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Arts & Culture

Miami gathering seeks to address the problem of the "invisible" Black ballet dancer

MoBBallet

The MoBBallet/M.I.A. Symposium is focused on Black representation in the ballet world but welcomes everyone.

Where are all the Black ballet dancers?

Of course, they exist. Or, as Theresa Ruth Howard likes to say, "We are not unicorns."

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Howard, herself a Black former ballerina, is the founder of MoBBallet (Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet), a digital platform that celebrates the rich history of Black dancers in ballet.

She created the platform in 2015, the year that Misty Copeland became the first Black female principal dancer in the 75-year history of the American Ballet Theatre.

And while Howard was among those delighted by Copeland's ascendancy, she found the rhapsodizing over that word "first" troubling.

"The narrative, the mythology around her as the first and only Black ballet dancer, was problematic," says Howard.

"There was an erasure of the history of Blacks and ballet, especially females before her."

So Howard published an online article titled "The Misty-rious Case of the Vanishing Ballerinas of Color. Where have They Gone?"

At the end of the piece, Howard asked readers to submit the names of Black ballet dancers in the comments section.

It was an effort, she says, to make "the invisible visible."

Through her writing, public speaking and teaching, Howard has championed racial equity in ballet and exhorted dance companies around the world to evolve.

This week, the Sanctuary of the Artsin Coral Gables is hosting the fourth MoBBallet Symposium.

According to a news release promoting the event, the Symposium "is focused on supporting and advocating for Black ballet dancers and choreographers, examining dance education practices, and creating meaningful conversations with dance academics, along with engaging ballet leadership to address the racial and cultural issues in ballet."

While there are no official public performances connected with the Symposium, on Saturday, August 13, from 10:30 am to 11:30 am, the Sanctuary of the Arts is holding a "sharing'' — where the public can see what students and choreographers are working on.

That will be followed at 12 p.m. with a town hall discussion on what is being done to improve the status of Black dancers in ballet.

Both events are free and open to the public.

Christine DiMattei is WLRN's Morning Edition anchor and also reports on Arts & Culture.
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