Revolutionizing ballet in England was not part of the original plan for Cassa Pancho. That all changed in 2001 after she decided to write her dissertation on Black ballerinas and discovered that there were none employed by any of the country’s ballet companies at that time. She recalls being told, “There’s already Dance Theatre of […]

As Staatsballett Berlin’s Chloé Lopes Gomes—the sole Black female dancer with the company—has shared the shameful and blatant discrimination she says she endured at the hands of an unnamed, tenured ballet mistress, it could be seen as the salvo announcing a second wave of the racial reckoning ballet experienced in the summer. After the pure […]

In November, the French dancer Chloé Lopes Gomes went public with accusations of institutional racism against Staatsballett Berlin, first reported by the German magazine Der Spiegel. In the article, several anonymous dancers confirm her account. Lopes Gomes, 29, who trained in Marseille and at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, danced for the Ballet de l’Opéra de […]

The day I fell in love with ballet was the day I signed myself up for what now seems like a life of invisibility. Despite clear talent, I grew up with teachers who ignored me in class; it made me work harder. I went on to a performance career with Oakland Ballet, North Carolina Dance […]

I remember when I encountered the color cinnamon. Such warmth and comfort instantly saturated my soul. It was the summer of 2015, a time I will never forget, and I was trying on my first pair of flesh-tone tights. The band fit perfectly on my waist with such a calm gentleness. They were tights that […]

In the wake of Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, online pressure brought an ongoing issue with dancewear brands to an inflection point. For too long, the very color of the tools of the craft—in particular, pointe shoes—spoke to exclusion, with color offerings overwhelmingly geared […]

Being first-generation Korean American forces you to balance two opposing worldviews. East Asian cultures strongly adhere to the concept of collectivism, a Confucian principle that emphasizes the needs of the unit over the needs of the individual. Asian immigrants view Western culture as the embodiment of self-reliance and autonomy, epitomized in what is universally known […]

It struck the National Ballet of Canada like a bolt of lightning when one of its Black dancers, American-born corps de ballet member Nicholas Rose, posted an emotional video on Instagram effectively accusing the company of racism. “I’m calling you out… Do better!” Seven days had passed since the death of an unarmed Black man, […]