ballet’s setting from medieval Europe to an Afro-Creole community in 1840s Louisiana. The...
by Theresa Ruth Howard For Dance Magazine | May 31, 2020 | News, The Latest
For the last five years the dance world, and specifically the ballet world, has been enrolled in the mission to understand and implement diversity, equity and inclusion into the field at all levels. A great deal of funding has been allocated towards efforts of...