Dance Theatre of Harlem Talks About the Importance of Blackness in Ballet

Dance Theatre of Harlem is working to fight the stigma attaching whiteness to the art of ballet. Company members recently chatted with Columbia Spectator about their mission.

"We have to show people that this is the future when you go to see 'Swan Lake,'" said company artist Anthony Santos. "'Swan Lake' should be so colorful on stage. You should not only see one Black person on that stage."

"I find that a lot of companies actually want to showcase their Black dancers now," Santos said of the recent surge in the Black Lives Matter movement. "For the first time in history, being Black is important."

Juliana DeVaan has been researching DTH and its founder since 2017.

"That informed the way I see dance as something that goes beyond just performing or movement, or just something that reflects culture," DeVaan said. "It actually generates culture."

DeVaan acknowledges that there is still work to be done, but that the industry is making steps in the right direction.

"I feel like it was during this heartening, revolutionary round of protests that pointe shoe companies committed to making not just ballet pink shoes," DeVaan said. "That was a huge DTH thing, that you were actually allowed to have lines that extended your body versus cut it off."

Read more on Columbia Spectator.