HONORING THE LEGACY OF ANTIRACIST BALLET TEACHING & LEADERSHIP AS MODELED BY BLACK AND BROWN-OWNED, BLACK AND BROWN-LED, AND BLACK AND BROWN-SERVING DANCE ORGANIZATIONS
This chapter highlights practices of Black and Brown-owned, Black and Brown-led, and Black and Brown-serving dance organizations and their success in fostering antiracist spaces in ballet and developing Black and Brown professionals. Iyun Ashani Harrison proposes that white institutions might model the examples of these organizations to create healthy educational and professional environments, affirming the pedagogical models created by the Maria Olenewa State School of Dance in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, Arthur Mitchell’s Dance Theatre of Harlem, The Ailey School, and Baltimore School of the Arts. Ultimately, the chapter makes a pivotal connection between supporting these training systems and amplifying the presence of darker-skinned ballerinas on ballet stages.
