Ballet Black documentary on Sky Arts 6.7.16

[John Mallinson]

Ballet Black features in Sky Arts' South Bank Show on July 6. More details here.

[Two Pigeons]

The preview of this programme in the Sunday Times Culture magazine included the comment that none of the other main dance companies have leading dancers of colour (with the obvious exception of Carlos Acosta). Yes, well, there may not have enough for some dance lovers but that comment was very much less than fair.

Edited July 6, 2016 by Two Pigeons

[Two Pigeons]

I really enjoyed this programme and it made me want to see the company perform live. What we saw of their repertoire looked very interesting and accessible. Interesting to hear Celine Gittens saying that she never experienced and racism through her training and moving into BRB. I have read both Tyrone Singleton and Brandon Lawrence saying the same thing.

 

I hope that Ballet Black continue to prosper and are not driven out on the grounds they are no longer needed. That would be so unjust.

[Jan McNulty]

I finally caught up with the Ballet Black documentary this afternoon and I really enjoyed it.

 

Watching the work they were doing it made me think that there will always a place for Ballet Black, even if the reason for that place changes.  They commission new short works every season and are building up a very varied repertoire using interesting choreographers.  Long may that continue, no matter what the make up of the Company become.

 

May Ballet Black live long and prosper!

[Peach3]

Without wanting to cause offence I would just like to ask in what way do you find it interesting that Celine Gittens didn't experience any racism during her training or career so far? I think we should be careful about claiming we have read somewhere that so and so hasn't experienced any racism either. Racism isn't always blatant and when institutionalised can permeate every layer of decision making and the ripple effect from that. I'm not for one second saying this is what happens in the ballet world. I'm just saying it can be subtle and we should take care with the way we express what I can only presume is joy that three dancers of colour at the top of their game haven't knowingly experienced racism in relation to their career choice. We know this isn't always the case.

It does seem like things are changing (slowly) but more needs to be done at grass roots level. If there aren't enough dancers coming up through the schools to replace these wonderful artists then we will be back to square one and the ballet world poorer for it.

[Harwel]

As a parent with a child at vocational school, there are certainly wonderful 'dancers of colour' being trainined at our vocational schools. I was a dance student 30 years ago and we also had 'dancers of colour' in our vocational school - one being a founder member of ballet black who also danced with ENB.

 

I was talking to a mother of one of my DC contemporarys a few weeks ago and she was telling me that it was a complete shock when her DC wanted to dance ballet. She said that it is not something she was remotely interested in, didn't understand it, hated the music and the costumes. it has no place in her cultural history. However her DC has been to 2 of our top junior schools and is off to a top classical senior school in September.

[Peach3]

That is great Harwel, I just feel a few more wouldn't go amiss. As I said we seem to be going in the right direction and it is my hope and I'm sure everyone else's that we keep pushing on.

 

Your point about your friend feeling shocked that her child wanted to do ballet is exactly why we need young children to see black dancers on stage. All of a sudden a new world is opened up to them and it could be that they just hadn't thought of it before.

[Two Pigeons]

No offence taken. Celine said in the programme that she has never experienced it and that is good enough for me. When i started watching classical ballet in the late 70s the Royal Ballet had no non white dancers at all. As far as i remember during that time the first non white dancer was Ravenna Tucker. I am not saying that she was the first ever but she was the first mixed race dancer i remember. SWRB occasionally had black dancers like Vincent Hantum (I think that's the right spelling) but they never progressed that far or stayed that long.

 

Asian or mixed race dancers such as David Yow and, of course, Miyako Yoshida joined SWRB and progressed to becoming amongst its leading lights but I still remember the stir when Evan Williams joined and had such a success in roles like Tybalt.

 

In BRB now I think it could argued that the company's leading couple is Celine and Tyrone Singleton. One of its brightest rising stars is Brandon Lawrence. This reflects the changes in just one company over a period of 40 years. I do not doubt that there has been a great deal of loss of potential over the years because non white dancers were either just not in the system or were actively held back.

 

A dancer like Evan Williams was most unlikely to have been taken into SWRB in 1979 but in 1990 he was taken into BRB and dancing by 1992 principal roles. i bet he had to cross a lot of barriers but those barriers do seem to be coming down. The success of Carlos Acosta will have a great part in smashing those barriers down.

 

I think it is terrific that we have the chance to see dancers like Celine, Tyrone and Brandon and I really cherish their performances. I have not touched on the soaring success of Francesca Hayward but there is another shining example. These dancers may or may not have experienced racism in life. If they have I really regret that but i would very much hope that it is diminishing fast. What I am saying is that these 4 stars (and I use the word advisedly) have done so well in their chosen careers which would probably never have happened 40 years ago.

[Jam Dancer]

No offence taken. Celine said in the programme that she has never experienced it and that is good enough for me. When i started watching classical ballet in the late 70s the Royal Ballet had no non white dancers at all. As far as i remember during that time the first non white dancer was Ravenna Tucker. I am not saying that she was the first ever but she was the first mixed race dancer i remember. SWRB occasionally had black dancers like Vincent Hantum (I think that's the right spelling) but they never progressed that far or stayed that long.

 

Asian or mixed race dancers such as David Yow and, of course, Miyako Yoshida joined SWRB and progressed to becoming amongst its leading lights but I still remember the stir when Evan Williams joined and had such a success in roles like Tybalt.

 

In BRB now I think it could argued that the company's leading couple is Celine and Tyrone Singleton. One of its brightest rising stars is Brandon Lawrence. This reflects the changes in just one company over a period of 40 years. I do not doubt that there has been a great deal of loss of potential over the years because non white dancers were either just not in the system or were actively held back.

 

A dancer like Evan Williams was most unlikely to have been taken into SWRB in 1979 but in 1990 he was taken into BRB and dancing by 1992 principal roles. i bet he had to cross a lot of barriers but those barriers do seem to be coming down. The success of Carlos Acosta will have a great part in smashing those barriers down.

 

I think it is terrific that we have the chance to see dancers like Celine, Tyrone and Brandon and I really cherish their performances. I have not touched on the soaring success of Francesca Hayward but there is another shining example. These dancers may or may not have experienced racism in life. If they have I really regret that but i would very much hope that it is diminishing fast. What I am saying is that these 4 stars (and I use the word advisedly) have done so well in their chosen careers which would probably never have happened 40 years ago.

 

I think it all depends on the environment in which the dancers are fortunate enough to be doing their training and work.  I think any prejudice faced in ballet and the arts in general, reflect what happens in our society at large. If it's still pretty entrenched in our society, it will rear its ugly head somewhere. Whilst I think it's quite believable  (and great) that these dancers have not experienced any racism, this only reflects their individual experiences. I am not quite sure that Precious Adams at ENB would say the same thing  and she has  trained in very different environments  compared to Gittens, Singleton and  Lawrence. Also when I've heard female dancers mention issues they've experienced released to racism, those with darker complexions seem to encounter more resistance...

 

It is always 'easier' for men in ballet  from this point of view.  Long before Carlos, there were the likes of  Arthur Mitchell  on whom Balanchine choreographed the Agon pas de deux. Since then there have been others, some of whom went on to be principal dancers. Albert Evans at NYCB comes to mind.   The story for women has been different but it's great to now see talented dancers who worked hard reach the top of their profession and hopefully there are other little girls daring to dream and coming through the pipeline.  

Edited July 19, 2016 by Jam Dancer