The Principal of it All...

Currently, there are no Black female principal dancers in any of the world's major Ballet companies.  Does that sound surprising?  Well, to be honest it shouldn't.  Though, I grew up in Ballet for most of my life, I actually hadn't realized how whitewashed it was--until, well, until I noticed the increasing notoriety on Misty Copeland.  For those who do not know, Copeland is the first Black female soloist with the American Ballet Theater in over 20 years.  She has been featured in television shows, newspaper and magazine articles and online publications.  And next her name was always placed her title "soloist."

Soloist, I thought to myself.  Well, that's nice, but is she a principal?  Why is she getting so much attention if she isn't a principal?  Though I never for a second doubted her fabulousness, I thought it odd that she seemed to be getting the type of notoriety usually reserved for dancers at the pinnacle of the ballet pyramid.

In the major ballet companies, there are generally three categories in which dancers are placed.  There is the corps de Ballet, the soloist (sometimes, first and second) and the principals.  The members of the corps generally move as a unit and serve as the background dancers for the principals.  The soloists are in the second tier and perform, well, solos.  The principal is the highest level which a dancer can achieve in the world of ballet.  Principals are essentially the stars of their respective companies.  As is such, they are the highest paid and maintain the highest job security of all the dancers.  For loose comparison, one could say that a principal dancer was like a tenured professor, while the rest of the company is made up of adjuncts and lectures.

Though I grew up in Ballet, the only company that I had any real knowledge about was the Dance Theater of Harlem.  My mother gets the credit for that.  As a result, ABT, NYCB, San Francisco, The Royal Ballet, were all vague notions in my mind that I never gave much consideration to.  Of those, the company I was most familiar with was New York City Ballet.  But that was because in nearly all the fiction books I read about aspiring ballerinas, all seem to hold Darci Kistler in the highest esteem.  Kistler, said to be the last muse of George Balanchine, had become the youngest ever principal of NYCB at the age of 17.  Even if one has absolutely no knowledge of the Ballet hierarchy, one has to admit how impressiveness of that feat.  So impressive, that she made her way into mainstream consciousness.  And into the imaginations of aspiring young dancers.    

But now, so has Misty Copeland. And she is fabulous dancer and has had a remarkable life.  She will even get her own posting on my little blog.  However, let us not forget again that there are no Black female principal dancers in any of the world's major ballet companies.  None.  Not one.

Why is this?  Well, one could say that many Black female dancers don't receive training good enough to prepare them for the extremely competitive ballet world.  Another form of reasoning could be a lack of interest on the part of many Black female dancers to pursue ballet to the professional level.  Instead, one could say that, they simply choose other forms.  But the last reason, I would argue is the intersection of racism and sexism exclude Black women from the type of femininity that ballet dancers epitomize.

The Ballet aesthetic is one that is both linear and graceful.  Professional dancers are renowned for their long lean muscles.  This leanness, in fact, which betrays their actual strength.  In most forms of dance, but especially in ballet, the goal of the dancer is to make their movements appear as effortless as possible.  From a very young age, dancers are taught to extend their energies past their limbs.  This projection and release of this energy gives the dancer the appearance of grace.  Traditional ballets combined this aesthetic with heteronormative gender roles and dramatic trials romantic love.  The type of woman epitomized in these ballets had an asexual, almost childlike beauty.  And again, despite the tremendous strength of the actual dancer, there was often an element of fragility seen in the characters.  Suffice it to say, asexual fragility does not lend itself well unto the perception of the Black female body.      

It almost goes without saying that Black women in this country historically have often be viewed as hyper-sexual and hyper-strong.  Generally, these criticisms are attributed to the personas of Black women.  But in the dance world, everything is embodied.  Black female dancers often say that they have been criticized for having bodies that are muscular and/or too curvy.  Copeland herself has admitted to being a recipient of these criticisms.

Thankfully, this hasn't gotten in the way of her ascension up the ABT hierarchy.  But let's be sure not to give ABT more credit than it deserves.  There is still a pinnacle to be reached, and a glass ceiling to be shattered.   If and when Copeland or some other Black female ballerina does so, she will hopefully dismantle some stereotypes as well.