Nicholas Rose Asks National Ballet of Canada to "Do Better"
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</div></blockquote></div><p>National Ballet of Canada corps member Nicholas Rose points out that right now, he and other Black dancers are going through terrible pain. But, when he recorded this video on Monday, none of the company leaders had reached out to offer support. Only six of the company's dancers asked if he was okay. He says, "A hashtag won't do it. That's lip service." </p><p>The lack of support he feels isn't new: He calls out ballet masters for confusing him with fellow Black dancer Siphesihle November. He calls out the fact that someone photoshopped his lips on his headshot. </p><p>Rose acknowledges that NBoC is definitely not the only company where things like this happen, and encourages his peers to speak up. "I am so sick of silencing myself to make you feel comfortable. I am the one who is feeling uncomfortable here."</p>
George Sanders Asks Ballet Memphis to Live Up to Its Mission Statement
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</div></blockquote></div><p>In this video, George Sanders, who recently left Ballet Memphis, takes issue with the way the company prides itself in being a diverse company, yet, by the time he posted this, leaders had not done anything to address today's violence against Black people. "Where's your voice?" he asks. </p><p>His overall message is that he feels used. He points out that although the company hires Black dancers and choreographers, and uses Black music and culture, the staff remains all white. When a Black choreographer made a piece about social injustice and inequity,<strong></strong> Sanders says she was asked to change it to something that shed more light and hope. </p><p>"I'm challenging them to say something," says Sanders. "Your silence is heard." <strong></strong></p>
Jonathan Batista Asks Oklahoma City Ballet to Consider Its Promo Materials
<p>Rose and Sanders' posts inspired Oklahoma City Ballet principal <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jonathanbatistaofficial/" target="_blank">Jonathan Batista </a>to speak up in his Instagram Story, writing that his company has never used a photo of him in a classical principal role in their marketing materials. </p><p>The following slide in his story included a note of hope: The leaders of the company had agreed to have a conversation with him about it. </p><p>Batista wrote: "Be the voice you want to hear. Be the change you want to see."</p>
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Samuel Akins Asks the Australian Dance Community to Rethink Who Can Be a Classical Dancer
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</div></blockquote></div><p>Former Los Angeles Ballet and Alabama Ballet dancer Samuel Akins paid for his own visa to move to Australia a year ago, but has found the almost entirely white dance community there unwilling to hire him. Although he doesn't mention names, in this video he relates how a director of an arts foundation in Australia told him, "Ballet was created for a certain type of person. It was envisioned to be danced by a certain type of person." </p><p>As he's watched the recent events in the United States unfold, he says, "I have cried every single day this week. I don't have a tear left in my body. But I'm not giving up."</p>
